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93-456: The SPL organises the men's and women's national football teams, and the second to ninth tiers of national football. The premier division Veikkausliiga is organized by a distinct organisation. The SPL is based in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki . The SPL has more than 1,000 member clubs and approximately 140,000 registered players. The Finnish Gallup survey has indicated that football

186-578: A 5–0 loss against Sweden. Finland eventually finished fourth in its group with only three wins, two of them against San Marino. Paatelainen's deal with the Finnish FA extended until 2016, covering the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, and also the next 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification and the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers . As Finland was already eliminated from UEFA Euro 2012 , his main task was to renew

279-513: A 6–0 defeat. The game took place on a grass surface, which was a first for the Estonians. The Estonian Football Association was founded on 14 December 1921 and affiliated with FIFA in 1923 joining Yugoslavia, Latvia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey and Uruguay. Estonia's only participation in a major tournament took place at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Estonians lost their only match in

372-601: A goals record of three scored and 31 against. The biggest defeats came from abroad against Croatia (7–1) and Lithuania (5–0). From 14 October 1993 to 5 October 1996 Estonia played without a victory for almost three years and by February 1996 the team had sunk to 135 in the FIFA World Rankings . Public interest was at a low. In the autumn of 1994 when Estonia hosted Italy at the Kadrioru Stadium only 3000 people came to watch. Results improved with

465-645: A group of six. 2009 was declared the 100th anniversary of Estonian football. The final matches for record cap holder Martin Reim (6 June versus Equatorial Guinea ) and long-standing goalkeeper Mart Poom were held (against Portugal on 10 June). Sajandi mäng (English: Match of the Century ) was the first ever match versus Brazil , who had arrived in Tallinn as the FIFA World Rankings leaders, and also

558-466: A low ranking place. Kanerva had renewed the roster, as veterans including Perparim Hetemaj , Niklas Moisander and Alexander Ring , had announced their retirement from international duty. Roman Eremenko was also not available for national team anymore due to a competition ban. With a help of goalscoring by Teemu Pukki and saves by captain goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky , Finland won their League C Group 2, on top of Hungary , Greece and Estonia , and won

651-473: 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 July 2024, they sit at 63rd place in the overall ranking. The Football Association of Finland was founded in 1907 and became a member of FIFA the next year. At

744-459: A promotion to League B for the next edition of UEFA Nations League. Kanerva continued to get outstanding results with the team in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualification , and on 15 November 2019, Finland qualified to the country's first ever major tournament, UEFA Euro 2020 , after defeating Liechtenstein 3–0, and finishing as the Group J runner-up behind Italy . The successful qualifying campaign

837-423: A weaker goal difference. Estonia scored four goals and conceded sixteen. Estonia also entered the qualifying tournament for Euro 2000 . This time round the Estonians recorded three wins and two draws in their group, with fifteen goals scored and seventeen conceded. The team also found themselves in the same group as Scotland, this time losing 3–2 away but drawing 0–0 at home. The Estonian magazine Sporditäht, placed

930-871: Is a popular pastime with around 500,000 Finns interested in the sport. The SPL is Finland's largest amateur sports federation. The association was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until Finland's Bandy Association was founded in 1972. In 1928, it also arranged the first Finland ice hockey championship, before the 1929 establishment of the Finnish Ice Hockey Association . The association publishes several magazines, including now-defunct monthly magazine Futari . Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( Finnish : Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue , Swedish : Finlands fotbollslandslag ) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and

1023-757: Is also Estonia's largest football stadium. Lilleküla Stadium is also the home of FC Flora . Their previous home ground was the Kadriorg Stadium, which opened in June 1926 with a 3–1 victory over Lithuania. The Kadriorg holds 5,000 seats and in contrast to the Lilleküla Stadium, stages athletics events on a regular basis. 1992–2000 Estonia have also staged friendly matches away from Tallinn in Kohtla-Järve , Kuressaare , Narva , Pärnu , Rakvere , Tartu , Valga and Viljandi . The kit of

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1116-671: Is controlled by the Estonian Football Association , the governing body for football in Estonia . Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium in the capital city Tallinn . The national team's first ever match was held against Finland in 1920 and resulted in 6–0 defeat. Estonian footballers have participated only once in the Olympic Games, when they played a single match in the 1924 Olympic Games' final tournament in Paris, France. They were defeated 1–0 by

1209-537: 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 . After decades of average results and campaigns, the nation made progress in the 2000s, achieving notable results against established European teams and reaching

1302-480: Is only a puppet leader of the national team until the 2024 Veikkausliiga season is finished and then a current assistant coach Jani Honkavaara, also a current manager of Veikkausliiga club KuPS , can be named a sole head coach of the national team. There is also a conflict of interest of Finnish FA president Ari Lahti , who happens to be also the owner of KuPS. Finland finished the Nations League campaign at

1395-602: The 1968 event , but had to wait for its first win until 1978. 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 . In 1996, Euro 1992 -winning coach Richard Møller Nielsen

1488-418: The Estonian Football Association (EFA) an ultimatum signed by 25 players which stated that "only those who have acquired Estonian citizenship on the basis of legal continuity should be included in the national team". In July of the same year FIFA gave the right to represent Estonia to 97 non-citizens who were according to EFA born in Estonia and were in the process of acquiring Estonian citizenship. In October

1581-607: The FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championship . The team has reached the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying play-offs , by finishing second in their qualifying group, before being drawn up against Ireland for a play-off tie, making 2011 the " annus mirabilis of Estonian football". They have since repeated this feat by qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs through being the best group winner in 2022–23 UEFA Nations League D . Estonia has also participated in

1674-474: The floodlighting inadequate. This matter was raised with the officials who agreed with their concerns. In protest, the Estonians failed to show up, which kicked off only to be stopped seconds later. At the end of qualifying, the Estonians finished fifth in a field of six teams on a total of four points ahead of Belarus. This was the first time the Belarusians finished last in a qualifying campaign, and had

1767-402: The qualifying rounds for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , under the supervision of Dutchman and assistant coach of Pijpers Jelle Goes , after Pijpers left the post in 2004. Five wins, two draws and five losses gave them 17 points in their qualification group and fourth place. The team were placed ahead of Latvia, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying was not as successful, which seen

1860-484: The 1970s, the game lost popularity in Estonia and the sport was mainly played by the Russian immigrant community. Estonian football-life was relaunched in mid-70s by the attempts of Roman Ubakivi , who formed Estonian-language training groups. The most notable team was Lõvid (English: Lions ) in 1980–1989, who were coached by Ubakivi and Olev Reim. Several players, such as Mart Poom and Martin Reim , became part of

1953-550: The 1998 events between the pair in their top ten sporting events. On 31 March 1999 the Estonians defeated Lithuania 2–1 in Vilnius. Estonia remained a theoretical possibility to qualify for their first major tournament. Despite failing to qualify, they still set themselves a then team record of 11 points. Their meeting with Scotland on 8 September 1999 was a 5,000 sell-out at the Kadriorg. Head coach Teitur Thordarson resigned at

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2046-582: The Baltic Cup for the 4th time, beating Latvia 2–1 at home, and it's the first time after 83 years, since 1938. Home games are played in Tallinn at the Lilleküla Stadium since 2001, its capacity is about 14,400. The stadium borrows its name from its sponsor A. Le Coq , a major Estonian brewery. The stadium was opened on 2 June 2001, for the sold-out World Cup qualifier versus the Netherlands. This

2139-591: The Estonian SSR had its own representative team, but because of the occupation it did not take part of international competitions. Between 1948 and 1976, the Baltic Cup was held 19 times, which The Byelorussian SSR won a few times and the Estonian SSR five times. From 1969 to 1982, Soviet-occupied Estonia was the only Soviet "union republic" not participating in the Soviet Union's football league. During

2232-522: The Estonian national team (home games) traditionally consists of a blue shirt, black shorts and white socks, while a change strip (away games), is that of a white shirt, black shorts and blue socks. Before 1996, other colour combinations have been used. The goalkeeper usually wears a yellow jersey, black shorts and yellow socks. The kit design changes every two years to a new one. Since 1997 the team's supplier has been Nike , while between 1992 and 1997 it

2325-585: The Estonian team failed to turn up for the game. For unclear reasons, the match was rescheduled to be played on neutral ground in Monaco after it was agreed at a FIFA meeting in Scotland on 7 November, leading to the rescheduled match to take place on 11 February 1997 ending in a 0–0 draw. Reasons for the original postponement of the game was that the Scottish team trained at the Kadriorg the night before, finding

2418-528: The Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. The regular qualification phase for the Euro 2012 tournament was completed with a win in the final game away to Northern Ireland. Four days later, Serbia failed to beat Slovenia , thus Estonia entered a qualifying play-off against the Republic of Ireland with the first leg in Tallinn. Estonia lost the home game 0–4 but managed a 1–1 draw abroad. The Euro 2012 qualifying campaign

2511-612: The European record in 2009 until November of that year. The record for most goals is held by Andres Oper with 38. Estonians were introduced to the game of football by English sailors in the first years of the 20th century, when the land was still part of the Russian Empire . The national team was formed after the war of independence (1918–1920). It played its first match on 17 October 1920 in Helsinki, Finland which ended in

2604-692: 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. 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. Finland also took part in European Championship qualifying since

2697-497: The FIFA World Rankings. The first home game of the campaign was a 3–0 loss to Spain, the reigning European champions . The team still picked up points during the qualification, which included holding Euro 2008 semi-finalists Turkey to a 0–0 draw. Further results were a 1–0 win over Armenia, and a 2–2 draw away from home before the campaign was completed with a 2–0 win against the Belgians. The team collected 8 points finishing fifth in

2790-662: The Faroe Islands then followed, before a tour of South America saw the team lose to Chile and Uruguay. A 3–0 loss to Turkey in Istanbul then completed their friendly matches cycle before qualifying resumed. However, the Sinisärgid won away from home to Slovenia and at home to Northern Ireland , which lifted the team to 58th in the FIFA rankings, giving them their best position to date. This win completed their group matches in

2883-579: 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. 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

Football Association of Finland - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-546: 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

3069-733: The League B again as the group's runners-up, falling behind the group winner Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the successful qualifying to previous European tournament, the team and the country had high hopes when starting the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. Finland started expectedly with an away loss to Denmark, but won the next three games in a row against Northern Ireland away in March, and Slovenia and San Marino at home in June, with zero conceded goals in these three games. They continued with an away win against Kazakhstan in September, but lost

3162-561: The Serbian team had competed in the World Cup. Media attention came from a 2–2 friendly international result with Bulgaria . Two days before the friendly match, on 11 February 2011, bets were placed by officials regarding the outcome of the match. Suspicion of match manipulation was raised when a Hungarian referee gave four disputable penalties, being equally distributed between the two sides. The same team of officials also took charge of

3255-633: The United States in first round. During World War II, in 1940, Estonia was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union , and there was no possibility of fielding a national football team again until the country restored full independence in August 1991. After the end of the 1944–1991 Soviet occupation, Estonia's first FIFA -recognised international match was with Slovenia on 3 June 1992, a 1–1 draw at home in Tallinn. Estonia has never qualified for

3348-481: The World Cup. The team's biggest win came on 26 July 1928 which was a 6–0 success against Lithuania in Tallinn, meanwhile their biggest defeat came on 11 August 1922 which was a 10–2 loss to Finland. Out of the team's head coaches before the Second World War, seven of them were Hungarian with Antal Mally taking this position twice. There were four foreign coaches (three Hungarians and one Austrian), while

3441-485: The arrival of the newly independent team's first foreign coach, Icelander Teitur Thordarson . His first victory was achieved at the fifth attempt in October 1996, when they defeated Belarus at the Kadriorg Stadium in a 1998 World Cup qualifier with a goal from Hohlov-Simson. After the victory over the Belarusians, the Estonian team gained infamy on 9 October 1996, when a match against Scotland had to be rescheduled after

3534-486: The board of EFA made a decision that after the date of 1 April 1993 non-citizens could no more debut in the national team. The citizenship dispute heated up again in February 1993 when Estonia took part in a three team friendly tournament held in Finland. For the first time , non-citizen players Andrei Borissov and Sergei Bragin were allowed to represent Estonia in the national team. In a statement made on 23 February

3627-580: The bottom of the group after six losses with a 2–13 goal difference, and were relegated straight to the League C. On 22 November, the board of the Finnish FA released head coach Kanerva from his contract. 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, Pallokenttä in Helsinki

3720-412: The competitions of the international labour movement. 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. In 1937, Finland participated

3813-538: The crucial meeting between them and Latvia at the Kadrioru Stadium , 2,000 out of the 12,000 spectators were Latvians. Estonia's first FIFA World Cup qualifying match took place on 11 June 1933 in Stockholm, Sweden, which ended with a Swedish 6–2 win. This match was also the world's first FIFA world cup qualifying match. Since later on Sweden also defeated Lithuania, the match between Estonia and Lithuania

Football Association of Finland - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-587: The end of 1999, leading the Estonian football association to look for a new coach. They were taken over this time by Tarmo Rüütli (who was replaced by caretaker Aivar Lillevere for two games), who was appointed until autumn 2000, and seen the team through their qualifying group for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. After the departure of Rüütli and Lillevere's two game stint as caretaker manager, the Estonian Football Association made an agreement with Dutchman Arno Pijpers . Plans were later set by

3999-740: The first Estonian national team was coached by Albert Vollrat in 1932. Coaches also played for several seasons, who also determined the composition of the football association. Players were mostly in Tallinn clubs, such as TJK , Sport , Kalev and Tallinn Estonia. The republic's most capped players were goalkeeper Evald Tipner (67) and the outfield players Eugen Einmann (65), Eduard Ellman-Eelma (58) and Karl-Rudolf Silberg-Sillak (52). Top goal scorers were Ellman-Eelma (21 goals in 65 matches), Richard Kuremaa (18/42), Arnold Pihlak (17/44), Georg Siimenson (14/42) and Friedrich Karm (9/13). Players received small pay for their contributions – 5 Estonian krooni in 1938. The Baltic tournament victory

4092-486: The five-team Group I, behind Spain and France . On 14 June 2015, Paatelainen was sacked following his fourth defeat in a row during the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Finland eventually finished fourth in Euro 2016 qualifying under guidance of a caretaker manager Markku Kanerva . They achieved a somewhat noteworthy result; Joel Pohjanpalo 's goal gave the Finns a 1–0 win at former European champions Greece , who had reached

4185-497: The five-time world champions, winning 1–0. Much attention was attracted the day after the international friendly, with the Estonian FA announcing that coach Rüütli's contract was to be extended to 2011. Estonia later achieved one of its most famous victories, winning 3–1 in a 2012 European Championship away qualifier on 8 October 2010 against Serbia then ranked 15th in the FIFA rankings. The match took place four months after

4278-578: The football association to build a modern football home in Tallinn, which took place in 2000 and construction began outside of the Lilleküla railway line, giving it its original name of the Lilleküla Stadium. The arena opened on 2 June 2001, ahead of their 2002 World Cup qualifying game against the Netherlands (4–2 defeat). The 9,300 tickets on sale for the match sold out within six hours. Their campaign for 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification , saw two victories over Andorra and two draws with Cyprus, which gave

4371-413: The game reached five minutes of play, only to lose 7–2. This was then followed up with a 1–0 success against Finland in which Richard Kuremaa scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute. Qualification was completed with a 4–1 defeat against Germany, despite a goal from Georg Siimenson taking the teams in at half time with a 1–0 lead for the Estonians. As a result, Estonia failed to qualify for

4464-548: The game the day before, an international friendly involving Latvia and Bolivia which ended 2–1 in favour of the Latvians and had also seen three penalties awarded in the game, which were also all of the goals scored. The Estonian team got an important victory in their next match, which was on 25 March at the Lilleküla Stadium over Uruguay in a friendly match. Former World Cup winners Uruguay had recently reached

4557-502: The government of Estonia urged the Estonian Central Sports Union to "consider manning Estonian sports teams only with Estonian citizens". On 11 March the local press published an open letter in which the signatories accused EFA and the head coach Uno Piir of using four "alien citizens" (Andrei Borissov, Sergei Bragin, Aleksandr Puštov, Sergei Hohlov-Simson) in games and using Russian as the working language of

4650-510: The group and missed the promotion to next season's League A. On 12 June 2021 in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, Finland had their first victory on their debut in a major tournament finals against Denmark . Joel Pohjanpalo scored the only goal, a header in a 1–0 win to grant his country their first goal and the first win in a major competition. The game was interrupted by a tragic heart attack suffered by Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen , which he luckily survived. Unfortunately, having lost

4743-421: The group. As having placed among the best runner-ups in the previous Nations League, and with a help of overlapping results in other games, Finland had secured their place in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs . In March 2024, in the first decisive play-off match against Wales away, Finland were destroyed 4–1 and were definitely left out of the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament. After a run of mediocre results and

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4836-485: The lack of reaching out the best potential out of the team, the speculations had started about the extension of Kanerva's contract as his previous deal was going to expire soon. However, during Kanerva's seven-year spell, Finland had ascended in FIFA rankings and as of Summer 2024, were sitting at the 63rd place. During the recent years, the national team roster had undergone a relatively large renovation by Kanerva. He had successfully called-up new younger generation players to

4929-468: The last official match between the two teams as independent nations 50 years previously. The principle of assembling the squad was controversial. 63 players made a public addressing ( Päevaleht , 24 April 1990) calling out the football governing bodies to only select the descendants of Estonians, leaving out immigrants who came to Estonia after World War II . Estonia restored its full independence on 20 August 1991, and returned to international football when

5022-476: 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

5115-530: The local sub-regional Baltic Cup championship, which takes place every two years between the countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania . Estonia has won the three-nation Baltic Cup tournament five times — most recently in 2024 — which is less than either of the other two teams in the tournament, Latvia and Lithuania. The record for the most international caps by an international is held by Konstantin Vassiljev with 158. Martin Reim has 157 caps, who held

5208-440: The main stadium for qualifying games. The team returned permanently to Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 2020, after the delayed reconstruction and renovation was finished, but had to play some of the first games without an audience due to pandemic. In the five home matches during the UEFA Euro 2024 qualification campaign, Huuhkajat had the record audience average of 31,406 (157,029 in total), which corresponds to around 97 per cent of

5301-468: The match against [REDACTED]   Greece . The following players have been called up for the team within the last twelve months and are still available for selection. This list is Finland national team complete records, both friendlies and competitive matches. Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team ( Estonian : Eesti Jalgpallikoondis ) represents Estonia in international football matches and

5394-458: 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

5487-414: The national team head coach is still remembered mainly for joulukuusi. On 12 August 2015, Swedish Hans Backe was named the new manager, starting on 1 January 2016. His first official match with the team was held on 10 January 2016, and ended in a 3–0 defeat by Sweden. On 12 December 2016, Backe was fired during the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign , and a former assistant and caretaker Markku Kanerva

5580-478: The national team later. Not a single Estonian reached the Soviet national team, but two Ubakivi's pupils, Ott Mõtsnik and Toomas Krõm , broke into the youth team. The Singing Revolution , the pursuit to restore Estonian independence and to cool regional tensions, found its way to football as well. On 18 July 1990, an exhibition match was held between Estonian and Latvian footballers at Kadriorg Stadium, to remember

5673-412: The national team with a generation switch, and try to qualify for one or more of the tournaments during his projected tenure as Finland's head coach. This included ultimately leaving out Jari Litmanen , team's long-served captain and "The King of Finnish Football". 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

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5766-505: The national team. The signatories also noted that "most of the positions belonging to Estonians (in youth teams) were filled with non-citizens". According to Estonian press the EFA had also misled FIFA because most of those 97 players who had gotten the right to represent Estonia had not actually applied for citizenship. On 5 December 1991 the EFA decided to take part in 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament despite financial difficulties,

5859-523: 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. Hodgson's replacement was a Scotsman, Stuart Baxter , who signed a contract until the end of the 2012 European Championship qualification campaign. 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,

5952-600: The newest member, Kosovo . On 15 November 2014, Estonia became the first and so far only team to give up a point to San Marino in the European Championship qualifying tournament, when the two sides played to a 0–0 draw in San Marino. On Tuesday, 28 March 2017, Estonia gained one of the most famous wins in their history as they beat Croatia 3–0 at home in an international friendly. On 19 November 2018, Estonia defeated Greece 1–0 in Athens. On 10 June 2021, Estonia won

6045-487: The next three games against Denmark at home, Slovenia away and Kazakhstan at home. The loss to Kazakhstan occurred with two conceded goals late in the game after Finland was already leading 1–0 before. The defeat also took away the possibility for direct qualifying. Finland ended the qualifying campaign with two wins in the last two matches, including 4–0 victory over Northern Ireland at home in November, and finished third in

6138-446: The next two games against both Russia and Belgium , Finland finished third in the group and was knocked out at the group stage alongside fellow debutants North Macedonia . Finland failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup , even though Pukki continued with his scoring streak with 6 goals in the qualifiers. They were drawn in the Group D , with France , Ukraine , Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kazakhstan , finished 3rd and missed

6231-413: 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. During the Euro 2012 qualifying , head coach Baxter was sacked, and on 31 March 2011 he was replaced by former national team player Mixu Paatelainen . Paatelainen started his tenure with a win against San Marino , only to be followed by

6324-415: The poor state of the Kadrioru Stadium and the inexperience of the national team. Estonia ended the qualification tournament in the last place of the group and with record of one goal scored and 27 conceded. The team lost nine games and drew once against Malta . In the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying tournament the team was coached by Roman Ubakivi . The qualification tournament ended without a single point and

6417-466: 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 ). 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

6510-699: The roster, including Kaan Kairinen , Benjamin Källman , Oliver Antman , Daniel Håkans and Matti Peltola . On 17 June 2024, after some ambiguous comments by the Finnish FA president Ari Lahti , it was announced by the FA that Markku Kanerva will continue as the manager of the team until the end of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification and for the possible final tournament. The assistant coaches Mika Nurmela and Toni Korkeakunnas would be replaced by Jani Honkavaara , and by former long-time national team players Teemu Tainio and Tim Sparv . Kanerva, with his new staff,

6603-508: The second half of the 1940s and the traditions started to fade. According to Uno Piir , the first national team manager after Estonia restored independence in 1991, the reason for football's downfall in Soviet-occupied Estonia was the inability to create a club competitive at the level of the Soviet Union's top clubs, hence the decrease in audience and the favouring of other sports by the governing bodies of sports. Formally,

6696-414: The second round of the 2014 World Cup and were the top seeds of their qualifying group. Paatelainen had stucked with his preferred formation of 4–3–2–1, which he had named joulukuusi – a Christmas tree – due to its shape. With the bad results while insistently using the same formation, and his defensive statements to media, he gained a negative reputation among the supporters and the media, and his time as

6789-451: The second round qualification play-offs. The long-served defenders Jukka Raitala , Paulus Arajuuri and Joona Toivio announced their retirement from international football after the qualifiers. Having secured their spot in the Nations League B, Finland was drawn in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B Group 3 with Bosnia, Romania and Montenegro . They had a mediocre record of two wins, two draws and two losses, and defended their place in

6882-543: The semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and were sitting at 7th place in the FIFA rankings at the time of the 2–0 victory. The captain Raio Piiroja earned his 100th international cap. On 29 March, the good performances continued with a 1–1 home draw against Serbia. This was followed by a period of poor form, which began with an unofficial friendly game loss to the Basque Country , qualifying defeats to Italy and

6975-604: The stadium's full capacity. Finland's kit are currently supplied by American brand Nike . They replaced German company Adidas , who supplied Finland's kits between 1979 and 2013. 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 The following players were called up for UEFA Nations League matches against Republic of Ireland and Greece on 14 and 17 November 2024, respectively. Caps and goals as of 17 November 2024, after

7068-457: The team a total of eight points in the final table and fourth place with ten goals scored and 26 against, finishing ahead of those two teams. This was later matched in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying , where they gained two more wins over Andorra and draws with Croatia and Bulgaria. The team's goals record was much more stronger defensively, only conceding six goals in their eight matches while scoring four. Estonia then most successful tournament came in

7161-685: The team debuted in the Baltic tournament which took place in Lithuania in November 1991. However, the first recognized match did not take place until June 1992 in Tallinn as a friendly against Slovenia (1–1). This historic meeting under the guidance of coach Uno Piir was overseen by a team consisting of Mart Poom , Urmas Hepner , Igor Prins , Urmas Kaljend , Meelis Lindmaa , Toomas Kallaste , Tarmo Linnumäe , Indro Olumets , Martin Reim , Sergei Ratnikov , Risto Kallaste , Viktor Alonen , Urmas Kirs , Marko Kristal and Aleksandr Puštov . Puštov

7254-404: The team finish sixth in a field of seven teams, only ahead of Andorra who were also the only team they recorded wins against and gained a total of seven points. The Estonian FA shortly parted company with Goes in June 2007. November 2007 saw the approval of a two-year contract for new head coach Tarmo Rüütli, who had overseen the national team in the 1999–2000 season, with this being the last time

7347-482: The team took on an Estonian coach, as Pijpers was the first of three foreign coaches between 2000 and 2007. Rüütli's main task in his second term was to lead the team through the 2010 World Cup qualifying matches. The team showed volatile form in friendly matches during 2008. In September, the Estonians lost 3–2 to Belgium in an away qualifying match, but fell to a low ebb after being beaten 7–0 by Bosnia also on their travels, and fell to an all-time low of 137th place in

7440-568: The team was revived and they played two unofficial friendlies (in Riga 0–4 and in Tallinn 1–8), but only few players remained from the pre-war era. When Soviet troops invaded Estonia again in 1944, some of the best footballers ( Richard Kuremaa , Elmar Tepp, Valter Neeris, etc.) were mobilised; some fled to west. Many ex-nationals ( Arnold Pihlak , Arnold Laasner, etc.) were in Estonia's team in Geislingen 's refugee camp. The clubs were renamed in

7533-597: 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 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 . After the 1918 Civil War ,

7626-582: The tournament to the United States 1–0. The Estonian league season usually lasted from the end of May to September. In 1928 the first Baltic football contest was held involving all three nations, it was held nine times during this period. Four of them were held in Latvia, two in Estonia and three in Lithuania. Estonia was particularly notable for winning the edition of the tournament in 1938. In

7719-577: Was 50 krooni. On 18 July 1940 the team played their last official game as an independent nation for more than half a century. The game was played at the Kadrioru Stadium and was a 2–1 victory against Latvia. In 1940, the Stalinist Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia and, in August 1940, when Estonia was annexed into the USSR, the national team ceased to exist along with the independent country. During German occupation (1941–1944),

7812-400: Was Estonia's best to date, with 16 points achieved out of a possible 30, and was the closest that Estonia came to qualifying for a major tournament. On 5 June 2012, Estonia set a record for being the first team to have played all of UEFA fellow 52 members . Two more sides have been added since 2013 as full UEFA members. Estonia has played the 53rd member, Gibraltar , but has not yet taken on

7905-516: Was aided by a distinctive performance of Teemu Pukki , who scored ten goals in ten qualifying matches. However, the final tournament was postponed to the summer 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic . Later in the Autumn 2020, the second edition of UEFA Nations League started, and Finland was drawn in the Group 4 with Wales , Ireland and Bulgaria . They defeated both Ireland and Bulgaria home and away, but lost both games against Wales and finished 2nd in

7998-423: Was cancelled, because Sweden had already won the group. Estonia's first points in the FIFA World Cup qualifying rounds were gained in 1938 , playing the qualification matches in 1937, the third edition of the tournament. At the time teams would play each other once in each group. Estonia were in group one, drawn with Germany, Sweden and Finland. In their first match against Sweden, the team went 2–0 up even before

8091-511: Was first set to start preparing the team for the upcoming 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B , where Finland would face England , Ireland and Greece in the Group 2, starting in September. Finland lost both games against Greece and England away with apathetic performances, which signaled outside that Kanerva had a very little more to give for this team anymore. According to Helsingin Sanomat , Kanerva

8184-412: 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

8277-578: Was mainly used. During 2000s and 2010s, some qualifying matches against lower profile opponents and some friendlies were 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 between 2016 and 2020, Tampere Stadium served as

8370-524: Was named the new head coach. Finland did not win a single game during Backe's time as head coach. His record during 2016 was nine defeats and two draws. Finland's peak of 33rd in the FIFA ranking in 2007, had demoted to 110th as of 2017. As UEFA created a new competition, UEFA Nations League , to largely replace international friendlies, Finland were placed in the League C in the first 2018–19 edition due to

8463-453: 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 Hyypiä , Teemu Tainio and Mikael Forssell in addition to

8556-529: Was supplied by Lotto . Below is a timeline of how the home kit colours have changed through time: Estonia's main supporters group of that of the Jalgpallihaigla (English: Football Hospital ), with over 600 members. The group is committed to "Deal with all of your supporters issues from ticket distribution in a special fans section, and also with the fans as watchdogs for relations with the Estonian Football Association and their clubs". Home games see

8649-422: Was the scorer of the Estonian goal. At that time the composition of the squad was influenced by the country's citizenship policy. There were disputes whether the national team should include players who lived in Estonia but had not acquired Estonian citizenship. Most of those players in question were of Russian origin. Approximately four months before the first official match against Slovenia, FC Flora presented

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