Historic achievement: The Lions’ star trio has risen to an exceptional club!
The Lions won their fifth world championship in MM history on Sunday by defeating Switzerland in the World Cup final with a score of 1-0, thanks to a goal in overtime by Konsta Helenius.
At the same time, Finland historically gained three players who achieved their third world championship in their careers. This trio includes Mikael Granlund, Sakari Manninen, and defender Mikko Lehtonen. No Finnish player had previously won three men’s world championships.
Granlund had previously won the World Cup gold in 2011 and 2022. Manninen and Lehtonen were part of the championship teams in 2019 and 2022.
From the Finnish team, five players achieved their second world championship in their careers. They include goalkeeper Harri Säteri, defenders Henri Jokiharju and Mikael Seppälä, and forwards Hannes Björninen and Saku Mäenalanen. Among them, Jokiharju won his first World Cup gold in 2019, while the others did so in the spring of 2022.
For the other Lions players, this world championship was their first.
History was also made by Finnish forward Patrik Puistola, whose father Pasi Puistola is also a world champion from 2011. Thus, the Puistolas became the first Finnish father-son pair to win the men’s world championship.
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