Finland Sports – The Most Popular Sports in Finland
Wondering what sports the Finnish like to play?
Discover everything about the most popular sports in Finland in this post. 🏒
The Most Popular Finnish Sports
Find below Finland national sports, ranked by popularity:
| Rank | Sport |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ice hockey |
| 2 | Football |
| 3 | Floorball |
| 4 | Motorsport |
| 5 | Bandy |
| 6 | Skiing |
| 7 | Pesäpallo |
| 8 | Athletics |
So there you have them, the most popular sports in Finland! Keep reading below for more information about each sport in Finland.
What is the National Sport in Finland?
The national sport in Finland is pesäpallo. While pesäpallo is not extremely popular in Finland (seventh on this list actually), it is officially the national sport of the country. It is basically the Finnish version of baseball, and it has been played since the 1920s.
Learn More About Finland Popular Sports
Finland is a country located in Northern Europe. It is in Scandinavia, and its capital city is Helsinki, which has more than 655,000 inhabitants.
An interesting part of the country that I wanted to tackle is its most popular sports. In light of that, I have listed all Finland’s popular sports, and I hope you will love them:
Ice hockey
Surprisingly, the most popular sport in Finland is not football, contrary to many countries, but ice hockey. Finland has always been fond of many winter sports, especially local and unique ones. Ice hockey is a worldwide sport though, and despite the rise of football, it is still the most popular one in the country.
On an international scale, the Finnish ice hockey team is incredibly successful: it has won the World Championship 3 times, in 1995, 2011, and 2019. It is considered to be a member of the “Big Six”, the unofficial group of the 6 strongest nations in the sport, alongside Canada, Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
69% of Finnish people watched the Ice Hockey World Championships 2016 final Finland-Canada, even though Finland lost in the end.
Number of Ice hockey licensed players in Finland: 60,000
Famous Finnish Ice hockey players: Teemu Selänne, Jari Kurri, Saku Koivu, Jere Lehtinen, Olli Jokinen, Teppo Numminen, Jyrki Lumme, Sami Salo, Miikka Kiprusoff, Toni Lydman, Esa Tikkanen
Football
The second most popular sport in Finland is football.
Do not be fooled by the popularity of ice hockey: while it is currently the most popular sport in Finland, football is seriously on the rise. There are more Finnish people playing football for fun and in a club than those who play ice hockey, but way fewer spectators. In fact, it is the most popular hobby among 3- to 18-year-olds in the country.
When it comes to worldwide competition, the Finnish football team had never qualified for a major tournament until the UEFA Euro 2020, where they lost in groups.
Number of Football licensed players in Finland: 115,000
Famous Finnish Football players: Teemu Pukki, Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä, Lukáš Hrádecký, Antti Niemi, Jussi Jääskeläinen, Roman Eremenko, Mikael Forssell, Niklas Moisander
Floorball
The third most popular sport in Finland is floorball.
Have you ever heard of floorball? If not, it is completely normal, since this sport is barely known on an international scale. In fact, Finland was one of the only three countries which founded the International Floorball Federation, alongside Sweden and Switzerland.
This game is played just like floor hockey, with 5 players and a goalkeeper on each team. Players use sticks and a plastic ball on an indoor field.
The Finnish men’s floorball team is extremely successful, with 4 World Champions titles, in 2008, 2010, 2016, and 2018. It also finished second in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2012, and 2014.
Number of Floorball licensed players in Finland: 65,803
Famous Finnish Floorball players: Jani Naumanen, Harri Forsten, Rickie Hyvärinen, Oscar Hänninen, Henri Johansson, Mika Kavekari, Tarmo Kirjonen, Saku Lehti, Tero Tiitu, Mika Kohonen
Motorsport
The fourth most popular sport in Finland is motorsport.
With the advent of rallying competitions during the 1950s, motorsport became very popular in Finland. Three Finnish rally drivers, Rauno Aaltonen, Timo Mäkinen and Pauli Toivonen, started dominating the sport as early as the 1960s. Finland is the most successful nation in the World Rally Championship.
The most popular form of motorsport is Formula One nowadays. And with the incredible amount of extremely talented Finnish drivers, like Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, and Valtteri Bottas, this is not a very big surprise.
Number of Formula One licensed players in Finland: 9 historically, 2 currently
Famous Finnish Motorsport players: Rauno Aaltonen, Timo Mäkinen, Pauli Toivonen, Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas
Bandy
The fifth most popular sport in Finland is bandy. Believe it or not, the first team sport with a national championship in Finland was not ice hockey, not football, and not motorsport: it was bandy.
Bandy is a game that consists of two teams who need to put a ball in the opposing team’s goal to score, and it is played on ice, with skates.
It is the second biggest winter sport in the world if you count the number of licensed athletes. There is a national association that oversees the sport, Finland’s Bandy Association.
Famous Finnish Bandy players: Timo Oksanen, Ilari Moisala, Antti Ekman, Kimmo Huotelin, Ville Aaltonen, Tomi Hauska, Anssi Hänninen, Tomi Tukiainen, Mikko Lukkarila, Sami Laakkonen
Skiing
The sixth most popular sport in Finland is skiing. Historically, Finland has always been one of the best countries in terms of nordic skiing. Some of the most successful cross-country skiers from Finland include Veli Saarinen, who won three World Championships as well as an Olympic gold medal.
However, the most successful discipline is definitely ski jumping. Finland has been the most successful nation in the world in this sport, having won 10 golds, 8 silvers, and 4 bronze medals.
In a country like Finland with such long and cold winters, it is no surprise that winter sports like skiing are so popular, even though they are on the decline amongst the younger generations.
Famous Finnish Skiing players: Matti Nykänen, Antti Hyvärinen, Paavo Lonkila, Juha Mieto, Toini Gustafsson, Heikki Hasu, Janne Ahonen, Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi, Jouko Törmänen, Harri Kirvesniemi
Pesäpallo
The seventh most popular sport in Finland is pesäpallo. As I have already told you, despite its seventh place on this list, pesäpallo is officially the national sport of Finland.
Basically, it is almost exactly the same as the American version of baseball, but some slight variations earned it its name of “Finnish baseball”: the main difference is that the ball is thrown vertically, and the pitcher is standing next to the hitter.
Some other countries also play the sport once in a while, like Australia, India, and Estonia. It is not a very famous sport, to say the least, but there is a World Cup every three years.
Number of Pesäpallo licensed players in Finland: 11,000
Famous Finnish Pesäpallo players: list players separated by comma (player 1, player 2, player X)
Athletics
The eighth and last most popular sport in Finland is athletics. This is more of a historical sport: it has been an important part of local sports history as well as national identity.
The international fame of the country started in 1912 with world record holder Hannes Kolehmainen. He won 4 gold medals during his career and set the country up for success in its future participation.
One of the other major successful Finnish sports is javelin toss, which has enjoyed success all the way from the 1900s until today.
Famous Finnish Athletics players: Kaisa Mäkäräinen, Paavo Nurmi, Hannes Kolehmainen, Tiina Lillak, Siiri Rantanen, Mirja Hietamies, Lasse Virén, Tero Pitkämäki, Viljo Heino, Pauli Nevala
So there you have them, these were all the national sports of Finland. I hope you enjoyed them and that you learned something new today. Keep reading to get a few more facts.
Is soccer popular in Finland?
Soccer is quite popular in Finland, and it is on the rise. Young generations enjoy playing football for fun, way more than ice hockey.
It is still only #2 in terms of popularity though, and the country is not very successful on an international scale.
What sports is Finland good at?
Generally speaking, Finland is one of the best at many winter sports: ice hockey, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and many more.
On top of that, it is also widely famous for its Formula One drivers, as well as its floorball players.
More Sport Facts!
Loved these Finland sports facts? Want to see what sports are the most popular in other countries?
Then check out these posts:
Or click here to see ALL the facts up on the blog! Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of them.
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