Jussi Niska
Finnish footballer (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jussi Erkki Niska (born 15 August 2002) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Veikkausliiga club Inter Turku and the Finland national team.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jussi Erkki Niska[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 15 August 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Rovaniemi, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Inter Turku | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| FC Santa Claus | |||
| –2019 | RoPS | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2020 | RoPS II | 7 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | RoPS | 36 | (0) |
| 2022– | Inter Turku | 98 | (6) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2018 | Finland U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2018 | Finland U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | Finland U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 2025– | Finland | 1 | (0) |
Medal record | |||
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 November 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||
Club career
RoPS
Born in Rovaniemi, Niska played for the youth teams of FC Lynx, who later became part of FC Santa Claus,[3] and RoPS. He debuted in Veikkausliiga for the RoPS first team on 2 July 2020 at the age of 17, in a 3–1 away defeat against Inter Turku.[4]
After RoPS got relegated in 2020, Niska stayed with the club in Ykkönen in the 2021 season,[3] finishing 2nd in the division, but eventually falling short to AC Oulu in the promotion play-offs.[5][6]
FC Inter Turku
Niska signed a three-year deal with Inter Turku in Veikkausliiga on 23 December 2021,[7] after RoPS faced some serious financial difficulties and were relegated to Kakkonen. On 6 July 2022, Niska scored the winning goal as Inter Turku defeated Drita 1–0 in the 1st leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1st round qualifying match.[8][9] On 8 October 2024, his contract was extended for the 2025 with an option for 2026.[10]
International career
A regular Finnish youth international, Niska has represented Finland in various age brackets.[11]
Career statistics
- As of 23 June 2025
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| RoPS II | 2019 | Kakkonen | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| RoPS | 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 20 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | Ykkönen | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| Total | 36 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
| Inter Turku | 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2[c] | 1 | 31 | 3 |
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2025 | Veikkausliiga | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 19 | 3 | ||
| Total | 78 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 112 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 121 | 4 | 20 | 1 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 164 | 6 | ||
- Includes Suomen Cup
- Includes Finnish League Cup
- Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
Honours
RoPS
- Ykkönen runner-up: 2021
Inter Turku
- Finnish Cup runner-up: 2022, 2024
- Finnish League Cup: 2024, 2025
- Finnish League Cup runner-up: 2022