End of an Era: Teemu Pukki to Retire from Finland Duty After 131 Caps and 42 Goals
A legendary chapter in Finnish football is coming to an end as Teemu Pukki, the country’s all-time leading goalscorer, prepares to hang up his international boots after 16 years of service. The 35-year-old forward will play his final matches for Finland this month, marking the conclusion of a remarkable journey that began in 2009 when he replaced national icon Jari Litmanen in a friendly against Japan.
Since that symbolic substitution, Pukki has gone on to surpass Litmanen’s goal tally and establish himself as one of Finland’s greatest-ever players. With 131 caps and 42 goals to his name, the HJK striker will make his final appearances when the Eagle Owls face Malta in a World Cup qualifier on November 14 in Helsinki, followed by a farewell friendly against Andorra three days later in Tampere.
“I am really proud that I have been able to do this for as long as I have,” Pukki told the Finnish FA. “It has been many years since my debut, and there have been quite a few matches and goals since then. Lately, I have had the feeling that now is the right time to leave these circles. The decision was not easy, but it feels right now that I have made it public. There are two final games ahead, and I want to enjoy every moment as much as I can.”
Pukki’s journey has been one of persistence and resilience. After early stints at Sevilla and Celtic that failed to fully ignite, he found his best form at Brøndby and later at Norwich City, where his goals fired the Canaries to promotion and earned him cult hero status in English football.
Yet, through the highs and lows of club life, the national team remained his constant source of pride. “When things were going badly for the club team when I was younger, the national team was a kind of refuge,” he recalled. “There was always a good atmosphere in the team, and here I got a kind of enthusiasm for football that maybe wasn’t there in the club team during the bad times. It’s always been really cool to come here.”
Pukki’s defining moment came during Finland’s historic qualification for UEFA Euro 2020, when his 10 goals in the campaign helped his country reach their first-ever major tournament. “It was once quite a long way off that Finland would qualify for the prestigious competitions, but we did it,” he said. “It’s done now, and hopefully it will happen again soon.”
While Finland’s hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup appear slim, Pukki’s focus remains simple to finish on a high and, ideally, add a few more goals to his record. “There will certainly be emotional moments ahead in both games,” he admitted. “I hope I can also score the last goals for the national team after all, that is the biggest thing for me as a striker. You might think that we are ‘only’ facing Malta and Andorra, but these days there are no easy international matches. We have to play well if we want results.”
