Leo Väisänen

Leo Onni Artturi Väisänen (born 23 July 1997) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for BK Häcken in Allsvenskan^[1] and the Finland national team.^[2] Väisänen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He began his senior club career playing for HJK and RoPS, before signing with Den Bosch at age 21 in 2018.^[3]

Leo Väisänen

Väisänen with RoPS in 2018.
Personal information
Full name	Leo Onni Artturi Väisänen
Date of birth	(1997-07-23) 23 July 1997 (age 28)
Place of birth	Helsinki, Finland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	BK Häcken
Number	15
Youth career
0000–2015	KäPa
2015	HJK
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2016	Klubi 04	19	(3)
2016	HJK	3	(0)
2016	→ PK-35 Vantaa (loan)	9	(1)
2017–2018	RoPS	46	(1)
2018–2020	Den Bosch	45	(6)
2020–2022	Elfsborg	76	(3)
2023–2025	Austin FC	34	(1)
2025–	Häcken	1	(0)
International career‡
2014	Finland U17	1	(0)
2015	Finland U18	5	(0)
2015	Finland U19	4	(1)
2017–2018	Finland U21	8	(0)
2019–	Finland	28	(0)
Medal record Klubi 04 Kakkonen Eastern Group 2015 HJK Helsinki Veikkausliiga 2016 Finnish Cup 2016 RoPS Veikkausliiga 2018
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 24 April 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2025

Väisänen made his international debut for Finland in June 2019, at the age of 21.

Club career

HJK

Väisänen made his Veikkausliiga debut for HJK on 14 April 2016 in a game against RoPS.^[4]

RoPS

In November 2016 he signed a two-year contract with RoPS.^[5] He made his debut on 12 April 2017, playing the full 90 minutes of a 6–2 defeat at Inter Turku.^[6]

Den Bosch

In August 2018 Väisanen was signed by the Dutch side FC Den Bosch for an undisclosed fee.^[7] Väisänen made his debut for Den Bosch on 21 September 2018, in a match against Almere; he was substituted on the 61st minute for Stefano Beltrame.^[8]

Elfsborg

On 12 January 2020 Väisänen joined Swedish club IF Elfsborg on a 3.5-year contract, for a transfer fee of €150,000.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Austin FC

On 4 January 2023, it was announced Väisänen had signed with Major League Soccer (MLS) side Austin FC on a four-year deal, with an option for a further year.^[13] The transfer fee was reported to be €1.8 million.^[14] He scored his first goal in MLS on 7 October 2023, in a 2–4 home defeat to LAFC.^[15]

BK Häcken

On 24 March 2025, Väisänen signed for BK Häcken until the summer of 2028.^[16] On 2 April, he suffered a knee injury in his first match with Häcken and was estimated to miss several months.^[17]

International career

He made his Finland national football team debut on 11 June 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Liechtenstein, as an 86th-minute substitute for Jukka Raitala.^[18]

Väisänen was called up in the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.^[19] On 1 June 2021 Markku Kanerva published the national team for the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and Väisänen was named as one of the defenders.^[20] On 12 June 2021 Väisänen came in as a 90th minute substitute for Jukka Raitala in a UEFA Euro 2020 match against Denmark.^[21]

Personal life

He is the younger brother of Sauli Väisänen.^[22] Their mother Anna-Liisa Tilus-Väisänen is a television presenter for Yle and Miss World 1984 semi-finalist.

Career statistics

Club

As of 24 April 2025^[23]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Klubi 04	2015	Kakkonen	17	1	–		—		–		–		17	1
	2016	Kakkonen	2	2	–		—		–		–		2	2
	Total		19	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	3
HJK	2015	Veikkausliiga	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		1	0
	2016	Veikkausliiga	3	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	–		5	1
	Total		3	0	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
PK-35 Vantaa (loan)	2016	Veikkausliiga	9	1	–		–		—		–		9	1
RoPS	2017	Veikkausliiga	22	1	0	0	—		–		–		22	1
	2018	Veikkausliiga	24	0	5	0	—		–		–		29	0
	Total		55	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	2
Den Bosch	2018–19	Eerste Divisie	28	3	3	0	—		–		–		31	3
	2019–20	Eerste Divisie	17	3	1	0	—		–		–		18	3
	Total		45	6	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	49	6
Elfsborg	2020	Allsvenskan	26	0	5	0	—		–		–		31	0
	2021	Allsvenskan	23	3	0	0	–		6[b]	1	–		29	4
	2022	Allsvenskan	27	0	6	0	–		1[b]	0	–		34	0
	Total		76	3	11	0	0	0	7	1	0	0	94	4
Austin FC	2023	MLS	21	1	2	0	–		1[c]	0	–		24	1
	2024	MLS	13	0	0	0	–		–		1[d]	0	14	0
	Total		34	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	38	1
Häcken	2025	Allsvenskan	1	0	0	0	—		–		–		1	0
Career total			233	15	25	1	1	0	8	1	1	0	268	15

Notes

1. Includes Suomen Cup, KNVB Beker, Svenska Cupen and U.S. Open Cup
2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
3. Appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
4. Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup

International

As of match played on 24 March 2025.^[24]

National team	Year	Competitive		Friendly		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Finland	2019	2[a]	0	0	0	2	0
	2020	2[b]	0	2	0	4	0
	2021	7[c]	0	2	0	9	0
	2022	5[d]	0	3	0	8	0
	2023	3[e]	0	0	0	3	0
	2024	0	0	1	0	1	0
	2025	1[f]	0	0	0	1	0
Total		20	0	8	0	28	0

Notes

1. Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.
2. Appearances in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League.
3. Six appearances in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, one appearance in UEFA Euro 2020.
4. Appearances in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.
5. Appearances in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying.
6. Appearances in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.

Honours

Club

Klubi 04

• Kakkonen Eastern Group: 2015

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2018
• Elfsborg Player of the Year: 2021^[25]