Finland national football team
Nickname(s) |
Huuhkajat (The Eagle-owls)[1] | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association |
Football Association of Finland (Suomen Palloliitto) (Finlands Bollförbund) | ||
Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
Head coach | Markku Kanerva | ||
Captain | Niklas Moisander | ||
Most caps | Jari Litmanen (137) | ||
Top scorer | Jari Litmanen (32) | ||
Home stadium | Helsinki Olympic Stadium | ||
FIFA code | FIN | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 110 2 (6 July 2017) | ||
Highest | 33 (March 2007) | ||
Lowest | 110 (July 2017) | ||
Elo ranking | |||
Current | 74 (7 May 2017) | ||
Highest | 30[2] (March 2002) | ||
Lowest | 125[2] (1962-3) | ||
First international | |||
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) | |||
Baltic Cup | |||
Appearances | 2 (first in 2012) | ||
Best result | Runners-up, 2012 |
The Finland national football team (Finnish: Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, Swedish: Finlands 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. Unfortunately, after a few years of bad performances, they dipped to a FIFA ranking of 101, their lowest in history.
Finland has also participated on two occasions in the European sub-regional Baltic Cup championship, which takes place every two years between the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Finland's best result in the Baltic Cup tournament was in 2012 when they finished as runners-up. In 2014 Finland finished the tournament in third place.
Early history
The Football Association of Finland was founded in 1907 and became a member of FIFA in 1908. At the time, Finland was an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire. Finland played its first international on 22 October 1911, as Sweden beat the Finns at the Eläintarha 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
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.[3] Both sides had their own championship series, and between 1919–1939 the Finland national team was selected of the Football Association players only. The Finnish Workers' Sports Federation football team in turn, participated the competitions of the international labour movement.[4]
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.[4] 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 to the national team and finally in 1956, the TUL and Football Association series were merged.[4]
Post-war years
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.[5]
Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since the 1968 event, but had to wait for its first win until 1978.
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.[6] His replacement was a Scotsman, Stuart Baxter, who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign.[7]
Recent history
At the time when Finland was competing in Euro 2008 qualifying for a place in the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament, Finland was at the point of their "golden generation", with a team consisting of players such as Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä, Mikael Forssell, Hannu Tihinen, Petri Pasanen, Joonas Kolkka, Mika Väyrynen and Teemu Tainio. With this squad Finland was closer to reach the tournament stage than ever before. Finland would only have needed three more points (one more win) from the Euro 2008 qualifying to reach the Euro 2008 competition. Finland was placed in Group A 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. On early June they lost to Serbia 2–0 at home. 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 the last game, the away game against Portugal, to be able to qualify. 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 the position of 33rd.
In 2010 World cup qualification campaign Finland 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.
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, however they lost 2–0 with goals coming from Jordi Alba and Álvaro 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.
Stadia
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. During reconstruction of Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2016–19 Ratina Stadion serves as the main stadium for qualifying games.
Competitive record
All–time record against all nations
This list is Finland national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches.[8] As of 24 March 2017
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 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 20 | −1 | 36% |
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 PR | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 25% |
Colombia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0% |
Costa Rica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0% |
Croatia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −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 | 31 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 71 | 40 | +31 | 44% |
Faroe Islands | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +13 | 100% |
France | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 0% |
Georgia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 50% |
Germany | 23 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 19 | 82 | −63 | 4% |
Greece | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 25 | −7 | 29% |
Honduras | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100% |
Hungary | 17 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 15 | 48 | −32 | 18% |
Iceland | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 14 | +6 | 50% |
India | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 50% |
Indonesia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0% |
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 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 32 | −25 | 8% |
Japan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0% |
Kazakhstan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +6 | 67% |
Kosovo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
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 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0% |
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 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 50% |
Netherlands | 14 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 14 | 43 | −29 | 7% |
North Korea | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100% |
Northern Ireland | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 37% |
Norway | 62 | 9 | 13 | 38 | 73 | 168 | −95 | 15% |
Oman | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 2 | +5 | 50% |
Peru | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 0% |
Poland | 29 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 25 | 67 | −42 | 10% |
Portugal | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 10% |
Qatar | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 25% |
Romania | 11 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 27 | −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 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0% |
Spain | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 13% |
Sweden | 88 | 11 | 11 | 66 | 96 | 292 | −196 | 12% |
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 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 46% |
United Arab Emirates | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 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% |
Yemen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
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 | ||
1930 | Did Not Enter | |||||||||||||||
1934 | ||||||||||||||||
1938 | Did Not Qualify | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||
1950 | Withdrew during qualifying | |||||||||||||||
1954 | Did Not Qualify | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 | |||||||||
1958 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 19 | ||||||||||
1962 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 12 | ||||||||||
1966 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 20 | ||||||||||
1970 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 28 | ||||||||||
1974 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 21 | ||||||||||
1978 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | ||||||||||
1982 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 27 | ||||||||||
1986 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | ||||||||||
1990 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 16 | ||||||||||
1994 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||
1998 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 12 | ||||||||||
2002 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 7 | ||||||||||
2006 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 19 | ||||||||||
2010 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 14 | ||||||||||
2014 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | ||||||||||
2018 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | ||||||||||
2022 | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
Total | 0/21 | 123 | 30 | 20 | 73 | 128 | 280 | |||||||||
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 | ||
1960 | Did Not Enter | |||||||||||||||
1964 | ||||||||||||||||
1968 | Did Not Qualify | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | |||||||||
1972 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 16 | ||||||||||
1976 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 | ||||||||||
1980 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 15 | ||||||||||
1984 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | ||||||||||
1988 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 10 | ||||||||||
1992 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||
1996 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 18 | ||||||||||
2000 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 13 | ||||||||||
2004 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||
2008 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 7 | ||||||||||
2012 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 16 | ||||||||||
2016 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | ||||||||||
2020 | To be determined | |||||||||||||||
Total | 0/15 | 104 | 27 | 24 | 53 | 109 | 162 | |||||||||
Summer Olympics
Olympics record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
1912 | Fourth Place | 4th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 16 |
1936 | Round of 16 | 14th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
1952 | Round of 16 | 9th | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
1980 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Total | 4/23 | 0 Titles | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 29 |
2018 FIFA World Cup
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Croatia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 13 | Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6 Oct | 2 Sep | |
2 | Iceland | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | Possible second round[lower-alpha 1] | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 5 Sep | 3–2 | 9 Oct | |
3 | Turkey | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 11 | 5 Sep | 6 Oct | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | ||
4 | Ukraine | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 11 | 9 Oct | 1–1 | 2 Sep | — | 1–0 | 3–0 | ||
5 | Finland (E) | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 1 | 0–1 | 2 Sep | 9 Oct | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | ||
6 | Kosovo (E) | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 1 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 6 Oct | 5 Sep | — |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated.
Notes:
- ↑ The eight best runners-up across all groups will advance to the second round (play-offs). The ninth-ranked runners-up will be eliminated.
Iceland | 3–2 | Finland |
---|---|---|
Árnason 37' Finnbogason 90+1' R. Sigurðsson 90+6' |
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Pukki 21' Lod 39' |
Friendlies
Current squad
The following players have been called up for the friendly match against Liechtenstein on 7 June 2017 and for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Ukraine on 11 June 2017.[9][10]
Caps and goals as of 11 June 2017 after the game against Ukraine.
Recent call-ups
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 | Walter Viitala | 9 January 1992 | 1 | 0 | Viborg | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
GK | Mika Hilander | 17 August 1983 | 1 | 0 | Ilves | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
GK | Markus Uusitalo | 15 May 1997 | 0 | 0 | HJK | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
GK | Niki Mäenpää | 23 January 1985 | 26 | 0 | Brighton & Hove Albion | v. Ukraine, 12 November 2016 INJ |
DF | Joona Toivio | 10 March 1988 | 40 | 2 | Molde | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
DF | Paulus Arajuuri | 15 June 1988 | 21 | 1 | Brøndby | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
DF | Mikko Sumusalo | 12 March 1990 | 5 | 1 | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
DF | Albin Granlund | 1 September 1989 | 1 | 0 | IFK Mariehamn | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
DF | Kristian Kojola | 12 September 1986 | 0 | 0 | IFK Mariehamn | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
DF | Ville Jalasto | 19 April 1986 | 8 | 0 | HJK | v. Italy, 6 June 2016 |
MF | Përparim Hetemaj | 12 December 1986 | 46 | 4 | Chievo | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
MF | Alexander Ring | 9 April 1991 | 42 | 1 | New York City | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
MF | Rasmus Schüller | 18 June 1991 | 21 | 0 | HJK | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
MF | Sakari Mattila | 14 July 1989 | 13 | 0 | SønderjyskE | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
MF | Petteri Forsell | 16 October 1990 | 8 | 1 | Cracovia | v. Austria, 28 March 2017 |
MF | Tim Sparv | 20 February 1987 | 54 | 1 | Midtjylland | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
MF | Joni Kauko | 12 July 1990 | 8 | 0 | Randers | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
MF | Matej Hradecky | 17 April 1995 | 2 | 0 | SJK | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
MF | Simon Skrabb | 19 January 1995 | 2 | 0 | IFK Norrköping | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
MF | Robert Taylor | 21 October 1994 | 1 | 0 | AIK | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
MF | Roman Eremenko* | 19 March 1987 | 73 | 5 | CSKA Moscow | v. Croatia, 9 October 2016 |
MF | Mika Ojala | 21 June 1988 | 8 | 0 | VfR Aalen | v. Italy, 6 June 2016 |
FW | Tim Väyrynen | 29 March 1993 | 7 | 0 | Hansa Rostock | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
FW | Roope Riski | 16 August 1991 | 5 | 1 | SC Paderborn 07 | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
FW | Akseli Pelvas | 8 February 1989 | 4 | 0 | HJK | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
FW | Jasse Tuominen | 12 November 1995 | 1 | 0 | BATE Borisov | v. Morocco, 9 January 2017 |
- INJ = Withdrew due to an injury.
- * = Eremenko is suspended from competitive football until December 2018.
Coaching staff
Position | Name |
---|---|
Head coach | Markku Kanerva |
Assistant coach | Simo Valakari |
Assistant coach | Kari Martonen |
Goalkeeping coach | Antti Niemi |
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 | 1999–2014 | 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 | 2000–2013 | 76 | 1 | |
10 | Toni Kuivasto | 1997–2009 | 75 | 1 |
Top goalscorers
Rank | Name | Career | Goals | Caps |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jari Litmanen | 1989–2010 | 32 | 137 |
2 | Mikael Forssell | 1999–2014 | 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 | 2003–2013 | 14 | 57 |
10 | Jorma Vaihela | 1947–1954 | 13 | 33 |
William Kanerva | 1922–1938 | 13 | 51 | |
Kai Pahlman | 1954–1968 | 13 | 56 |
- Correct as of March 24, 2017
- Players who are still active and available for selection are in bold
Managers
Last updated: 13 Oct 2015.
- Sortable table available in Finnish Wikipedia: Finland national football team.
Tenure | Nat | Coach | Record | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
1911–21 | None | 17 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 35.29 | ||||
1922 | Jarl Öhman | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25.00 | ||||
1923–35 | None | 77 | 22 | 12 | 43 | 28.57 | ||||
1936–37 | Ferdinand Fabra | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12.50 | ||||
1937–38 | None | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 33.33 | ||||
1939 | Gábor Obitz | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 16.67 | ||||
1939–43 | None | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.00 | ||||
1945 | Axel Mårtensson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | ||||
1946 | Niilo Tammisalo | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | ||||
1947–55 | Aatos Lehtonen | 51 | 7 | 9 | 35 | 13.73 | ||||
1955–58 | Kurt Weinreich | 23 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 13.04 | ||||
1959–61 | Aatos Lehtonen | 19 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 15.79 | ||||
1962–74 | Olavi Laaksonen | 91 | 16 | 21 | 54 | 17.58 | ||||
1975 | Martti Kosma | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | ||||
1975–78 | Aulis Rytkönen | 30 | 8 | 4 | 18 | 26.67 | ||||
1979–81 | Esko Malm | 27 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 14.81 | ||||
1982–87 | Martti Kuusela | 53 | 9 | 11 | 33 | 16.98 | ||||
1988–92 | Jukka Vakkila | 48 | 7 | 21 | 20 | 14.58 | ||||
1993–94 | Tommy Lindholm | 25 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 20.00 | ||||
1994–96 | Jukka Ikäläinen | 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 33.33 | ||||
1996–99 | Richard Møller Nielsen | 34 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 26.47 | ||||
2000–05 | Antti Muurinen | 72 | 34 | 12 | 26 | 47.22 | ||||
2005 | Jyrki Heliskoski (caretaker) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 33.33 | ||||
2006–07 | Roy Hodgson | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 27.27 | ||||
2008–10 | Stuart Baxter | 31 | 8 | 6 | 17 | 25.81 | ||||
2010 | Olli Huttunen (caretaker) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | ||||
2011 | Markku Kanerva (caretaker) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | ||||
2011–2015 | Mixu Paatelainen | 43 | 17 | 11 | 15 | 39.53 | ||||
2015 | Markku Kanerva (caretaker) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 60.00 | ||||
2016 | Hans Backe | 11 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0.00 | ||||
2016– | Markku Kanerva | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | ||||
Total | 749 | 182 | 160 | 407 | 24.30 |
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 and 2014.
See also
- Finland national under-21 football team
- Finland national under-19 football team
- Finland national under-17 football team
- Finland women's national football team
- Football in Finland
- Åland Islands national football team
- Sápmi national football team
References
- ↑ Palkittu Bubi käväisi yllättäen palkitsemistilaisuudessa HS.fi – Kaupunki
- 1 2 3 "World Football Elo Ratings: Finland". World Football Elo Ratings. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ↑ Andersen, Svein S.; Ronglan, Lars Tore (2012). Nordic Elite Sports: Same Ambitions - Different Tracks. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press. pp. 85–88. ISBN 978-876-30024-5-5.
- 1 2 3 Syrjäläinen, Antti (2008). Miksi siksi loikkariksi? Huippu-urheilijoiden loikkaukset TUL:sta SVUL:oon 1919–1939. Joensuu: University of Joensuu. pp. 45–47. ISBN 978-952-21913-7-3.
- ↑ rsssf Nordic championship 1964–66.
- ↑ Hodgson to return for Inter role BBC Sport, 1 December 2007
- ↑ Suomen Palloliitto – Etusivu (in Finnish)
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
- ↑ Huuhkajat nimetty kesäkuun otteluihin
- ↑ Pirinen täydentää Huuhkajaryhmän
- ↑ Markku Kanerva A-maajoukkueen päävalmentajaksi
- ↑ Kari Martonen Huuhkajien valmennusryhmään
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finland national football team. |
- Official website (in Finnish)
- RSSSF archive of results 1911–
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches
- The Finnish National Team Supporters' Association
- Reports for all official matches