Awaiting major tournament, Finland leaves a mark

Even though Finland has never reached a European Championships or World Cup final tournament - but recorded four appearances at Olympic Games - Finnish football has produced some well-known names in modern times, such as legendary Ajax and Barcelona striker Jari Litmanen or Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia.

The irreplaceable Litmanen holds the Finland all-time appearances record with 137 caps, and simultaneously tops the all-time goalscorers list with 32 goals. Hyypia (105), Jonatan Johansson (105), and Ari Hjelm join him in "Club 100", while Forssell (29), Johansson (22), and Hjelm (20) trail Litmanen in scoring terms.

The current Finnish generation is led by experienced captain Niklas Moisander, Werder Bremen defender, with Lukaš Hradecky of Niko Kovač's Eintracht standing between the posts. When searching for a goal, Finland first and foremost believes in the inspiration of 27-year-old Teemu Pukki of Brondby, former Sevilla, Schalke, and Celtic player, as well as in Joel Pohjanpalo, the future of Bayer Leverkusen ambitions. Recently, Roman Eremenko of CSKA Moscow was one of Finland's star players, while Alexander Ring misses out on Rijeka encounter.

Since December 2016, the role of Finland manager is occupied by Markku Kanerva, former Finland U-21 manager (2004 - 2010), senior team assistant coach, and senior team caretaker. He replaced Swede Hans Backe, who also managed Finland when hosting Croatia in October last year. It is worth mentioning that famous Englishman Roy Hodgson managed Finland in 2006 and 2007.

Finland did come close to several final tournaments of major competitions: they were lacking a single point to reach EURO 1980, two points to reach 1986 World Cup, and an own goal in added time prevented them from competing in 1998 World Cup play-offs. Following some excellent performances in EURO 2008 qualifying campaign, Finland peaked to No. 33 at FIFA Rankings, their highest-ever position. Moreover, Finland is especially proud of 2013 qualifying draw (1:1) at reigning European and world champions Spain.

Road to Russia was started with a home point against Kosovo (1:1) in the first round, followed by a dramatic defeat at Iceland (3:2), despite Finland leading 2:1 at the beginning of added time. Three days later, the Vatreni celebrated a 1:0 win in Tampere, and in November one goal against Finland was enough for Ukraine.

This calendar year, Finland lost away to Turkey and at home to Ukraine, but September saw a turnaround in fortunes. With a single Ring goal, Finland replied to Iceland, and another 1:0 victory was recorded at Kosovo as Pukki found the net. Therefore, the visit to Rijeka promises more good performances from Finland, regardless of chances to secure World Cup berth being already lost.

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