2020 Veikkausliiga
Football season in Finland
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The 2020 Veikkausliiga was the 90th season of top-tier football in Finland with KuPS being the defending champions.[2] HJK won the league.
| Season | 2020 |
|---|---|
| Champions | HJK |
| Relegated | RoPS, TPS |
| Champions League | HJK |
| Europa Conference League | KuPS Inter Turku FC Honka |
| Matches | 132 |
| Goals | 296 (2.24 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Albion Ademi Roope Riski (12 each)[1] |
| Biggest home win | HJK 6–1 IFK Mariehamn (30 August 2020)[1] |
| Biggest away win | FC Lahti 0–4 HJK (1 July 2020)[1] |
| Highest scoring | Ilves 4–3 IFK Mariehamn (1 July 2020) HJK 6–1 IFK Mariehamn (30 August 2020) HIFK 4–3 HJK (10 September 2020)[1] |
| Longest winning run | 7 matches KuPS[1] |
| Longest unbeaten run | 10 matches HJK[1] |
| Longest winless run | 16 matches RoPS[1] |
| Longest losing run | 12 matches RoPS[1] |
← 2019 2021 → | |
New league format
Veikkausliiga adopted a new league format for the 2019 season. Each team played against each other twice in the regular season. After the regular season the top six teams advanced to the Championship Series which determines the champion and European tournament qualification places. The bottom six teams advanced to the Challenger Series. The best team from the Challenger Series plays in a tournament against the Championship Series' 4th, 5th, and 6th place teams. The winner from that plays in a final series against the 3rd best team from the Championship Series. The last UEFA Europa Conference League qualification place goes to the winner of that final series.[3]
The bottom team from the Challenger Series will relegate to the Ykkönen, and second to last team will play in a relegation play-off series against the 2nd best team from Ykkönen.
Teams
VPS were relegated to Ykkönen after finishing at the bottom of the 2019 season. Their place was taken by Ykkönen champions FC Haka.
KPV as 11th-placed team lost their Veikkausliiga spot after losing to second-placed Ykkönen team TPS in a relegation/promotion playoff.
Stadiums and locations
| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Haka | Valkeakoski | Tehtaan kenttä | Artificial | 3,516 |
| FC Honka | Espoo | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto | Natural | 6,000 |
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 9,372 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion | Natural | 15,000 |
| HIFK | Helsinki | Bolt Arena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| HJK | Helsinki | Bolt Arena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Artificial[4] | 4,000 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tammelan Stadion | Natural | 5,040 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | Artificial | 5,000 |
| RoPS | Rovaniemi | Rovaniemen keskuskenttä | Artificial | 4,000 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 6,000 |
| TPS | Turku | Veritas Stadion[5] | Natural | 9,372 |
League table
On 28 October 2020, it was decided to cancel the championship and relegation round due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland, and the regular season standings after 22 rounds would be considered final.[6]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HJK (C) | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 48 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Inter Turku | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 17 | +19 | 41 | Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | KuPS | 22 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 39 | 26 | +13 | 41 | |
| 4 | FC Honka | 22 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 26 | 17 | +9 | 37 | |
| 5 | Ilves | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 36 | |
| 6 | FC Lahti | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 32 | |
| 7 | SJK | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 27 | 29 | −2 | 29 | |
| 8 | HIFK | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 28 | |
| 9 | IFK Mariehamn | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 29 | 43 | −14 | 23 | |
| 10 | FC Haka | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 41 | −16 | 22 | |
| 11 | TPS (R) | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 23 | 39 | −16 | 21 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | RoPS (R) | 22 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 15 | 51 | −36 | 5 | Relegation to the Ykkönen |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head away goals scored; 7) Play-off
(Note: Play-off is only played if need to decide champion, teams for relegation or UEFA competition and will be played on a neutral ground).
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Results
European competition
Five teams would originally play for a spot in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round, but this was cancelled and the spot would be awarded based on regular season position.
Relegation play-offs
1–1 on aggregate. KTP won on away goals.
Season statistics
Top scorers
As of 4 November 2020[7]
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Roope Riski |
HJK | 16 |
| 2 |  Albion Ademi |
IFK Mariehamn | 14 |
| 3 | Timo Furuholm |
Inter Turku | 10 |
| 4 | Jasin-Amin Assehnoun |
FC Lahti | 9 |
| Tim Väyrynen |
HJK | ||
| 6 | Lauri Ala-Myllymäki |
Ilves | 7 |
 Jean Marie Dongou |
FC Honka | ||
| Naatan Skyttä |
Ilves | ||
 Aniekpeno Udo |
KuPS | ||
| 10 |  Dimitry Imbongo |
FC Lahti | 6 |
| Ilmari Niskanen |
KuPS | ||
| Salomo Ojala |
FC Haka | ||
Awards
Annual awards
| Award[8] | Winner | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Player of the Year | Roope Riski |
HJK |
| Goalkeeper of the Year |  Tim Murray |
Honka |
| Defender of the Year | Daniel O'Shaughnessy |
HJK |
| Midfielder of the Year |  Nana Boateng |
KuPS |
| Striker of the Year | Roope Riski |
HJK |
| Breakthrough of the Year | Usman Sale |
KuPS |
| Coach of the Year | Samuel Fagerholm |
KuPS |
Team of the Year
Murray
Ketting
Alho
Daniel
Murillo
Boateng
Skyttä
Ademi
Riski
Furuholm
Riski
|
| Team of the Year[9] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Tim Murray (Honka) | |||||||||||
| Defence |
(HJK) |
Rick Ketting (Inter Turku) |
Daniel O'Shaughnessy (HJK) |
Luis Carlos Murillo (HJK) | ||||||||
| Midfield |
Riku Riski (HJK) |
|
Naatan Skyttä (Ilves) |
Albion Ademi (Mariehamn) | ||||||||
| Attack | Timo Furuholm (Inter Turku) |
Roope Riski (HJK) | ||||||||||