Joel Julius Ilmari Pohjanpalo (born 13 September 1994) is a Finnish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Italian club

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. He also represents the

Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body ...

. Pohjanpalo was born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

where he began his career with HJK. He made his

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

debut on 26 October 2011 at the age of 17 and moved out to Germany at age 19 in 2013. Pohjanpalo made his international debut for Finland in November 2012, at the age of eighteen and has since made over fifty appearances, including playing in matches for

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tour ...

Club career

HJK

A product of his hometown club HJK, Pohjanpalo emerged through the youth ranks, first appearing with the reserve team (

Klubi-04 Klubi 04 is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. It is the reserve team of Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi for whom a number of the players are also registered. History Klubi 04 was founded in 2004 when HJK bought FC Jokerit. Initially Klubi 04 ...

) in 2011 at the age of 16. He made his Veikkausliiga debut on 26 October 2011, starting against

RoPS Rops may refer to: People * Daniel-Rops (1901–1965), French writer and historian * Félicien Rops (1833–1898), Belgian artist Places * Rops (peak), a mountain in Kosovo Sports * Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS), a Finnish football club Tech ...

. During his first season in the Finnish 2nd division with Klubi-04, he made 21 appearances, scored a record-breaking 33 league goals and was awarded as the series player of the season. Following his excellent performances with the reserves, Pohjanpalo signed a new contract with HJK on 7 December 2011, keeping him in the Finnish capital until 2015. Pohjanpalo started HJK's first league match of the 2012 Veikkausliiga season on 15 April 2012, scoring a hat-trick within the space of three minutes (162 seconds) against

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is an Ålandic football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''). The club is managed by Daniel Norrmén, and it plays its home matches at Wiklö ...

. After a three-day trial with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in August 2012, Pohjanpalo was offered a three-year contract but rejected the deal due to a lack of guaranteed playing time for

Liverpool F.C. Reserves Liverpool F.C. Reserves is the reserve team of Liverpool F.C. It is the most senior level of the Liverpool academy beneath the first team. In the summer of 2012, the whole English reserve football system was overhauled and replaced with an Under ...

. He finished the 2012 season at HJK with 19 goals in 42 games in all competitions. He was awarded as the Veikkausliiga rookie of the season.

Bayer Leverkusen and loans

On 1 September 2013, Pohjanpalo was loaned to German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

team

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

, who then loaned him to 2. Bundesliga team

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, table tennis, and cheer ...

. At Aalen, Pohjanpalo started thirteen matches and appeared as a substitute in a further nine, scoring five goals. In April 2014, Pohjanpalo renewed his contract with HJK, extending it to 2018. At the same time HJK extended his loan contract with Bayer Leverkusen a further two years, which Pohjanpalo spent on loan at

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. He was voted the 2. Bundesliga Player of the Month in October 2014, following a hat-trick against

Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Sp ...

. On 21 March 2016, Leverkusen announced that they had exercised their option to permanently sign Pohjanpalo. On 27 August 2016, Pohjanpalo finally made his debut for the club in their opening game of the

2016–17 Bundesliga The 2016–17 Bundesliga was the 54th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 26 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. Bayern Munich were the defending champions. Fixtures for the 2016–17 season were announ ...

season against

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. He scored just a minute after being substituted on, but it was not enough to prevent Leverkusen from losing 2–1. Pohjanpalo came off the bench in Leverkusen's second game of the season and scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

, helping his side achieve a 3–1 win over

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. After these two appearances, Pohjanpalo had scored four goals in just thirty minutes of play during the first two matches of the season. On 24 January 2020, Pohjanpalo joined

on loan for the rest of the 2019–20 season. On 30 September 2020, Pohjanpalo joined

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin () or Union Berlin, is a professional German football club in Köpenick, Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweid ...

on loan for the 2020–21 season.

Venezia

On 19 August 2022, Pohjanpalo signed a three-year contract with

in Italy, with an option to extend for two more years.

International career

Youth

Pohjanpalo made his debut for the Finland U21 side at the age of 17 on 5 June 2012 against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

Senior

Pohjanpalo made his senior national team debut on 14 November 2012 in a 3−0 victory against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

when he replaced

Teemu Pukki Teemu Eino Antero Pukki (born 29 March 1990) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Finland national team. Pukki began his career with KTP and made his debut on senior leve ...

as a substitute on the 70th minute. He was close to scoring in a friendly against

when his shot hit the post and was then finished by

Hämäläinen Hämäläinen is a surname originating in Finland (in Finnish, it means " Tavastian"), where it is the sixth most common"Most common surnames"Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

he finished his first international goal entering the field as a substitute and equalising the game. He made his

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

qualification match debut on 7 September 2014 in a match against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

when he entered as an 89th-minute substitute for

. He scored his first goal in a competitive match on 4 September 2015 in a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match in

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. On 12 June 2021, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in the

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, to grant his country their first goal and win in a major competition.

Career statistics

Club

International

. :''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pohjanpalo goal.''

Honours

Klubi-04 * Finnish League Division 2, Group A:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

HJK *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual * Finnish League Division 2 Top scorer: 2011 * Finnish League Division 2 Group A Player of the Season: 2011 *

Rookie of the Season: 2012

References

External links

Profile at hjk.fi

Bayer 04 Leverkusen official profile

Joel Pohjanpalo
–

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

competition record * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pohjanpalo, Joel 1994 births Living people Footballers from Helsinki Association football forwards Finnish footballers Finland youth international footballers Finland under-21 international footballers Finland international footballers PK-35 Vantaa (men) players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Klubi 04 players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players VfR Aalen players Fortuna Düsseldorf players Hamburger SV players 1. FC Union Berlin players Çaykur Rizespor footballers Venezia F.C. players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Kakkonen players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Regionalliga players Süper Lig players Serie B players UEFA Euro 2020 players Finnish expatriate footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in Italy