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Mikael Soisalo

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Mikael Soisalo
Soisalo with Ilves in 2016
Personal information
Full name Mikael Soisalo[1]
Date of birth (1998-04-24) 24 April 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Helsinki, Finland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Right-winger
Team information
Current team
 Puskás Akadémia
Number 20
Youth career
2002–2012 Honka
2012–2015 HJK
2017–2018 Middlesbrough
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Klubi 04 4 (0)
2016 Ilves 31 (7)
2017–2018 Middlesbrough 0 (0)
2018–2020 Zulte Waregem 32 (1)
2021 → Varzim (loan) 2 (0)
2021–2023 Riga FC 67 (16)
2023– Puskás Akadémia 35 (2)
International career‡
2013–2014 Finland U16 8 (1)
2014–2015 Finland U17 13 (2)
2016 Finland U18 10 (3)
2016–2017 Finland U19 6 (2)
2017–2020 Finland U21 20 (2)
2022– Finland 4 (0)
Medal record
Klubi 04
First place Kakkonen Eastern Group 2015
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2022

Mikael Soisalo (born 24 April 1998) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a right-winger for Hungarian club Puskás Akadémia. He has also represented the Finland national under-21 football team.[2] Soisalo was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career on league level playing for Ilves, before signing with Zulte Waregem at age 20 in 2018.[3]

Club career

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Klubi 04

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He started his career playing for in the lower leagues of Finnish football in HJKs reserve team.[4] He has also played for the junior teams of Finland national football team.[citation needed]

Ilves

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On 14 December 2015 it was announced he had joined Ilves a team from Tampere on a 3-year contract.[5]

He stated that his goal for the 2016 Veikkausliiga (Finnish 1 tier) season would be to get a start in the starting line-up.[5] He played an active role in the team's success, they finished fourth in the league and at times they even fought for the championship.[4]

Middlesbrough

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On 5 January 2017, Soisalo joined Middlesbrough on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around €200,000, and was registered to their U21 academy squad.[6][7]

On 13 March 2017, he scored a hat-trick for the Middlesbrough reserves against Blackburn reserves. The manager praised him for his performance and how he had integrated into the team.[8]

Zulte Waregem

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On 18 June 2018, Middlesbrough announced that Soisalo was to join Belgian side Zulte Waregem after just one full season with Middlesbrough's U-23 side.[9] The transfer fee was not disclosed.

Varzim (loan)
Soisalo was loaned out to Portuguese club Varzim S.C. on 29 January 2020 for the rest of the season with a purchase option.[10] However, he only played two games for the club and returned to Zulte in the summer 2020.

Riga FC

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For the 2021 season, Soisalo moved to Riga FC on a 2-year contract. He made his debut on 13 March, playing the first 65 minutes of a 0–2 win at Ventspils.[11] He had an impressive start and had scored seven goals in 15 games in July 2021.[12]

Puskás Akadémia

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On 27 August 2023, Soisalo was bought by Hungarian top-flight club Puskás Akadémia for an undisclosed fee.[13] He scored in his debut, in a 3–1 away victory against Mezőkövesd on 3 September 2023.

International career

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He has been an integral part of the various youth national teams starting from the U-15. During 2016, he took part in Finland's qualifying campaign for the UEFA under 19 Championship. He played well against Kazakhstan, scoring once and assisting three goals.[4] He scored his first goal for Finland U21 on 9 October 2020 in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualification match in Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena against Northern Ireland U21.[14]

In March 2022, Soisalo received a first call up for the Finland senior squad for the first time, coming into the squad after the withdrawal of Lassi Lappalainen and Onni Valakari for matches against Iceland and Slovakia.[15]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of 21 December 2024[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Klubi 04 2015 Kakkonen 4 0 0 0 — — 4 0
Ilves 2016 Veikkausliiga 31 7 5 4 — — 36 11
Zulte Waregem 2018–19 Belgian First Division A 20 1 0 0 — 8[b] 0 28 1
2019–20 Belgian First Division A 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
2020–21 Belgian First Division A 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
Total 24 1 0 0 0 0 8 0 32 1
Varzim (loan) 2019–20 LigaPro 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
Riga FC 2021 Virslīga 19 8 2 0 8[c] 1 — 29 9
2022 Virslīga 27 4 1 0 6[d] 2 — 34 6
2023 Virslīga 21 4 0 0 5[d] 0 — 26 4
Total 67 16 3 0 19 3 0 0 89 19
Puskás Akadémia 2023–24 NB I 18 2 2 1 0 0 — 20 3
2024–25 NB I 17 0 2 0 4[e] 2 – 23 2
Total 35 2 4 1 4 2 0 0 43 5
Career total 162 26 12 5 23 5 8 0 205 36
  1. ^ Includes Suomen Cup, Latvian Cup and Hungarian Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in the Belgian Europa League play-offs
  3. ^ Includes two appearances in the UEFA Champions League, and six appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ a b Includes UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

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As of match played on 4 June 2024.
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Finland 2022 4 0
Total 4 0

Honours

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Klubi 04

Riga FC

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Middlesbrough" (PDF). English Football League. p. 23. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Mikael Soisalo" (in Finnish). Football Association of Finland. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Ilveksessä loistanut Mikael Soisalo hehkuttaa siirtoaan Belgian liigaan: "Seuraava tavoitteeni on miesten maajoukkue"" [Mikael Soisalo, who had great performance in Ilves, celebrates his move to the Belgian league: "My next goal is the men's national team"] (in Finnish). Aamulehti. 17 June 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Ilves-tähti Soisalo aikoo kaataa tänään vanhan seuransa: "Jos saan kunnon syöttöjä, teen maalin" - Aamulehti". Archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Ilves nappasi HJK-lupauksen – "Poikkeuksellinen pelaaja"". 14 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Finnish Forward Joins Middlesbrough Academy". Middlesbrough F.C. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  7. ^ DONE DEAL! Middlesbrough sign 18-year-old Finnish starlet Mikael Soisalo, 5 January 2017, talksport.com
  8. ^ Jonathan Taylor (14 March 2017). "Introducing Mikael Soisalo: Middlesbrough Academy's hot prospect from a cold country". Teesside Gazette. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Mikael Soisalo Set To Join Zulte Waregem". mfc.co.uk. Middlesbrough F.C. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  10. ^ Soisalo é reforço do Varzim, varzim.pt, 29 January 2020
  11. ^ "FK Ventspils vs Riga FC: Live score, updates and head-to-head results 03/13/2021". tribuna.com. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Finland - M. Soisalo - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  13. ^ "MTV Urheilun tiedot: Huuhkajista tuttu hyökkääjä sai kovan siirron Euroopassa".
  14. ^ "Pikkuhuuhkajat hienoon voittoon Pohjois-Irlannissa" [Little Eagle Owls win a great victory in Northern Ireland] (in Finnish). Veikkausliiga. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Muutoksia Huuhkajien leiriryhmään" [Changes to the Owl Camp Group]. www.palloliitto.fi (in Finnish). 18 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Kauden parhaita palkittiin Captain's Ballissa". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Koplajoukkue 2016 palkittiin päätöskierroksella". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
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