Santeri Väänänen
Santeri Väänänen is a Finnish football midfielder who plays for Rosenborg in Norway’s Eliteserien and captains Finland’s under-21 national team.
Born on January 1, 2002, in Helsinki, he started playing football with Pajamäen Pallo-Veikot. He joined HJK’s youth system at age 7 and later played for Klubi 04, the club’s reserve team. He made his senior debut with Klubi 04 in 2018 and also played for HJK’s first team that year, becoming one of the club’s youngest players.
In 2019 he signed a contract with HJK lasting to 2021. His breakthrough came in 2022, and he also appeared for HJK in European competition (Europa Conference League and Europa League). In December 2022 Rosenborg in Norway announced his transfer, effective from January 2023.
He debuted for Rosenborg on March 12, 2023, in a Norwegian Cup match versus Viking and scored his first Eliteserien goal on June 2, 2024, in a 1–1 draw with Fredrikstad. A knee injury in late September 2024 sidelined him for a couple of months.
Internationally, Väänänen has represented Finland at various youth levels and serves as captain of the under-21 team in the 2025 Euro U21 Championship qualifiers. He made his senior national team debut in January 2023 in friendlies against Sweden and Estonia. As of October 2025, he has five senior caps.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:31 (CET).