Roope Riski

Roope Riski

Riski with St. Pölten in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Roope Vilhelmi Riski
Date of birth	(1991-08-16) 16 August 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Askainen, Finland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Ilves
Number	10
Youth career
	MaPS
	TPS
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	TPS	18	(12)
2010	→ Viikingit (loan)	6	(5)
2010	→ ÅIFK (loan)	9	(12)
2011–2014	Cesena	1	(0)
2011	→ TPS (loan)	11	(4)
2012	→ Hønefoss (loan)	1	(0)
2012–2014	→ TPS (loan)	35	(8)
2014–2015	Hønefoss	23	(12)
2015–2016	Haugesund	10	(0)
2015–2016	→ SJK (loan)	13	(8)
2016–2017	SJK	33	(17)
2017	→ SC Paderborn (loan)	10	(1)
2017–2019	St. Pölten	33	(5)
2018–2019	→ PAE Chania (loan)	22	(7)
2020–2023	HJK	54	(22)
2024–	Ilves	42	(15)
International career‡
2010–2012	Finland U21	11	(6)
2015–	Finland	8	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 December 2021

Roope Vilhelmi Riski (born 16 August 1991) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club Ilves.

He is known as a clinical, well-positioned forward who can get into the right place at the right time. In the middle of the 2010 season, Riski was selected to the opening squad for the first time of his career. Since then he has enjoyed a phenomenal season, starting 12 games and scoring 11 goals.^{[ peacock prose ]} He has the best game/goal ratio in the Veikkausliiga. ^[1]

Club career

TPS

Riski started football in the youth sector of Maskun Palloseura, and later joined Turun Palloseura. He made his senior debut with TPS in Veikkausliiga in the 2010 season. On 22 September 2010, Riski scored a hat-trick for TPS against AC Oulu. By doing this, he became the first ever player in Finland to score a hat-trick in all the highest three levels of Finnish football system during one season, ^[2] as he had loan stints with Viikingit in Ykkönen and Åbo IFK in Kakkonen during 2020.

Cesena and loans

On 27 January 2011, he was announced as the Cesena player in Italian Serie A. ^[3] The transfer fee was reported to be €750.000. ^[4] He made his Serie A debut on 19 March 2011 against Lazio on Stadio Olimpico (1−0 away loss) as a 69th-minute substitute for Fabio Caserta, he has had loan spell in Finland for TPS Turku in 2012 and Hønefoss BK in Norway. In August 2012, Riski joined English side Derby County on trial ahead of their pre-season against Chesterfield, where he started in a 3–1 loss, ^[5] he scored in a reserve friendly against Matlock Town. ^[6]

SJK Seinäjoki

Riski with SJK Seinäjoki in 2015

On 8 February 2016, SJK announced the signing of Riski on a two-year contract. ^[7] Riski was the top goal scorer in Veikkausliiga in 2016.

On 10 January 2017, he was loaned to SC Paderborn in German 3. Liga. ^[8]

St. Pölten

In June 2017, Riski left SJK when he signed with Austrian Bundesliga club St. Pölten for an undisclosed fee. ^[9]

On 28 August 2018, Riski was loaned out to Greek club AO Chania − Kissamikos. ^[10]

HJK Helsinki

On 21 November 2019, HJK Helsinki confirmed the signing of Riski on a contract until the end of 2021 with an option for one further year. ^[11] He was crowned the Veikkausliiga top goal scorer again in 2020. During the 2022 and 2023 season, he suffered from knee injuries and missed several months.

Ilves

On 6 November 2023, it was announced that Riski had signed with Veikkausliiga club Ilves on a two-year deal, starting in 2024. ^[12] During his first season with Ilves, Riski scored 11 goals in 26 Veikkausliiga appearances.

International career

On 19 January 2015, Riski made his senior debut for the Finland national team in a 1–0 friendly against Sweden, where he scored the only goal of the match. ^[13]

He was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021. ^[14]

Personal life

He is the younger brother of former Finnish international footballer Riku Riski.

Since 2019, Riski has abstained from drinking alcohol. ^[15] He has also revealed his devotion for poetry. ^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of 9 May 2025 ^[17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
TPS	2010	Veikkausliiga	18	12	1	0	6	3	4 [c]	1	29	16
Viikingit (loan)	2010	Ykkönen	6	5	0	0	–		–		6	5
Åbo IFK (loan)	2010	Kakkonen	9	12	0	0	–		–		9	12
Cesena	2010–11	Serie A	1	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
TPS (loan)	2011	Veikkausliiga	11	5	0	0	0	0	–		11	5
Hønefoss (loan)	2012	Tippeligaen	1	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
TPS (loan)	2012	Veikkausliiga	7	1	0	0	0	0	–		7	1
	2013	Veikkausliiga	27	7	0	0	6	2	2 [c]	1	35	10
	Total		34	8	0	0	6	2	2	1	42	11
Hønefoss	2014	1. divisjon	24	12	0	0	–		–		24	12
Haugesund	2015	Tippeligaen	10	0	0	0	–		–		10	0
SJK Seinäjoki	2015	Veikkausliiga	13	8	0	0	0	0	–		13	8
	2016	Veikkausliiga	33	17	4	3	5	4	2 [d]	1	44	25
	2017	Veikkausliiga	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	0	0
	Total		46	25	4	3	5	4	2	1	57	33
SC Paderborn (loan)	2016–17	3. Liga	10	1	0	0	–		–		10	1
SC Paderborn II (loan)	2016–17	Oberliga Westfalen	1	1	–		1	0	–		2	1
St. Pölten	2017–18	Austrian Bundesliga	25	5	1	1	–		–		26	6
	2018–19	Austrian Bundesliga	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0
	2019–20	Austrian Bundesliga	8	0	2	0	–		–		10	0
	Total		33	5	3	1	0	0	0	0	36	6
Chania (loan)	2018–19	Football League Greece	22	7	5	3	–		–		27	10
HJK	2020	Veikkausliiga	20	16	9	3	–		–		29	19
	2021	Veikkausliiga	24	6	6	5	–		14 [e]	9	42	20
	2022	Veikkausliiga	2	0	2	1	3	4	0	0	7	5
	2023	Veikkausliiga	8	0	1	0	0	0	3 [f]	0	12	0
	Total		54	22	18	9	3	4	17	9	92	44
Klubi 04	2023	Kakkonen	1	0	–		–		–		1	0
Ilves	2024	Veikkausliiga	26	11	1	0	4	1	4 [g]	3	35	15
	2025	Veikkausliiga	6	3	0	0	6	0	0	0	12	4
	Total		32	14	1	0	10	1	4	3	47	18
Career total			316	129	33	16	30	14	29	15	408	174

1. Includes Finnish Cup, Austrian Cup and Greek Cup
2. Includes Finnish League Cup and Westphalian Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Four appearances and four goals in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and four goals in UEFA Europa League and six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa Conference League
6. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League and one appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

As of match played 12 October 2021 ^[18]

Finland
Year	Apps	Goals
2015	2	1
2016	3	0
2017	0	0
2018	0	0
2019	0	0
2020	0	0
2021	3	0
Total	8	1

International goals

Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Riski goal.

List of international goals scored by Roope Riski

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	19 January 2015	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Sweden	1–0	1–0	Friendly	[13]

Honours

SJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2015 ^[19]

HJK

• Veikkausliiga: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• Finnish Cup: 2020

Ilves

• Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2024 ^[20]

Individual

• Finnish League Cup Top goalscorer: 2016

• Veikkausliiga Player of the Month:August 2010, ^[21] June 2016, ^[22] October 2020 ^[23]

• Veikkausliiga Player of the Year: 2020 ^[24]

• Veikkausliiga Striker of the Year: 2020

• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2016, 2020 ^[25]

• Veikkausliiga Top score: 2016, ^[26] 2020 ^[27]

References

1. "Veikkausliiga | Tilastot - Veikkaus-Maalipörssi". Archived from the original on 27 July 2010.
2. ; YLE.fi, 29.2010 (in Finnish)
3. "Cesena Calcio - Notizie sul mondo del calcio".
4. Suomalaislupauksen siirtyminen Serie A:han lähes varma, Ilta-Sanomat, 20 January 2011
5. thisisderbyshire.co.uk (13 August 2012). "No excuses as Derby County round off programme of friendlies with dismal display at Chesterfield". Derby Evening Telegraph.
6. dcfc.co.uk (15 August 2012). "Matlock Town 1–2 Derby County XI". Derby County.
7. "Roope Riski palaa SJK-paitaan pitkällä sopimuksella". www.sjk2007.fi (in Finnish). SJK. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
8. "Zwei Verpflichtungen". scp07.de (in German). SC Paderborn. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
9. Roope Riskille unelmasiirto Itävaltaan – SJK:lle huomattava siirtosumma, suomifutis.com, 27 June 2017
10. Veikkausliigan toissa kauden maalitykki Roope Riski siirtyy Kreikkaan, Yle, 28 August 2018
11. Riski Klubin hyökkäykseen, hjk.fi, 21 November 2019
12. TERVETULOA ILVEKSEEN, ROOPE RISKI!, ilvesedustus.fi
13. Lundberg, Martin (19 January 2015). "Roope Riski fällde Sverige". YLE (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 January 2015.
14. Roope Riski ja Carljohan Eriksson Huuhkajien leirijoukkueeseen
15. Oli Roope, joka dokasi, Helsingin Sanomat, 6 May 2024
16. Jalkapalloilija Roope Riski kirjoittaa rakkausrunoja: ”Olen tosi herkkä tyyppi ja tunnen kaikki tunteet tosi vahvasti”, Yle, 2 June 2025
17. "R. Riski". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
18. "Roope Riski". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
19. "SJK on Suomen mestari - RoPS:lle hopeaa, Jaro putosi Ykköseen" [SJK is a Finnish champion, silver to RoPS, Jaro goes to Ykkönen]. yle.fi (in Finnish). YLE. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
20. Ilveksen päävalmentaja hopeasta: ”Voitettu mitali”, Yle, 19 October 2024
21. TPS:n Roope Riski Veikkausliigan elokuun pelaaja (in Finnish)
22. Roope Riski kuukauden pelaajaksi (in Finnish)
23. Roope Riski Veikkausliigan kuukauden pelaaja, JPY, 10 November 2020
24. "Teemu Pukki ja Natalia Kuikka kruunattiin Vuoden jalkapalloilijoiksi – HJK:n Roope Riski kahmi palkintoja". www.iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
25. "Pallo-Koplan Veikkausliigan tähdistöjoukkue on valittu". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
26. veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish)

    As of 23 October 2016.

27. "PLAYERS: Topscorers". Soccerway. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

Sources

• Roope Riski palaa pitkällä sopimuksella SJK-paitaan, veikkausliiga.com, 8 February 2016

External links

• Roope Riski at Soccerway