Finland Kicks Off World Cup Qualification and the Friis Era with Victory Over Malta

New Finland manager Jacob Friis kicked off his tenure with a victory, as his team defeated Malta 1-0 in Ta’ Qali. This result not only marked the end of Finland’s eight-match winless streak but also initiated their journey in Group G of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

The Friis era nearly began with a bang when Benjamin Kallman attempted a shot from the edge of the penalty area just 44 seconds in, but Malta’s goalkeeper Henry Bonello was quick to respond and made an impressive save.

Malta, keen to make an impression with their new head coach Emilio De Leo, pushed forward as well. Joseph Mbong came in from the right and unleashed a powerful shot that sailed across the goal and wide. Soon after, Alex Satariano mirrored this move from the left, forcing Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky to deflect the attempt.

While the home side continued to press Hradecky, the best chance of the half fell to the Finnish Eagle Owls after half an hour. An Oliver Antman cross found Joel Pohjanpalo, whose header was saved by Bonello. In a surprising twist, Kallman missed the rebound, sending the ball over the crossbar with the goal gaping before him.

However, where Kallman faltered, Antman capitalised just seven minutes later. This time, Kallman struck from distance, and after Bonello diverted the ball into a dangerous area, Antman made no mistake in burying the rebound.

Despite being ranked 99 places lower, Malta posed early threats in the second half, with Robert Ivanov making a crucial block on a shot from Paul Mbong during a rapid counter-attack.

Malta continued to press, with notable contributions from Satariano, Ilyas Chouaref, and Matthew Guillaumier creating opportunities, but they struggled to find the back of the net. Their chance to break a six-match losing streak against Finland emerged with 15 minutes left when Kyrian Nwoko found himself one-on-one with Hradecky, only to pull his shot wide.

This miss proved costly just two minutes later when Kurt Shaw was shown a red card after a reckless challenge on Kaan Kairinen.

With the red card severely diminishing Malta’s hopes of equalising, they saw their four-match unbeaten run come to an end, while Finland continued their impressive streak of winning at least one World Cup qualifier in every campaign dating back to 1966.