Women's EURO team guide: Finland
Friday, February 4, 2022
Article summary
Finland are back in the finals, qualifying in impressive style after missing out in 2017.
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Group B fixtures
Friday 8 July
Spain vs Finland (18:00 CET, Milton Keynes)
Tuesday 12 July
Denmark vs Finland (18:00 CET, Milton Keynes)
Saturday 16 July
Finland vs Germany (21:00 CET, Milton Keynes)
How they qualified: Group E winners (P8 W7 D1 L0 F24 A2)
Women's EURO best: Semi-finals (2005)
Women's EURO 2017: Did not qualify
Key player: Linda Sällström
Sällström has been Finland's main attacking spearhead for a decade and has overtaken Laura Österberg Kalmari as their all-time top scorer, despite having suffered three serious injuries which mean 2022 will be only her second EURO finals campaign after the 2009 run to the last eight on home soil. Her ten goals in qualifying underline her continued importance.
One to watch: Eveliina Summanen
The central midfielder moved to Tottenham in January, another career step for the hard-working midfielder whose senior Finland debut in June 2017 was a couple of weeks after her 19th birthday. Has a knack for spectacular goals from distance.
Coach: Anna Signeul
Boasting more than 40 years' coaching experience – she started at 21 alongside her playing career – Signeul has been working with national teams since 1996. First took charge of Sweden's youth squads from 1996 to 2004, winning the 1999 UEFA Women's U18 EURO, then Scotland between 2005 and 2017, taking them to their first Women's EURO before switching to Finland. Scotland were among Finland's qualifying victims as they reached England.
Tactics
Signeul is knows as a meticulous preparer and tactics expert who has also worked as a UEFA technical observer for many years, helping produce the tournament analysis reports. Her favoured formation is 4-4-2, Sällström usually joined by Sanni Franssi up front, but as she also showed with Scotland, Signeul can switch to 4-2-3-1.
Pedigree
Finland's team have a long history but were seldom close to reaching major tournaments before they made the last eight-team UEFA Women's EURO in 2005, also in England, surprising Russia in the qualifying play-offs and then making it all the way to the semi-finals ahead of Denmark and the hosts. They were also quarter-finalists as 2009 hosts, losing a thriller to England, but had to go through some years of transition, missing out in 2017 before their resurgence to reach the 2022 finals.