Football in Finland

Football in Finland
Football in Finland
	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, the national stadium of Finland
Country	Finland
Governing body	Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto)
National team(s)	Men's national team; Women's national team
Nickname(s)	Huuhkajat; ; Helmarit
First played	at least 1890s (men); ; at least 1970s
Registered players	1907
National competitions
	FIFA World Cup (m); FIFA Women's World Cup (w); UEFA European Championship (m); UEFA Women's Championship (w); UEFA Nations League (m); Nordic Football Championship (m); Women's Nordic Football Championship (w);
Club competitions
	League: ; Tier 1: Veikkausliiga (m), Kansallinen Liiga (w); Tier 2: Ykkösliiga (m), Naisten Ykkönen (w); Tier 3: Ykkönen (m), Naisten Kakkonen (w); Tier 4: Kakkonen (m), Naisten Kolmonen (w); Tier 5: Kolmonen (m), Naisten Nelonen (w); Tier 6: Nelonen (m), Naisten Vitonen (w); Tier 7: Vitonen (m); Tier 8: Kutonen (m); Tier 9: Seiska (m) ; Cups: ; Finnish Cup (m) ; Finnish Women's Cup (w);
International competitions
	FIFA Club World Cup (m); UEFA Champions League (m); UEFA Women's Champions League (w); UEFA Europa League (m); UEFA Europa Conference League (m); UEFA Super Cup (m);

Football in Finland is not, or at least has traditionally not been, the most popular spectator sport, which is in contrast to most European countries; it falls behind ice hockey, which enjoys a huge amount of popularity in the country. Football tops ice hockey in the number of registered players (115,000 vs. 60,000) and as a popular hobby (160,000 vs. 90,000 among adults and 230,000 vs. 105,000 among youths). It is the most popular hobby among 3-18 year olds, whereas ice hockey is 9th.

Football's standing is constantly increasing, especially among girls and women, where the yearly growth rate has lately been over 10 percent. In season 2006–07 19.9 percent of registered players were female. The Football Association of Finland (Finnish: Suomen Palloliitto) has approximately one thousand member clubs. According to a Gallup poll, nearly 400,000 people include football among their hobbies.