History at UEFA Euro

For the first time in history, Finland are going to participate in the UEFA European Championship. The biggest accomplishment in Finland’s football history came after the team secured the second spot in Group J of UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers with one fixture remaining. Putting an end to the barren years, Huuhkajat (The Eagle-owls) now believe that their time has come. They came close to succeeding in qualifying for the European Championship before back in 2008 but they came up short although their campaign led them to climb the FIFA world rankings up to the 33rd position. On November 19th of 2019 though, they finally made history by defeating Liechtenstein with a decisive 3-0 victory.

Records & Rankings

Most caps: Jari Litmanen – 137 Times
Most goals: Jari Litmanen – 32 Goals
Largest win: 10-2 against Estonia (28 February 2001) / 8-0 against San Marino (17 November 2010)
Largest win at European Championship: –
Most consecutive games without a defeat: 10 games – Between 2001 and 2002
Most consecutive wins: 5 – In 2018
Highest FIFA Ranking: 33rd

Ones to watch

Teemu Pukki:

Teemu Pukki is without a doubt this team’s key player. Finland are dependent on the 30-year-old striker who had a great campaign in Premier League in the previous season. He is currently playing for Norwich in the Championship. Pukki scored 10 goals in the qualification round, which shows how fundamental of a role he is playing for his country. His scoring skills will be greatly needed in the group stages of Euro 2020 as well. Pukki has made 82 appearances for his country and has scored 25 goals so far. He is close to overtaking Litmanen’s spot for the most goals scored in Finland’s history.

Lukas Hradecky:

Hradecky’s presence alone boosts Finland’s confidence as we saw in the qualifying round. The team conceded 10 goals in 10 occasions in Group J and it was mainly because of the harmony between the defenders and the goalkeeper of Finland. Playing for Leverkusen at the moment, Hradecky is one of the most valuable pieces of his national team. He has so far played 61 games at the international level.

Fredrik Jensen:

Every team needs a creative midfielder who will feed their strikers with key passes. Fredrik Jensen has been successfully playing this role for his country for several years. Although he is fairly young, he has enough experience to display his skills at the most competitive level of football. Finland fans expect great things from him at this tournament, which we are sure he will respond with a series of decisive performances. The 23-year-old midfielder has been capped 15 times and has scored 6 goals for his country.

If you are interested in the other participants of Group B, check the full review.