Leo Väisänen (born 23 July 1997) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for IF Elfsborg in the Swedish Allsvenskan[1] and the Finland national team.[2] Väisänen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for HJK and RoPS, before signing with Den Bosch at age 21 in 2018.[3]
![]() Väisänen with RoPS in 2018. | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Leo Onni Artturi Väisänen | ||
Date of birth | (1997-07-23) 23 July 1997 (age 25) | ||
Place of birth | Helsinki, Finland | ||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | IF Elfsborg | ||
Number | 15 | ||
Youth career | |||
0000–2015 | KäPa | ||
2015 | HJK | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2016 | Klubi 04 | 19 | (3) |
2016 | HJK | 3 | (0) |
2016 | → PK-35 (loan) | 9 | (1) |
2017–2018 | RoPS | 46 | (1) |
2018–2019 | Den Bosch | 45 | (6) |
2020– | IF Elfsborg | 70 | (3) |
National team‡ | |||
2014 | Finland U17 | 1 | (0) |
2015 | Finland U18 | 5 | (0) |
2015 | Finland U19 | 4 | (1) |
2017–2018 | Finland U21 | 8 | (0) |
2019– | Finland | 21 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:03, 26 September 2022 (UTC) |
Väisänen made his international debut for Finland in June 2019, at the age of 21.
Väisänen made his Veikkausliiga debut for HJK on 14 April 2016 in a game against RoPS.[4]
In November 2016 he signed a two-year contract with RoPS.[5] He made his debut on 12 April 2017, playing the full 90 minutes of a 6–2 defeat at Inter Turku.[6]
In August 2018 Väisanen was signed by the Dutch side FC Den Bosch.[7]
On 12 January 2020 Väisänen joined Swedish club IF Elfsborg on a 3,5-year contract.[8]
He made his Finland national football team debut on 11 June 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Liechtenstein, as an 86th-minute substitute for Jukka Raitala.[9]
Väisänen was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[10] On 12 June 2021 Väisänen came in as a 90th minute substitute for Jukka Raitala in a UEFA Euro 2020 match against Denmark.[11]
He is the younger brother of Sauli Väisänen.[12] Their mother Anna-Liisa Tilus-Väisänen is a television presenter for Yle and Miss World 1984 semi-finalist.
Club | Season | League | Domestic Cups | Continental | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Klubi 04 | 2015 | Kakkonen | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | |
2016 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
Total | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |||
HJK | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2016 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||
Total | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||
PK-35 (loan) | 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | |
RoPS | 2017 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |
2018 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | |||
Total | 46 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 1 | ||
Den Bosch | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 28 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 31 | 3 | |
2019–20 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 18 | 3 | |||
Total | 45 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 6 | ||
Elfsborg | 2020 | Allsvenskan | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | |
2021 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6[lower-alpha 1] | 1 | 18 | 3 | ||
Total | 38 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 49 | 3 | ||
Career total | 160 | 11 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 183 | 13 |
National team | Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | |||
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Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Finland | 2019 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
2020 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
2021 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Klubi 04
IF Elfsborg – current squad | |
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Finland squad – UEFA Euro 2020 | ||
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