Finland’s futsal men covered Denmark and advanced to the World Cup qualifiers starting in the fall.
The Finnish men’s national futsal team has secured its place in the World Cup qualifiers. Finland defeated Denmark 4–1 (2–0) in Vantaa and secured their place in the group second comparison.
In the struggle between Finland and Denmark, the attendance record for domestic futsal was broken. The match was watched by 1,921 spectators at Vantaa’s Myyrmäki Arena.
The first place in the qualifying group was Romania and Finland finished second in the group. Finland secured its next place in the comparison of the second group. The World Cup qualifiers (Elite Round) will be played next fall. The blocks will be drawn in July.
Finland created dangerous situations in the very first minutes. Iiro Vanha scored a 1–0 goal in 3:26. Miika Hosio scored a 2–0 goal when the opening period had been played at 13.31.
Finland experienced a nasty setback in the early stages of the match, when Lassi Lintula injured his knee and had to leave the match.
In the second period, Vanha took a 3–0 lead in Finland’s struggle with his second hit of the night and Tuukka Pikkarainen shook the 4–0 goal. Denmark managed to narrow it down at the end, when Ayoub Sorensen moved the ball into the Finnish net.
“The most important three points and the next place”
Finland’s power player Vanha stated that Finland did not stretch to its most brilliant performance in the evening in Vantaa.
– The most important thing was the result: three points and the next place. Maybe not the best that has been seen from Finland, but we can still improve this game considerably, Vanha assessed Finland’s performance.
– The minimum goal has now been met. The World Cup place is our goal and dream, we are now going towards it. It’s definitely behind the hard work, Vanha said.
Jukka Kytölä described Finland’s victory as a “routine performance”.
– Denmark was by no means an easy opponent. It’s not really a big deal, but we scored the goals we needed. We were the better team, Kytölä thought.
Finland has never reached the men’s futsal World Cup finals. Finland debuted in the prestigious futsal tournament in early 2022, when the men’s national team progressed nicely from the first group to the next round and lost in the quarterfinals to Portugal, who eventually won the championship, 2–3.
Sports expert Panu Autio believes that Finland will hit a bigger gear in the World Cup qualifiers.
– The time for feats is in the next phase of the qualifiers. The team knows that they can do even better. I don’t doubt at all that Finland would still improve their playing, Autio commented.
Futsal World Cup qualifiers, Main Round, Block 8
Finland–Denmark 4–1 (2–0)
3.26 Iiro Vanha 1–0
13.31 Miika Hosio 2–0
25.07 Iiro Vanha 3–0
35.26 William Rams 4–0
38.30 Ayoub Sorensen 4–1
Final status of the block:
Romania: 3 wins, 1 draw, goal difference 12-5, 10 points
Finland: 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, goal difference 11–3, 7 points
Denmark: 4 losses, goal difference 5-20, 0 points