The 2023 Kakkonen was the 51st season of Kakkonen, the third-highest football league in Finland. The season began on 21 April 2023 and ended on 8 October 2023. It was the final season of the Kakkonen serving as the third-tier football league in Finland, following its demotion to fourth-tier. The three groups winners and the highest-ranked runner up qualified for the Kakkonen Championship play-offs, with the winners ( PK-35 Vantaa) and runners-up (

JIPPO Jippo (stylised as JIPPO 2001–2024) is a Finnish football club, based in Joensuu. It plays in the Ykkösliiga, the second highest level of Finnish football. Jippo plays its home matches at Mehtimäki, Joensuu. History JIPPO was formed in 200 ...

) being promoted to the

2024 Ykkösliiga The 2024 Ykkösliiga was the inaugural season of Ykkösliiga, the new second highest football league in Finland. The season began on 13 April 2024 and ended on 19 October 2024. Teams Team changes The league was contested with 10 clubs, unlike fo ...

. The second, third, fourth, and fifth-placed teams in each group (minus the highest-ranked runner-up) qualified for the Kakkonen play-offs; the five winners (

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

Klubi 04 Klubi 04 is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. It is the reserve team of HJK Helsinki 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 played in K ...

, PK Keski-Uusimaa,

RoPS Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

, and VIFK) joined the highest-ranked runner-up ( Jazz Pori), the two losing semi-final teams from the Kakkonen Championship play-offs (EPS and OLS), and the two teams relegated from the

2023 Ykkönen The 2023 Ykkönen was the 52nd season of Ykkönen, the second highest football league in Finland. The season began on 14 April 2023 and ended on 7 October 2023. It was the final season of the Ykkönen serving as the second-tier football league in ...

( JJK and

KPV The KPV heavy machine gun (, an initialism for ) is a Soviet designed 14.5×114mm-caliber heavy machine gun, which first entered service as an infantry weapon in 1949. In the 1960s, the infantry version was taken out of production because it was ...

) in the

2024 Ykkönen The 2024 Ykkönen was the 53rd season of Ykkönen, the third highest football league in Finland. The season began on 12 April 2024 and ended on 19 October 2024. It was the first season of the Ykkönen serving as the third-tier football league in F ...

. The bottom two teams in each group ( Futura,

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

, JBK, PIF, SexyPöxyt, and TiPS) were relegated to the 2024 Kolmonen.

Teams

The league consisted of thirty-six teams (twenty-seven returning from the previous season, six promoted from

Kolmonen Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fifth level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 108 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mi ...

, and three relegated from

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

), split into three equal groups (A, B, and C).

Team changes

Group A

Group B

Group C

League tables

Group A

Group B

Group C

Play-offs

Kakkonen play-offs

The second to fifth teams in each group (minus the highest ranked runner-up) competed in play-off matches, with the five winners earning promotion to the

First leg

Second leg

Kakkonen Championship play-offs

The three group winners and highest ranked runner-up competed in a play-off, with the winner earning promotion to the

and the rest qualifying for the

Semi-finals

Final

=First leg

=Second leg

References

{{2023 in Finnish football Kakkonen seasons 3

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...