Onni Valakari

Onni Valakari (born 18 August 1999) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Cypriot First Division club Pafos and the Finnish national team.

Onni Valakari
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-08-18) 18 August 1999
Place of birth Motherwell, Scotland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Pafos
Number 24
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 SJK Akatemia 2 (0)
2017–2018 TPS 29 (10)
2017 → SalPa (loan) 2 (0)
2018–2019 Tromsø 42 (9)
2020– Pafos 108 (36)
International career‡
Finland U18
2017 Finland U19 1 (0)
2019–2020 Finland U21 13 (4)
2020– Finland[2] 11 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 June 2023 (UTC)

Career

On 5 August 2018 Valakari signed with the Norwegian club Tromsø,[3] In January 2020 he moved to Pafos.[4] On 25 November 2022, Valakari extended his contract with Pafos until June 2026.[5]

International career

He played for Finland at under-19 and under-21 levels.[6]

Valakari made his senior international debut for Finland on 11 November 2020, scoring on his debut in a 2–0 victory over France. The other goalscorer was fellow debutant Marcus Forss.[7]

Valakari was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[8]

Personal life

His father Simo and brother Paavo have also played football professionally.[9] Onni was born in Scotland when his father had a stint as a player at Motherwell.[10][11][12]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 October 2023.[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
SJK Akatemia 2015 Kakkonen 2000—20
TPS 2017 Ykkönen 13600—136
2018 Veikkausliiga 16441—205
Total 291041—3311
SalPa (loan) 2017 Kakkonen 2000—20
Tromsø 2018 Eliteserien 13200—132
2019 29730—327
Total 42930—459
Pafos 2019–20 Cypriot First Division 6500—65
2020–21 361322—3815
2021–22 261021—2811
2022–23 33761—398
2023–24 7100—71
Total 10836104—11840
Career total 183551750019460

International
As of 23 September 2022
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Finland 202041
202150
202220
Total111
As of match played on 7 June 2022. Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.
NoDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 November 2020Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France1 France2–02–0Friendly

References
  1. Onni Valakari at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. "Onni Valakari". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  3. "Valakari klar for Gutan" (in Norwegian). Tromsø IL. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. "onni valakari joins pafos fc".
  5. "PAFOS FC EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH ONNI VALAKARI". pafosfc.com.cy. Pafos FC. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  6. Onni Valakari at WorldFootball.net
  7. "Finland beat world champions France" – via bbc.co.uk.
  8. "Näillä pelaajilla Huuhkajat lähtevät kohti EM-kisoja – kaksi nimeä kiinnostivat yli muiden" (in Finnish). Helsingin Sanomat. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  9. Kuparinen, Heikki (12 November 2020). "Marcus Forss ja Onni Valakari nousivat sukujensa parhaiksi maalintekijöiksi A-maajoukkueessa heti debyyteissään".
  10. Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven. "Euro 2020: your complete guide to all 622 players" – via www.theguardian.com.
  11. "Meet Finland's Motherwell-born starlet" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  12. McGilvray, Andy (21 June 2021). "Finland star who stunned France was born in Motherwell". Daily Record.
  13. "Onni Valakari". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 26 August 2019.


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