Finland vs Scotland
UEFA Women’s Championship Qualification – Round 2 Playoff Second Leg
Tuesday, 3rd December 2024
Helsinki Football Stadium, Helsinki

Scorers

Finland 2 (Kuikka 9’, Lehtola 28’)

Scotland 0

Team News

Pedro Martinez Losa made one change to the starting eleven that took to the field on Friday evening. Lisa Evans dropped to the bench and was replaced by Kirsty Hanson, with Claire Emslie making her 70th Scotland appearance, taking her place in the starting lineup.

Finland made three changes to the team that started the first leg. Tinja-Rikka Korpela, Eva Nystrom and Sanni Franssi all came in, replacing Anna Tamminen, Oona Sevenius and Anni Hartikainen.

As It Happened

Finland began strongly, buoyed by the home crowd and came close to taking the lead inside the opening five minutes when Nea Lehtola’s shot cannoned off the crossbar before Sanni Franssi narrowly missed the rebound from around twelve yards out.

The hosts early pressure paid off on nine minutes when Natalia Kuikka gave Finland the lead. Kuikka, offered too much space, picked up the ball from around twenty yards out before firing her shot past the dive of Eartha Cumings in the Scotland goal.

Scotland’s initial response to going behind was positive and they came close to levelling the tie just moments later when Sophie Howard failed to connect with her shot from a dangerous Claire Emslie free kick.

Minutes later another dangerous delivery by Emslie caused havoc in the Finland penalty box though the ball fell kindly into the arms of goalkeeper, Korpela. Kirsty Hanson then had a chance at goal from just inside the penalty area, but the Aston Villa midfielder’s shot was well blocked by the Finland defender.

Scotland began to enjoy larger periods of possession as the half went on and tested Korpela properly for the first time on 25 minutes when Erin Cuthbert fizzed in a shot from the edge of the box forcing the Finland keeper into making a sharp save to her right.

Just as Scotland looked like they were beginning to gain a foothold in the game, Finland doubled their lead just shy of the half hour. A loose ball from the right fell perfectly to Lehtola on the edge whose shot, via the aid of a deflection, agonisingly evaded the dive of Cummings before hitting the back of the net.

Moments later Scotland squandered a huge chance to reduce the deficit when a cross punched clear by Korpela fell to Cuthbert, but the Chelsea midfielder could not find the finish as the ball fell just wide of the post.

Korpela was called into action once more a mere minute later when Martha Thomas leaped well to meet a Caroline Weir corner. The Spurs striker diverted her header goalwards with the Finland keeper doing well to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Scotland continued to threaten as the first half entered its dying embers and had a particularly good penalty claim for handball against Ria Oling waved away by referee Ewa Augustyn.

The visitors began the brighter of the two sides in the second half, striking the post through Sam Kerr following excellent work from Korpela to turn the Bayern midfielder’s effort onto the woodwork.

A few minutes later, yet another chance came and went for Scotland when Emslie diverted a Weir cross from the left goalward, but the forward’s effort was well saved by Korpela.

From the resulting corner, Kirsty Hanson whipped in a teasing ball towards the back post which was met by Jenna Clark though the defender’s looping header was easily claimed in the end by the keeper.

As the game entered its final 20 minutes, Scotland continued to press for a way back into the match when Thomas had another shot blocked expertly by the Finland defence.

Moments later Finland looked to play a long ball in behind the Scotland defence towards Sallstrom. Cumings came charging out, missing the ball in the process but fortunately Clark was there to block the shot from just inside the halfway line before the offside flag was eventually raised.

Scotland continued their dominance of the second half, with Emma Mukandi very nearly making an instant impact off the bench when she found herself in space inside the penalty area on 79 minutes, shooting just wide of target with her left foot.

Caroline Weir was next to try her luck on 85 minutes when she attempted to strike goalward on the half volley, but the Real Madrid midfielder’s effort was high and wide Korpela’s goal.

Five minutes of time were added and despite Scotland showing signs of promise as they had done for much of the match, the visitors lacked a cutting edge in the final third which proved to be the theme throughout as they fell to a 2-0 defeat in Helsinki. The result means that Scotland miss out on the UEFA Women’s Championship Finals 2025 in Switzerland.

Teams

Finland: Korpela, Koivisto, Kuikka, Nystrom, Tynnia, Lehtola (Hartikainen 90’), O. Siren (Ahtinen 62’), Oling, Summanen, Franssi (Engman 90’), Sallstrom (Sevenius 74’)

Unused Substitutes: Koivunen, Tamminen, Koivisto, E. Siren, Kosola, Alanen, Heroum, Halttunen

Scotland: Cumings, Docherty (Mukandi 70’), Howard, Kerr, Weir, Hanson, Clark, Smith (Evans 70’), Emslie (Watson 62’), Thomas, Cuthbert

Unused Substitutes: Gibson, Fife, Clark, McGregor, Hay, McLauchlan, Rodgers, Cornet, Napier