Jari Litmanen, Sami Hyypiä and the top 5 Finnish players in Bundesliga history
From Jari Litmanen to Sami Hyypiä, some of Finland's finest footballers have turned out in the Bundesliga down the years. Ahead of Germany's pre-FIFA World Cup 2026 friendly with the Nordic country, we look back at five of the best of them...
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Mikkael Forssell
After finding first-team minutes hard to come by at Chelsea, Forssell joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan midway through the 2002/03 season. The striker proved to be a hit, helping to steer the Foals away from the relegation zone with seven goals in 16 league appearances, including strikes in each of the last four games of the season.
In 2008, he returned to Germany, this time permanently, with Hannover. He made his mark immediately, netting 10 goals on his debut in a pre-season friendly, and going on to score seven times in 30 Bundesliga appearances in 2008/09.
He suffered a serious injury at the start of the following campaign, though, and would play just 12 more times in the Bundesliga before departing in the summer of 2011. He did return to Germany in 2014/15, scoring three times in 16 Bundesliga 2 outings for Bochum. At international level, he amassed 86 caps and is Finland’s third-top scorer of all time with 29 goals.
Born in Bratislava, Slovakia and brought up in Finland, Hradecký spent 10 years of his professional career in Germany. His Bundesliga stay started in 2015, when he joined Eintracht Frankfurt from Brøndby in Denmark.
His time in Germany’s financial capital was ultimately successful, as he helped Eintracht end their 30-year wait for a trophy by lifting the 2017/18 DFB Cup, beating Bayern Munich in the final.
A move to Bayer Leverkusen followed, and he continued to establish himself as one of the Bundesliga’s leading custodians. At the start of the 2021/22 season, he was appointed captain and wore the armband during the greatest season in Leverkusen’s history, when they completed an unbeaten domestic double in 2023/24.
Upon his eventual switch to Monaco in the summer of 2025, he had more Bundesliga appearances than any other non-German goalkeeper and was a bona fide Leverkusen legend. For Finland, he sits fifth on the all-time appearance list and was in goal as the nation played at their first major international tournament, UEFA Euro 2020.
Sami Hyypiä
Defensive colossus Hyypiä was in the twilight of his career when he joined Leverkusen in 2009, with more than 700 professional appearances under his belt. Nevertheless, he remained consistently impressive throughout his two-year stint at the BayArena.
In 2008/09, he played all but two Bundesliga games as Leverkusen narrowly missed out on qualification for the UEFA Champions League, and was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season as a result. He did not feature quite as much in 2010/11, which proved to be the final one of his playing career, but still managed a respectable 21 appearances.
By then, Hyppiä had already announced he would become assistant coach for 2011/12. His move into the dugout was brought forward to April 2012, when he was named co-head coach alongside Sascha Lewandowski, before taking the solo reins for the 2013/14 campaign - although he was sacked in April 2014. He is undoubtedly a Finland legend - with 105 caps for his country - and also wore the captain’s armband between 2008 and 2010.
Jari Litmanen
Arguably the most famous and successful Finnish player in the history of the game, Litmanen played only 13 Bundesliga games, featuring for Hansa Rostock in the second half of the 2004/05 campaign.
Having played for some of the most glamorous sides on the planet like Ajax, Barcelona and Liverpool, the north of Germany was a different world for the one-time UEFA Champions League winner.
While Rostock picked up 18 of their 30 points following Litmanen’s arrival, which only occurred ahead of Matchday 19, they were still unable to avoid relegation. The man himself, meanwhile, managed one goal and one assist, both in a 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin.
The undisputed king of Finnish football, he is their most-capped player with 137 caps and sits second in the goalscoring chart behind Teemu Pukki with 32. Interestingly, he returned to the game at the age of 55 last year, turning out for Tallinna Kalev Juunior alongside his two sons.
Petri Pasanen
Joining from Ajax in 2004, Pasanen made a big impact for Werder Bremen during his seven years at the club.
A versatile defender who could be deployed anywhere across the back four, the Finn featured in 144 Bundesliga fixtures for Werder, second only to Hradecký amongst his compatriots. He also helped Werder win the DFB Cup and the now defunct DFB Ligapokal, while he also featured 11 times during the team’s run to the 2008/09 UEFA Cup final.
Over his 13-year international career, he earned 76 caps and scored one goal. After his Bremen exit in 2011, he moved to Red Bull Salzburg and had further stops in Denmark and his homeland before retiring in 2015.
