Finland EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes

Finland is heading to the European Championships this summer to make its debut in a major international tournament. The team joins Euro 2020, armed with perhaps its most talented squad and fans will be hopeful for a good performance. Finland recently launched its 2022 World Cup qualifiers with draws against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. In the upcoming European finals, the rivals will be even stronger, but can Finland be one of the pleasant surprises in the tournament?

Finland European Championships - History and successes

This is the first participation for Finland at the European finals in history. They have also never played in the World cup too.

The Road to Euro 2020

After years of failure in qualifying, the Finns finished second after Italy in Group J, four and five points ahead of Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively. Winning six of their ten matches to secure their first appearance on the big international stage. The Finns showed a solid game in defense in the qualifiers, after conceding only ten goals in ten matches. With a better defense in the group was only Italy, which finished as the winner with a full asset of points and only 4 goals conceded.

Euro 2020 fixtures

Finland is in Group B of Euro 2020 with the teams of Belgium, Denmark, and Russia.

• June 12, 9:00 pm: Denmark - Finland / Parken Stadium, Copenhagen /
• June 16, 9:00 pm: Finland - Russia / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /
• June 21, 6:00 pm: Finland - Belgium / Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg /

Finland squad for the European Football Championship 2020

Finland has one of the best goalkeepers at Euro 2020 - Lucas Hradecky, who defends the colors of Bayer Leverkusen. The goalkeeper is originally born in Slovakia, but since 2006 playing for the youth team of Finland. In defense, the Scandinavian team has players with a lot of experience such as Joona Toivio, Jukka Raitala, and Juhani Ojala. Team captain Tim Sparv is the heart of the Finns' midfield. In the midfield, coach Marco Canerva can also count on names like Glen Kamara, Joni Kauko and Rasmus Schüller. Teemu Puki's stellar presence in the attack is supported by Union Berlin footballer Joel Poyanpalo, as well as by Jasse Tuominen (Hacken) and Rasmus Karjalainen (Orebro).

Goalkeepers: Jesse Joronen (Brescia), Lukas Hradecky (Leverkusen), Anssi Jaakkola (Bristol Rovers)
Defenders: Jukka Raitala (Minnesota United), Joona Toivio (Hacken), Leo Väisänen (Elfsborg), Sauli Väisänent (Chievo), Paulus Arajuuri (Pafos), Daniel O'Shaughnessy (HJK), Jere Uronen (Genk), Nikolai Alho (MTK), Robert Ivanov (Warta Poznan), Pyry Soiri (Esbjerg)
Midfielders: Robert Taylor (Brann), Robin Lod (Minnesota United), Tim Sparv (AEL), Rasmus Schuller (Djurgarden), Thomas Lam (Zwolle), Fredrik Jensen (Augsburg), Glen Kamara (Rangers), Joni Kauko (Esbjerg), Onni Valakari (Pafos), Lassi Lappalainen (Montréal)
Forwards: Teemu Pukki (Norwich City), Joel Pohjanpalo (Union Berlin), Marcus Forss (Brentford)

Source: www.pinkun.com

The Big Star: Teemu Pukki

The jewel in the crown of Finnish football at the moment is undoubtedly Teemu Pukki. The 31-year-old striker performed brilliantly during the qualifying campaign, scoring 10 goals, at least six more than any other player in Group J. Critics will point to the fact that three of those goals were from penalties, but even then, seven of these hits are out of play and demonstrate Pukki's class. He has 30 goals in 90 games with the national shirt as of April 2021. Teemu is enjoying another stellar season with Norwich and is leading the team back to the Premier League, trying also to lead his country to success at Euro 2020.

Expectations for Finland at Euro 2020

Given that this is the first major tournament of its kind, it will not be a surprise to find Finland with very high odds of winning the tournament. Only Hungary and North Macedonia are less likely to win Euro 2020. A more realistic goal could be to qualify for the 1/8 finals as one of the best teams in third place, although, in a group with Belgium, Russia, and Denmark, this will be difficult to achieve for the Finnish team. 

Odds for Finland

This is another group, where the teams are very balanced and also teams have realistic chances to continue at least in the next stage. This is our personal view, different from the bookmakers view. They are giving a very low probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. Finland in the top 5 underdogs for winning the European title in 2020. Here are the current odds for the "Suomi":

To win Euro 2020	501.00
To win Group B	17.00