Men's association football team
The
Finland national football team
(
Finnish
:
Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue
,
Swedish
:
Finlands fotbollslandslag
) represents
Finland
in men's international
football
competitions and is controlled by the
Football Association of Finland
, the governing body for
football in Finland
, which was founded in 1907. The team has been a member of
FIFA
since 1908 and a
UEFA
member since 1957.
Finland had never qualified for a major tournament until securing a spot at
UEFA Euro 2020
.
[5]
After decades of average results and campaigns, the nation made progress in the 2000s, achieving notable results against established European teams and reaching a peak of 33rd in the
FIFA World Rankings
in 2007. Afterward, their performances and results declined, drawing them to their all-time low of 110th in the FIFA Rankings in 2017. Seven years after their all-time low in the FIFA Rankings, as of April 2024, they sit at 61st place in the overall ranking.
[6]
History
[
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]
Early history
[
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]
The
Football Association of Finland
was founded in 1907 and became a member of
FIFA
the next year. At the time, Finland was an
autonomous grand duchy
ruled by the
Russian Emperors
. Finland played its first international on 22 October 1911, as
Sweden
beat the Finns at the
Elaintarha Stadium
in Helsinki. Finland participated the
1912 Summer Olympics
in Stockholm, beating
Italy
and the
Russian Empire
, but losing the bronze medal match against the
Netherlands
.
Period of dispersion
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After the 1918
Civil War
, the Finnish sports movement was divided into the right-wing Finnish Gymnastics and Sports Federation (SVUL) and the leftist
Finnish Workers' Sports Federation
(TUL), Finnish Football Association was a member of the SVUL.
[7]
Both sides had their own championship series, and between 1919 and 1939 the Finland national team was selected of the Football Association players only. The
Finnish Workers' Sports Federation football team
in turn, participated in the competitions of the international labour movement.
[8]
However, since the late 1920s several top footballers defected from TUL and joined the Football Association to be eligible for the national team. During the 1930s, these ″defectors″ formed the spine of the national team. For example, the Finland squad at the
1936 Summer Olympics
was composed of eight former TUL players.
[8]
In 1937, Finland participated the FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time, losing all three matches against Sweden,
Germany
and
Estonia
.
Since 1939, TUL players were selected for the national team and finally, in 1956, the TUL and Football Association series were merged.
[8]
Post-war years
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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.
[9]
Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the
1968 event
, but had to wait for its first win until 1978.
Late 20th century
[
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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
Ajax
superstar
Jari Litmanen
.
[10]
In 1996,
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, the 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 their qualification campaign was 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 Hyypia
,
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 to 30th in the Elo ranking
[4]
). 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 Englishman
Roy Hodgson
would become the new Finland coach in 2006, and he started the job in January of that year. Hodgson stepped down as manager after they failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
[11]
His replacement was a Scotsman,
Stuart Baxter
, who signed a contract until the end of the
2012 European Championship
qualification campaign.
[12]
Recent history
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In the
Euro 2008 qualifying
Finland needed to win their last qualifying game away to Portugal to qualify for their first major football tournament. However, the match ended 0?0 meaning the team missed out on qualification to the tournament, with Finland ending the group stage with 24 points and Portugal with 27 points. However, the performance in qualifying led to the Finns gaining their best-ever FIFA world ranking to date at 33rd.
The
2010 World Cup qualifying campaign
under new head coach Stuart Baxter saw Finland again finish 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; in both the home and away matches Finland had led Germany only to concede late equalizers. Finland finished a disappointing fourth in
Euro 2012 qualifying
, with only three wins, two of them against minnows
San Marino
.
In the
2014 World Cup qualifying campaign
, Finland's best result was a 1?1 draw at reigning world champions
Spain
. They finished third in the five-team Group I, behind Spain and
France
. Finland finished fourth in
Euro 2016 qualifying
but achieved another noteworthy result.
Joel Pohjanpalo
's goal gave the Finns a 1?0 win at former European champions
Greece
, who had reached the second round of the 2014 World Cup and were the top seeds of their qualifying group.
The
2018 World Cup qualifying campaign
saw Finland finish a disappointing fifth in their group with only two wins, although one of them was over
Iceland
, who finished top of the qualifying group.
On 15 November 2019, Finland managed to qualify to the first major tournament,
UEFA Euro 2020
, in their history after defeating
Liechtenstein
3?0.
[13]
[5]
The successful qualifying campaign in
Group J
, was aided by a distinctive performance of
Teemu Pukki
, who scored ten goals in the qualifications.
[14]
On 12 June 2021 in the
Euro 2020
Finland had their first victory on their debut in a major tournament finals,
Joel Pohjanpalo
scored the only goal, a header in a 1?0 win over
Denmark
to grant his country their first goal and win in a major competition.
[15]
Unfortunately, having lost the next two games from both
Russia
and
Belgium
to finish third, Finland was eliminated from the group stage alongside fellow debutants
North Macedonia
as a result of their poor performance after being edged out by fourth placed team
Ukraine
among third place teams due to goal difference.
Home stadiums
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Most of Finland's 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,
Pallokentta
in Helsinki was mainly used.
Today, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies are hosted at the
Tampere Stadium
in
Tampere
and
Veritas Stadion
in
Turku
. Helsinki's
Bolt Arena
, which has
artificial turf
, is also used for some friendlies and qualifiers. During the reconstruction of Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2016?20, Tampere Stadium served as the main stadium for qualifying games.
Kits and crest
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Finland's kit are currently supplied by American brand
Nike
. They replaced German company
Adidas
, who supplied Finland's kits between 1979 and 2013.
Kit supplier
|
Period
|
Adidas
|
1979?2013
|
Nike
|
2014?present
|
Results and fixtures
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The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
2023
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2024
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Coaching staff
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]
[16]
[17]
[18]
Coaching history
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- As of 7 September 2023
.
Players
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Current squad
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The following players were called up for friendlies against
Portugal
and
Scotland
on 4 and 7 June 2024, respectively.
[19]
[20]
Caps and goals as of 7 June 2024, after the match against
Scotland
.
Recent call-ups
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The following players have been called up for the team within the last twelve months and are still available for selection.
Player records
[
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]
- As of 7 June 2024
[21]
Players still active are highlighted in blue
Most appearances
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Top goalscorers
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Competitive record
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FIFA World Cup
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UEFA European Championship
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UEFA Nations League
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Olympic Games
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Baltic Cup
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Baltic Cup
record
|
Year
|
Result
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2012
|
Runners-up
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
2014
|
Third place
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
Total
|
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
5
|
3
|
Head-to-head record
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This list is Finland national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches.
[22]
- As of 4 June 2024
[23]
Opponent
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
Win %
|
All Nations
|
777
|
207
|
157
|
413
|
921
|
1,615
|
?694
|
0
26.64
|
Honours
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Minor tournaments
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See also
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References
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External links
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General
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Venues
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Players
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Goals
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UEFA European Championship
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Other tournaments
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Other SPL teams
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European Championship squads
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European Championship finalists
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