Roope Riski


Roope Vilhelmi Riski is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club Ilves.
He is known as a clinical, well-positioned forward who can get into the right place at the right time. In the middle of the 2010 season, Riski was selected to the opening squad for the first time of his career. Since then he has enjoyed a phenomenal season, starting 12 games and scoring 11 goals. He has the best game/goal ratio in the Veikkausliiga.

Club career

TPS

Riski started football in the youth sector of Maskun Palloseura, and later joined Turun Palloseura. He made his senior debut with TPS in Veikkausliiga in the 2010 season. On 22 September 2010, Riski scored a hat-trick for TPS against AC Oulu. By doing this, he became the first ever player in Finland to score a hat-trick in all the highest three levels of Finnish football system during one season, as he had loan stints with Viikingit in Ykkönen and Åbo IFK in Kakkonen during 2020.

Cesena and loans

On 27 January 2011, he was announced as the Cesena player in Italian Serie A.
The transfer fee was reported to be €750.000. He made his Serie A debut on 19 March 2011 against Lazio on Stadio Olimpico as a 69th-minute substitute for Fabio Caserta, he has had loan spell in Finland for TPS Turku in 2012 and Hønefoss BK in Norway. In August 2012, Riski joined English side Derby County on trial ahead of their pre-season against Chesterfield, where he started in a 3–1 loss, he scored in a reserve friendly against Matlock Town.

SJK Seinäjoki

On 8 February 2016, SJK announced the signing of Riski on a two-year contract. Riski was the top goal scorer in Veikkausliiga in 2016.
On 10 January 2017, he was loaned to SC Paderborn in German 3. Liga.

St. Pölten

In June 2017, Riski left SJK when he signed with Austrian Bundesliga club St. Pölten for an undisclosed fee.
On 28 August 2018, Riski was loaned out to Greek club AO Chania − Kissamikos.

HJK Helsinki

On 21 November 2019, HJK Helsinki confirmed the signing of Riski on a contract until the end of 2021 with an option for one further year. He was crowned the Veikkausliiga top goal scorer again in 2020. During the 2022 and 2023 season, he suffered from knee injuries and missed several months.

Ilves

On 6 November 2023, it was announced that Riski had signed with Veikkausliiga club Ilves on a two-year deal, starting in 2024. During his first season with Ilves, Riski scored 11 goals in 26 Veikkausliiga appearances.

International career

On 19 January 2015, Riski made his senior debut for the Finland national team in a 1–0 friendly against Sweden, where he scored the only goal of the match.
He was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of former Finnish international footballer Riku Riski.
Since 2019, Riski has abstained from drinking alcohol. He has also revealed his devotion for poetry.

Career statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
119 January 2015Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates1–01–0Friendly

Honours

SJK
HJK
Ilves
  • Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2024
Individual