Related Research Articles
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, across from Estonia. Finland covers an area of 338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi) with a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns. Finnish and Swedish are the official languages, Swedish being the native language of 5.2% of the population. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
Turku is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province. The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Capital Region area and Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother tongue.
Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, 110 kilometres (68 mi) west of Tampere, 140 kilometres (87 mi) north of Turku and 241 kilometres (150 mi) north-west of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Pori was established in 1558 by Duke John, who later became King John III of Sweden.
Jari Olavi Litmanen is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or a second striker. He was the first-choice captain of the Finland national team between 1996 and 2008 in an international career that ran from 1989 to 2010. Litmanen is widely considered to be Finland's greatest football player of all time. He was chosen as the best Finnish player of the last 50 years by the Football Association of Finland in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. He also finished 42nd in the 100 Greatest Finns voting in 2004. The Association of Football Statisticians' compendium of 'Greatest Ever Footballers' listed Litmanen as the 53rd best footballer ever.
The Finland national football team represents Finland in men's international football competitions and 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.
FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industrial town of Valkeakoski. It competes in Finland's premier division of football, Veikkausliiga. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships and 12 Finnish Cup wins.
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Finnish football. The club's home ground is the 10,770-seat Bolt Arena, where they have played their home games since 2000.
The Football Association of Finland is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907.
Veikkausliiga is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja since 1930 which was an amateur or semi-professional league. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided as a knock-out cup competition.
Ykkönen is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system, although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also play a pre-season league cup, the Ykköscup.
Football in Finland is not, or at least has traditionally not been, the most popular spectator sport, which is in contrast to most European countries; it falls behind ice hockey, which enjoys a huge amount of popularity in the country. Football tops ice hockey in the number of registered players and as a popular hobby. It is the most popular hobby among 3-18 year olds, whereas ice hockey is 9th.
The Finland women's national football team, also known as nickname The Boreal Owls, represents Finland in international women's football. The team, controlled by the Football Association of Finland (SPL/FBF), reached the semi-finals of the 2005 European Championship, surprising the female football world having drawn with Sweden and beaten Denmark. Finland hosted the 2009 EC finals.
The Finnish national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Finland. The team qualified for the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship final tournament in 2009.
Teemu Eino Antero Pukki is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United and the Finland national football team.
The Finland national under-19 football team represents Finland in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Lukas Hradecky is a Finnish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for and captains both Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Finland national team.
Åland is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland, created in 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a population of 30,129, constituting 0.51% of its land area and 0.54% of its population. Its only official language is Swedish and the capital city is Mariehamn.
The Finland national under-17 football team represents Finland in international football competitions in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, as well as any other under-17 international football tournaments. It is governed by the Football Association of Finland.
HIFK Fotboll or IFK Helsingfors, is an association football section of HIFK, a sports club based in Helsinki, Finland. The men's football team competes in the second tier of Finnish football, Ykkönen. Their home ground is the Bolt Arena.
The 2019 Finnish Cup was the 64th season of the Finnish Cup football competition.
References
- Guardian Football
- This article is translated from the Finnish Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Veikkausliiga - Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  | This biographical article related to association football in Finland, about a defender, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |