The Finland national team are one of the reasons why fans love the new 32-team format for the European Championships that was brought in for the 2016 games.
They only won three out of 10 games in the 2016 qualifying campaign, and all of a sudden, this time around they are automatically qualifying behind the giants of Italy in their group. They’ve got a relatively young manager in the grand scheme of things; Markku Kanerva. The 57-year-old former centre-back, who spent his whole career in Finland save for a year in Sweden, is a member of the old school, and also used to teach at a literal school. He started as an assistant coach when he was 34, and while also working in a school, worked his way through the ranks. He managed at a low club level, before taking over the under-21s, where he oversaw the development of many players who would eventually take the country to their first ever major tournament in the 2020 European Championships. It’s something so rare in modern football, but what’s rare is beautiful.
As for their chances at the tournament? Look, Finland are not anybody’s favourites to even make it out of the group stages, where they’ll have to face one of the tournament’s most fancied teams in Belgium, as well as two great dark horses in Denmark and Russia. If they manage to pick up a win and a draw and finish in third, it would be remarkable. We’ve got them priced at 9/4 to make it out of the groups by any means, which would be a risky bet, but could score you some real cash if even one result goes their way.
Key Players
They’ll have to view Denmark, their opening game on June 12th as a match where they show they belong, even if they drop all three points. Christian Eriksen and co will likely have just a bit too much firepower for the new tournament side. But what will be necessary for the debutants is a strong defensive showing, and an ability to launch quick counter-attacks. Daniel O’Shaughnessy will be a vital player for this to work, while Rangers’ Glen Kamara and Teemu Pukki of Norwich will also be important. If they could sneak a draw, they’d have to feel qualification was a real possibility, and a 2-1 loss wouldn’t even be the end of the world.
The vital matchup in Group B for Finland will be Russia on June 16th. This is undoubtedly the match that they’ll have crossed off as the most winnable match, and hugely important for their hopes of getting out of the group. Russia are a tough side to break down, and we expect this game to be similar to Northern Ireland vs Ukraine from the Euro 2016 tournament. It should be tight and cagey but Finland can produce a mini-shock at Russia’s expense.
Then, they face Belgium in the third, and potentially final game. A lot is going to change between now and when this is played, but the insanely wide odds seem to paint a pretty accurate picture. Finland are massive underdogs to beat the Belgians, and that honestly seems fair on paper. However, strange things have happened in tournaments in the past and Finland have the spirit and organisation to make life difficult for the Red Devils. Ultimately, Finland are odds-on favourites to be eliminated at the first hurdle. However, they won’t go down without a huge fight and they will make a lot of friends at Euro 2020.
Finland Squad for Euro 2020:
Goalkeepers: Lukas Hradecky (Leverkusen), Jesse Joronen (Brescia), Anssi Jaakkola (Bristol Rovers)
Defenders: Paulus Arajuuri (Pafos), Daniel O’Shaughnessy (HJK Helsinki), Joona Toivio (Häcken), Leo Väisänen (Elfsborg), Sauli Väisänen (Chievo), Robert Ivanov (Warta Poznań), Jere Uronen (Genk), Nikolai Alho (MTK Budapest), Jukka Raitala (Minnesota United), Pyry Soiri (Esbjerg)
Midfielders: Glen Kamara (Rangers), Robert Taylor (Brann), Robin Lod (Minnesota United), Joni Kauko (Esbjerg), Onni Valakari (Pafos), Rasmus Schüller (Djurgården), Thomas Lam (Zwolle), Tim Sparv (Larissa), Fredrik Jensen (Augsburg), Lassi Lappalainen (Montréal)
Forwards: Joel Pohjanpalo (Union Berlin), Marcus Forss (Brentford), Teemu Pukki (Norwich)