Women's Euro 2025 team guides: Finland

The Guardian

4 hours ago

This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2025 Experts' Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 16 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two teams each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 2 July.
Finland played well during the qualifying campaign, beating Scotland 2-0 on aggregate in the playoffs, and their performances raised expectations. However, the Nations League campaign that followed acted as a rude awakening. A draw at home to Serbia – after they conceded an 84th-minute own goal – meant they finished second in their group behind their opponents.
The reason for the dip in form can largely be explained by the numerous injuries the team has suffered in the run-up to the Euros. Key players such as Natalia Kuikka, Elli Pikkujämsä and Jutta Rantala have been out for a long time.
Kuikka, one of the most important players in the squad, is now back playing but has missed several months of the buildup. Pikkujämsä, one of the team's most reliable defenders, has been out for a year with a knee injury.
After the match against Serbia, the head coach, Marko Saloranta, said: 'The players' fitness and health are constantly monitored. It is clear that we cannot include too many players [in the final squad] whose fitness we are not sure about.'
Rantala is a key player in attack. The Leicester forward has been out since October and Finland simply look a less dangerous side without her.
As a team Finland have been able to develop their game in the past couple of years under the tutelage of Saloranta. They attack in a varied manner, keeping opponents on their toes, are able to keep possession well with a diamond formation in midfield and rely on their tireless full-backs who often run deep into the opposition's half and also contribute with goals.
The team's success in recent years has been based on disciplined performances and being clinical in front of goal.
The 53-year-old Marko Saloranta has been one of the key figures in the rise of women's football in Finland over the past 20 years. He has had to pay a heavy price, though, for all the work he has put in and revealed that he went through a divorce during the qualifiers. 'There are pros and cons to every job,' he said. 'I can handle stress and criticism, but it's draining that I don't have enough time to be with my loved ones.' Saloranta has worked for the Finnish FA for more than 15 years and was the head coach for the under-17 girls' national team when they qualified for the 2018 Euros and the World Cup the following year.
Natalia Kuikka has won the Finnish women's player of the year award five times. She should reach the 100-cap mark at the Euros. The 29-year-old has spent most of her career in the United States. She won the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 2018 with Florida State and was nominated for the collegiate female athlete of the year award. She then became the first Finn to win the National Women's Soccer League championship, with Portland Thorns in 2022. At one point, she seriously considered moving back to Europe but decided against it. 'I just felt like I didn't have to. I didn't have to show anyone anything. This is my career and my life,' she said in an interview with the Finnish broadcasters Yle in January 2025. Kuikka is a cool-headed defender, physically strong and fast, and absolutely key for this team.
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Lilli Halttunen turns 20 the day before Finland's opening match, and what better birthday present than a debut at the European Championship? Halttunen is an exceptional striker and Joonas Sarelius, the sports director at the club where she learned her trade, HJK, says she has a good chance to develop into a top player. She is one of those rare players who seem capable of doing everything. 'She is excellent at protecting the ball and can use that skill to win one-on-one situations in surprising places on the pitch,' he says. 'She is really strong and can find the net from long range. These are the qualities that bring her a lot of scoring opportunities.'
The Kansallinen Liiga could be called semi-professional but in reality it is still an amateur league. There were 245 players in the league last year and 70% were considered to be amateurs. A third were 'professionals' with contracts that guaranteed them some payments, but only 10 players were actually professional in the true sense of the word with insurance cover and other necessities. In 2024 the average attendance was 357. The media coverage of the league is pretty good, to be fair, with all games streamed live on a major media platform.
Considering how well Finland has competed against better teams during qualifying it is fair to expect them to progress to the knockout round. That would be a good achievement for a team whose key players have been injured this year.
The Finland team guide was written by Ari Virtanen for Ilta-Sanomat.