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Finland national football team

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Finland
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Huuhkajat
(The Eagle-Owls)[1]
AssociationFootball Association of Finland
(Suomen Palloliitto)
(Finlands Bollförbund)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe)
Head coachMixu Paatelainen
CaptainNiklas Moisander
Most capsJari Litmanen (137)
Top scorerJari Litmanen (32)
Home stadiumHelsinki Olympic Stadium
FIFA codeFIN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current70 Steady (8 January 2015)
Highest33 (March 2007)
Lowest96 (September 2012)
First international
Russian Empire Finland 2–5 Sweden 
(Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire; 22 October 1911)
Biggest win
 Finland 10–2 Estonia 
(Helsinki, Finland; 11 August 1922)
 Finland 8–0 San Marino 
(Helsinki, Finland; 17 November 2010)
Biggest defeat
 Germany 13–0 Finland 
(Leipzig, Germany; 1 September 1940)
Summer Olympics
Appearances4 (first in 1912)
Best resultFourth place, 1912
National team against Denmark in 1933.

The Finland national football team (Finnish: Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finland fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland.

Although the Finnish national team has never qualified for a finals tournament of the World Cup or the European Championships, the Nordic nation made remarkable progression in the 2000s reaching a peak of 30th on the Elo Rankings, under coach of Roy Hodgson they achieved notable results against much more established European teams. The team has also never dropped out of the top 100 of the FIFA World Rankings since the rankings were established in 1993.

Early history

The Football Association of Finland was founded as early as 1907 and became a member of FIFA in 1908, despite the fact that at that time Finland was still an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire and did not gain independence until 1917. Finland played its first international match on October 22, 1911, losing to neighboring Sweden 2–5 in Helsinki.

Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, but had to wait for its first win until 1978. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki saw the Finnish hosts lose to Austria in the first round. Finland did, however, win the unofficial Nordic championship in 1964 and 1966.[3]

Later 20th century

The results of the team improved somewhat in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Finland missed out on qualification for Euro 1980 by just a point and for the 1986 World Cup by two points. Finland was invited to take part in the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after many Western countries announced they would boycott the games, but failed to progress from its group.

By the mid-1990s Finland started to have more players in high profile European leagues, led by the Ajax superstar Jari Litmanen. In 1996 Danish Euro 1992 winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen was hired to take Finland to the 1998 World Cup. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes in the campaign, high points of which were a draw and a win away to Norway and Switzerland respectively. Going into the last match, Finland would have needed a win at home to Hungary to earn a place in the play-offs. They led the game 1–0 going into injury time, but scored an own goal, and once again the dreams of qualification were over. Møller Nielsen also tried to lead Finland to Euro 2000. In this campaign the Finns recorded a sensational win away to Turkey, but couldn't compete with Germany and Turkey in the long run.

Antti Muurinen succeeded Møller Nielsen as coach in 2000. He had arguably the most talented group of Finnish players ever at his disposal, including players such as Antti Niemi, Sami Hyypiä, Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to the legendary Litmanen. The team also performed quite well under him in qualification for the 2002 World Cup despite a difficult draw, earning two draws against Germany and a home draw with England as well as beating Greece 5–1 in Helsinki. In the end, however, England and Germany proved too strong, and the Finns finished third in the group, but were the only team in that group not to lose at home. Hopes were high going into qualification for Euro 2004 after the promising last campaign and friendly wins over the likes of Norway, Belgium and Portugal (which seen the Finns jump from 40th–30th in the Elo ranking[2]). However, Finland started the campaign by losing to Wales and Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro, now two separate nations). These losses were followed by two defeats by Italy, and a 3–0 home win over Serbia and Montenegro was little consolation, as the Finns finished fourth in the group. In qualification for the 2006 World Cup Finland failed to score a single point in six matches against the top three teams in their group, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Romania. Muurinen was sacked in June 2005, and he was replaced by caretaker Jyrki Heliskoski, but results didn't improve.

In August 2005 it was announced that Roy Hodgson would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started in the job in January of that year. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.[4] His replacement was a Scotsman, Stuart Baxter, who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign.[5]

Recent history

Finland was competing in Group A in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The team started the campaign very well, beating Poland 3–1 away and earning a 1–1 draw with Portugal at home. The Finns then gained four points from their difficult away ties against Armenia and Kazakhstan, drawing 0–0 with the former and beating the latter 2–0. On 15 November 2006, Finland beat Armenia 1–0 at home, thus remaining undefeated in the qualifying. In Finland's first match of 2007, they were in poor form when they lost against Azerbaijan 1–0, one of the worst matches in Finnish footballing history. On early June they lost to Serbia 2–0 at home, which many fans[who?] felt to be the end of a real battle for qualification. But the next match was against Belgium and team Finland gained the trust of their fans back by winning 2–0 at home. This was followed by a series of wins including a 2–1 win against Azerbaijan, with the team needing to win against Portugal away from home needing to qualify. However, the match ended 0–0 meaning the team missed out on qualification. At the end of the group table the defeat to Azerbaijan made little difference, as it would have meant Finland losing out on away goals between them and Portugal when the teams met if they did win against Azerbaijan twice. However, the performance in qualifying seen the Finns gain their best-ever FIFA world ranking to date at the position of 33rd

2010 World cup qualification fared little better, with the team under new head coach Stuart Baxter not winning matches as consistently like they did under Roy Hodgson. However the team were within touching distance of a win over Euro 2008 finalists Germany, but had to settle for a 3–3 draw. The team again finished third in their group with five wins, three draws and two defeats. They were the only team in qualifying not to lose to eventual 3rd place finishers Germany, but came close to a win in the second meeting only to concede an equaliser in stoppage time.

Qualification for the European 2012 European Championship has so far been underwhelming, with three straight defeats against Moldova (2–0), the Netherlands and Hungary (both 2–1), before closing 2010 with an 8–0 success against minnows San Marino which saw Mikael Forssell the first player of the group to score a hat trick. Before their first win of the campaign, the team slipped to 87th in the FIFA World Rankings, despite still staying in the top 100 and therefore keeping up their consistency in the top half of the monthly table, this was however their lowest-ever position in their history since the rankings were established in 1993. The team then moved up to 76th place after a disappointing 1-0 win over San Marino, that team's best result in their group having lost every game with no goals scored. This was then followed up by a 5-0 mauling by their neighbours Sweden, giving them their fourth defeat in the group. To date Finland have scored 11 goals and conceded 11, a large decline after the success of 2007-2009.

For the Qualification for the 2014 World Cup, Finland has seen significant improvement despite up and down results. Being ranked the weakest team in the group, they started the qualification with little success with a 1-0 loss to France, and a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Georgia in Helsinki. They then achieved a historic 1-1 draw against number 1 ranked Spain who are reigning European and World Cup champions in Gijon, with Teemu Pukki scoring the equalizing goal in the 79th minute. They followed that up with a 1-0 win over Belarus. These two results propelled Finland right back into the conversation for a potential playoff spot. However they were held to a 1-1 draw at Belarus 4 days later. Next up Finland hosted Spain in Helsinki, hoping to achieve another upset result that would have increased their chances for a playoff spot greatly, unfortunately they lost 2-0 with goals coming from Jordi Alba and Alvaro Negredo with Teemu Tainio giving Finland's only real threat to score but his shot was well saved by Iker Casillas. Despite the loss, Finland still had a slight chance to finish second, but they need to win against Georgia in Tbilisi, and France to lose against Belarus in Minsk. Finland achieved their task of defeating Georgia 1-0 thanks to a Roman Eremenko penalty kick. However France ended up coming back to defeat Belarus 4-2, despite trailing 2-0 at halftime. Because of the French victory, Finland were eliminated from a playoff spot. They finished the campaign third in their group after losing 3-0 against France in the final game in Paris.

Stadiums

Most of Finland's important home matches are played at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in the capital Helsinki. It has been Finland's principal home stadium ever since its construction was completed in 1938. Before that Pallokenttä in Helsinki was mainly used.

Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the Ratina Stadion in Tampere. Helsinki's Sonera Stadium, which has artificial turf, is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers.

Competitive record

All–time record against all nations

This list is Finland national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches. As of 18 November 2014

Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD % Won
 Albania 7 4 1 2 8 6 +2 57%
 Algeria 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0%
 Andorra 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 50%
 Armenia 4 3 1 0 6 1 +5 75%
 Austria 10 1 1 8 10 23 −13 10%
 Azerbaijan 8 7 0 1 15 5 +10 88%
 Bahrain 5 4 1 0 9 1 +8 80%
 Barbados 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%
 Belarus 4 1 3 0 5 4 +1 25%
 Belgium 10 4 3 3 18 19 −1 40%
 Bermuda 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 100%
 Bolivia 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 0%
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1 0%
 Brazil 3 0 0 3 3 9 −6 0%
 Bulgaria 8 0 1 7 3 19 −16 0%
 Canada 1 1 0 0 3 2 0 100%
 Chile 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0%
 China 4 4 0 0 7 6 +1 100%
 Colombia 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
 Costa Rica 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 0%
 Cyprus 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 50%
 Czech Republic 11 3 3 5 14 22 −8 27%
 Denmark 59 11 10 38 60 151 −91 19%
 East Germany 7 2 1 4 8 21 −13 29%
 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 1 3 −2 0%
 Egypt 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2 0%
 England 13 0 2 11 7 44 −37 0%
 Estonia 30 14 10 6 71 38 +33 45%
 Faroe Islands 4 4 0 0 13 1 +12 100%
 France 8 0 0 8 3 18 −15 0%
 Georgia 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 50%
 Germany 22 1 6 15 19 80 −59 5%
 Greece 13 3 3 7 17 25 −9 23%
 Honduras 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100%
 Hungary 16 3 3 10 15 47 −31 20%
 Iceland 10 6 2 2 17 10 +7 60%
 India 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 50%
 Iraq 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
 Ireland 5 0 2 3 2 11 −9 0%
 Israel 5 2 1 2 6 6 0 40%
 Italy 12 1 1 10 7 30 −21 8%
 Japan 2 2 0 0 7 1 +6 100%
 Kazakhstan 3 2 1 0 4 1 +6 67%
 Kuwait 7 3 2 2 6 5 +1 43%
 Latvia 17 10 3 4 32 18 +14 59%
 Liechtenstein 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 50%
 Lithuania 5 3 0 2 15 5 +10 60%
 Luxembourg 5 4 0 1 12 4 +8 80%
 Macedonia 4 3 0 1 11 2 +9 75%
 Malaysia 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100%
 Malta 7 4 2 1 9 5 +4 57%
 Mexico 4 0 1 3 2 7 -5 0%
 Moldova 4 2 1 1 7 5 +2 50%
 Morocco 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0%
 Netherlands 14 1 2 11 14 43 −29 7%
 North Korea 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 100%
 Northern Ireland 7 3 1 3 11 9 +2 43%
 Norway 61 9 14 38 77 172 −95 15%
 Oman 6 3 3 0 7 2 +5 50%
 Peru 1 0 0 1 3 7 −4 0%
 Poland 30 3 8 19 28 71 −43 10%
 Portugal 10 1 4 5 6 14 −8 10%
 Qatar 4 1 3 0 4 3 +1 25%
 Romania 10 0 3 7 4 26 −22 0%
 Russia 20 1 5 14 13 66 −53 5%
 San Marino 4 4 0 0 15 0 +15 100%
 Saudi Arabia 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 50%
 Scotland 8 0 2 6 5 18 −13 0%
 Serbia 9 2 2 5 10 30 −20 40%
 Slovakia 3 0 1 2 1 4 −3 0%
 Slovenia 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 50%
 South Korea 3 3 0 0 5 0 +5 100%
 Spain 8 1 2 5 5 16 −11 13%
 Sweden 87 10 11 66 95 292 −197 11%
  Switzerland 5 2 0 3 5 7 −2 40%
 Thailand 5 5 0 0 12 6 +6 100%
 Trinidad and Tobago 5 3 1 1 8 7 +1 60%
 Tunisia 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 67%
 Turkey 13 6 3 4 20 20 0 46%
 United Arab Emirates 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0%
 United States 2 0 0 2 1 3 -2 0%
 Uruguay 2 0 0 2 1 8 -7 0%
 Wales 12 4 4 4 12 17 -5 33%

World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did Not Enter
Italy 1934
France 1938 Did Not Qualify 3 0 0 3 0 7
Brazil 1950 Withdrew during qualifying
Switzerland 1954 Did Not Qualify 4 0 2 2 7 13
Sweden 1958 4 0 0 4 2 19
Chile 1962 4 0 0 4 3 12
England 1966 6 1 0 5 5 20
Mexico 1970 6 1 0 5 6 28
West Germany 1974 6 1 1 4 3 21
Argentina 1978 6 2 0 4 11 16
Spain 1982 8 1 0 7 4 27
Mexico 1986 8 3 2 3 7 12
Italy 1990 6 1 1 4 4 16
United States 1994 10 2 1 7 9 18
France 1998 8 3 2 3 11 12
South KoreaJapan 2002 8 3 3 2 12 7
Germany 2006 12 5 1 6 21 19
South Africa 2010 10 5 3 2 14 14
Brazil 2014 8 2 3 3 5 9
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022
Total 0/20 117 30 19 68 124 270

European Championship record

UEFA European Championship record UEFA Euro Championship Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Did Not Enter
Spain 1964
Italy 1968 Did Not Qualify 6 0 2 4 5 12
Belgium 1972 6 0 1 5 1 16
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 6 0 1 5 3 13
Italy 1980 6 2 2 2 10 15
France 1984 6 0 1 5 3 14
West Germany 1988 6 1 1 4 4 10
Sweden 1992 8 1 4 3 5 8
England 1996 10 5 0 5 18 18
Belgium Netherlands 2000 8 3 1 4 13 13
Portugal 2004 8 3 1 4 9 10
Austria Switzerland 2008 14 6 6 2 13 7
Poland Ukraine 2012 10 3 1 6 16 16
France 2016 To be determined
Total 0/14 94 24 21 49 100 152

Summer Olympics

Olympics record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Sweden 1912 Semi-finals 4th 4 2 0 2 5 16
Nazi Germany 1936 Round of 16 14th 1 0 0 1 3 7
Finland 1952 Round of 16 9th 1 0 0 1 3 4
Soviet Union 1980 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 3 2
Total 4/23 0 Titles 9 3 1 5 14 29

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

The fixtures were decided at a meeting held in Paris, France on 23 September 2011.[6]

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

Template:2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

Finland 0 – 1 France
Report Diaby 20'
Attendance: 35,111
Finland 1 – 1 Georgia
Hämäläinen 63'
Eremenko jr Red card 59'		 Report Kashia 56'
Attendance: 12,607
Spain 1 – 1 Finland
Ramos 49' Report Pukki 79'
Attendance: 27,637
Finland 1 – 0 Belarus
Hämäläinen 57' Report
Attendance: 24,916
Referee: Eli Hacmon (Israel)
Belarus 1 – 1 Finland
Verkhovtsov 85' Report Pukki 24'
Attendance: 10,100
Finland 0 – 2 Spain
Report Alba 19'
Negredo 86'
Attendance: 37,492
Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Georgia 0 – 1 Finland
Report Eremenko 74' (pen.)
Attendance: 25,321
France 3 – 0 Finland
Ribéry 8'
Toivio 76' (o.g.)
Benzema 87'		 Report
Attendance: 70,156

UEFA Euro 2016

Main article: UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group F


Faroe Islands 1–3 Finland
Holst 41' Report Riski 53', 78'
R. Eremenko 82'
Attendance: 3,330
Finland 1–1 Greece
Hurme 55' Report Karelis 24'
Attendance: 26,548
Finland 0–2 Romania
Ring Red card 56' Report Stancu 54' 84'
Attendance: 19,408
Hungary 1–0 Finland
Gera 82' Report
Northern Ireland v Finland
Report
Finland v Hungary
Report
Greece v Finland
Report
Finland v Faroe Islands
Report
Romania v Finland
Report
Finland v Northern Ireland
Report

Friendlies

Oman 0 – 0 Finland
Hungary 1 – 2 Finland
Rudolf 12' Pohjanpalo 74'
Eremenko 84' (pen.)
Attendance: 14,000
Finland 2 – 2 Czech Republic
Pukki 18', 20' Vydra 19'
Hušbauer 36'
Attendance: 6,547
Finland 0 – 1 Lithuania
Novikovas 42'
Attendance: 631
Finland 2 – 0 Estonia
Hetemaj 49'
Moren 87'
Attendance: 830
Slovakia 2 – 1 Finland
Holosko 1'
Hamsik 7'		 Hubocan 45' (o.g.)
Attendance: 3,950
Sweden 0 – 1 Finland
Ro. Riski 63'
Finland 0 – 0 Yemen

Results in 2014

Template:Fb rbr header Template:Fb rbr ground Template:Fb rbr result Template:Fb rbr footer

Goalscorers 2014

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Teemu Pukki Denmark Brøndby 2
Roman Eremenko Russia CSKA Moscow 2
Riku Riski Norway Rosenborg 2
2 Përparim Hetemaj Italy Chievo Verona 1
Valtteri Moren Finland HJK 1
Joel Pohjanpalo Germany Fortuna Düsseldorf 1

Current squad

The following players were selected for the friendly matches against Sweden on 19 January 2015 and against Yemen on 22 January 2015.[7][8] Players who have withdrawn from this squad are excluded.
Caps and goals as of 20 January 2015 after the game against Sweden.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Lukas Hradecky (1989-11-24) 24 November 1989 (age 34) 20 0 Denmark Brøndby
1GK Henrik Moisander (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 (age 38) 0 0 Finland Lahti
1GK Saku-Pekka Sahlgren (1992-04-08) 8 April 1992 (age 32) 0 0 Finland HJK
2DF Kari Arkivuo (1983-06-23) 23 June 1983 (age 41) 36 1 Sweden Häcken
2DF Veli Lampi (1984-07-18) 18 July 1984 (age 40) 32 0 Finland HJK
2DF Jere Uronen (1994-07-13) 13 July 1994 (age 30) 10 0 Sweden Helsingborg
2DF Ville Jalasto (1986-04-19) 19 April 1986 (age 38) 3 0 Norway Stabæk
2DF Tero Mäntylä (1991-04-18) 18 April 1991 (age 33) 2 0 Norway Aalesund
2DF Hannu Patronen (1984-05-23) 23 May 1984 (age 40) 3 0 Norway Sogndal
2DF Tapio Heikkilä (1990-04-09) 9 April 1990 (age 34) 1 0 Finland HJK
2DF Valtteri Moren (1991-06-15) 15 June 1991 (age 33) 2 1 Finland HJK
3MF Mika Väyrynen (1981-12-28) 28 December 1981 (age 42) 62 5 Finland HJK
3MF Tim Sparv (1987-02-20) 20 February 1987 (age 37) 44 1 Denmark Midtjylland
3MF Toni Kolehmainen (1988-07-20) 20 July 1988 (age 36) 10 3 Norway Hønefoss
3MF Rasmus Schüller (1991-06-18) 18 June 1991 (age 33) 10 0 Finland HJK
3MF Erfan Zeneli (1986-12-28) 28 December 1986 (age 37) 5 0 Finland HJK
3MF Sakari Mattila (1989-07-14) 14 July 1989 (age 35) 3 0 Norway Aalesund
3MF Petteri Forsell (1990-10-16) 16 October 1990 (age 33) 3 1 Finland IFK Mariehamn
3MF Johannes Laaksonen (1990-12-13) 13 December 1990 (age 33) 1 0 Finland SJK
3MF Robin Lod (1993-04-17) 17 April 1993 (age 31) 1 0 Finland HJK
4FW Teemu Pukki (1990-03-29) 29 March 1990 (age 34) 38 8 Denmark Brøndby
4FW Tim Väyrynen (1993-03-29) 29 March 1993 (age 31) 2 0 Germany Borussia Dortmund II
4FW Roope Riski (1991-08-16) 16 August 1991 (age 33) 1 1 Norway Hønefoss

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team in the last twelve months. Only players available for call-up, not retired players.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Niki Mäenpää (1985-01-23) 23 January 1985 (age 39) 24 0 Netherlands VVV-Venlo v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
GK Jesse Joronen (1993-03-21) 21 March 1993 (age 31) 1 0 England Fulham v.  Romania, 14 October 2014
GK Henri Sillanpää (1979-06-04) 4 June 1979 (age 45) 6 0 Finland VPS v.  Hungary, 5 March 2014
GK Walter Viitala (1992-01-09) 9 January 1992 (age 32) 0 0 Finland IFK Mariehamn v.  Oman, 24 January 2014
DF Niklas Moisander (captain) (1985-09-29) 29 September 1985 (age 38) 47 2 Netherlands Ajax v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
DF Joona Toivio (1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 36) 30 2 Norway Molde v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
DF Juhani Ojala (1989-06-19) 19 June 1989 (age 35) 14 0 Russia Terek Grozny v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
DF Jarkko Hurme (1986-06-04) 4 June 1986 (age 38) 11 1 Norway Odd v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
DF Sebastian Sorsa (1984-01-25) 25 January 1984 (age 40) 5 0 Finland HJK v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
DF Jukka Raitala (1988-09-15) 15 September 1988 (age 35) 24 0 Netherlands Heerenveen v.  Faroe Islands, 7 September 2014
DF Mikko Sumusalo (1990-03-12) 12 March 1990 (age 34) 3 1 Germany RB Leipzig v.  Czech Republic, 21 May 2014
MF Teemu Tainio (1979-11-27) 27 November 1979 (age 44) 64 6 Finland HJK v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Roman Eremenko (1987-03-19) 19 March 1987 (age 37) 65 5 Russia CSKA Moscow v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Kasper Hämäläinen (1986-08-08) 8 August 1986 (age 38) 43 7 Poland Lech Poznań v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Përparim Hetemaj (1986-12-12) 12 December 1986 (age 37) 34 4 Italy Chievo v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Riku Riski (1989-08-16) 16 August 1989 (age 35) 23 4 Norway Rosenborg v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Markus Halsti (1984-03-19) 19 March 1984 (age 40) 21 0 United States D.C. United v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Joni Kauko (1990-07-12) 12 July 1990 (age 34) 5 0 Germany FSV Frankfurt v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
MF Alexander Ring (1991-04-09) 9 April 1991 (age 33) 29 1 Germany Kaiserslautern v.  Romania, 14 October 2014
MF Nikolai Alho (1993-03-12) 12 March 1993 (age 31) 1 0 Finland HJK v.  Czech Republic, 21 May 2014
MF Mehmet Hetemaj (1987-12-08) 8 December 1987 (age 36) 3 0 Finland SJK v.  Hungary, 5 March 2014
MF Mika Ojala (1988-06-21) 21 June 1988 (age 36) 8 0 Finland Inter Turku v.  Oman, 24 January 2014
MF Sebastian Strandvall (1986-09-16) 16 September 1986 (age 37) 1 0 Finland VPS v.  Oman, 24 January 2014
FW Joel Pohjanpalo (1994-09-13) 13 September 1994 (age 29) 11 1 Germany Fortuna Düsseldorf v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
FW Eero Markkanen (1991-07-03) 3 July 1991 (age 33) 4 0 Spain Real Madrid Castilla v.  Slovakia, 18 November 2014
FW Timo Furuholm (1987-10-11) 11 October 1987 (age 36) 10 2 Germany Halle v.  Czech Republic, 21 May 2014
FW Berat Sadik (1986-09-14) 14 September 1986 (age 37) 8 0 Switzerland Thun v.  Hungary, 5 March 2014
FW Mikael Forssell (1981-03-15) 15 March 1981 (age 43) 87 29 Germany Bochum v.  Oman, 24 January 2014
FW Pekka Sihvola (1984-04-22) 22 April 1984 (age 40) 1 0 Finland HIFK v.  Oman, 24 January 2014

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Finland Mixu Paatelainen
Assistant coach Finland Markku Kanerva
Assistant coach Finland Mika Lehkosuo
Goalkeeping coach Finland Antti Niemi
Fitness coach Finland Mika Lehtimäki
Scout England Keith Armstrong
Technical analyst Finland Kari Ukkonen
U-21 coach Finland Mika Laurikainen
Team director Finland Lennart Wangel
Team doctor Finland Heikki Kinnunen
Masseur Finland Hannu Kanerva
Physiotherapist Finland Paavo Leiramo
Physiotherapist Finland Jari-Pekka Keurulainen
Kit manager Finland Jari Parikka
Media officer Finland Timo Walden

Player records

Most capped players

Rank Name Career Caps Goals
1 Jari Litmanen 1989–2010 137 32
2 Sami Hyypiä 1992–2010 105 5
Jonatan Johansson 1996–2010 105 22
4 Ari Hjelm 1983–1996 100 20
5 Joonas Kolkka 1994–2010 98 11
6 Mikael Forssell 1999– 87 29
7 Erkka Petäjä 1983–1994 84 0
8 Arto Tolsa 1964–1981 77 10
9 Hannu Tihinen 1997–2010 76 5
Petri Pasanen 2000– 76 1

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Career Goals Caps
1 Jari Litmanen 1989–2010 32 137
2 Mikael Forssell 1999– 29 87
3 Jonatan Johansson 1996–2010 22 105
4 Ari Hjelm 1983–1996 20 100
5 Mika-Matti Paatelainen 1986–2000 18 70
6 Verner Eklöf 1919–1927 17 32
7 Aulis Koponen 1924–1935 16 39
Gunnar Åström 1923–1937 16 44
9 Alexei Eremenko 2003– 14 57
10 Jorma Vaihela 1947–1954 13 33
William Kanerva 1922–1938 13 51
Kai Pahlman 1954–1968 13 56
  • Correct as of January 24, 2014
  • Players who are still active and available for selection are in bold

Managers

Last updated: 7 September 2014.

Tenure Nat Coach Record
G W D L Win %
1911–21 None 17 6 2 9 035.29
1922 Finland Jarl Öhman 4 1 0 3 025.00
1923–35 None 77 22 12 43 028.57
1936–37 Germany Ferdinand Fabra 8 1 1 6 012.50
1937–38 None 9 3 0 6 033.33
1939 Hungary Gábor Obitz 6 1 0 5 016.67
1939–43 None 7 0 1 6 000.00
1945 Sweden Axel Mårtensson 2 0 0 2 000.00
1946 Finland Niilo Tammisalo 3 0 0 3 000.00
1947–55 Finland Aatos Lehtonen 51 7 9 35 013.73
1955–58 Germany Kurt Weinreich 23 3 1 19 013.04
1959–61 Finland Aatos Lehtonen 19 3 0 16 015.79
1962–74 Finland Olavi Laaksonen 91 16 21 54 017.58
1975 Finland Martti Kosma 2 0 1 1 000.00
1975–78 Finland Aulis Rytkönen 30 8 4 18 026.67
1979–81 Finland Esko Malm 27 4 6 17 014.81
1982–87 Finland Martti Kuusela 53 9 11 33 016.98
1988–92 Finland Jukka Vakkila 48 7 21 20 014.58
1993–94 Finland Tommy Lindholm 25 5 7 13 020.00
1994–96 Finland Jukka Ikäläinen 21 7 4 10 033.33
1996–99 Denmark Richard Møller Nielsen 34 9 12 13 026.47
2000–05 Finland Antti Muurinen 72 34 12 26 047.22
2005 Finland Jyrki Heliskoski (caretaker) 6 2 2 2 033.33
2006–07 England Roy Hodgson 22 6 11 5 027.27
2008–10 England Stuart Baxter 31 8 6 17 025.81
2010 Finland Olli Huttunen (caretaker) 1 1 0 0 100.00
2011 Finland Markku Kanerva (caretaker) 2 0 1 1 000.00
2011–Present Finland Mixu Paatelainen 36 16 9 11 044.44
Total 727 179 154 394 024.62

Kit supplier

Finland's kit are currently supplied by American brand Nike, Inc. They replaced German company Adidas who supplied Finland's kits between 1979 to 2014.

See also

References

  1. ^ Palkittu Bubi käväisi yllättäen palkitsemistilaisuudessa HS.fi – Kaupunki
  2. ^ a b c "World Football Elo Ratings: Finland". World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
  3. ^ rsssf Nordic championship 1964–66.
  4. ^ Hodgson to return for Inter role BBC Sport, 1 December 2007
  5. ^ Suomen Palloliitto – Etusivu Template:Fi icon
  6. ^ "Составлен календарь матчей отборочного http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Finland_national_football_team&action=editраунда ЧМ-2014" (in Russian). Belarus Football Federation. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 2 November 2011. {{cite news}}: External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ A-maajoukkue Ruotsia ja Sudania vastaan
  8. ^ Huuhkajille uusi vastustaja
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