Casper Mikael Terho (born 24 June 2003) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

and the Finland national team.

Early career

Terho grew up in

Vuosaari Vuosaari () is a Subdivisions of Helsinki#Neighbourhoods, neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki and with its area of is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsi ...

East Helsinki East Helsinki (, ) is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts (, ), including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, Vuosaari, Herttoniemi, Laajasalo a ...

, and played football in the youth teams of Helsinki-based clubs Malmin Palloseura, , PK-35 and Kontu. In 2018, when playing in a youth team of Kontu, he was spotted by two HJK academy coaches at the time,

Miika Takkula Miika Takkula (born 17 April 1983) is a Finnish sporting director and former footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently serving as the sporting director of Veikkausliiga club Ilves. Playing career During his playing career, Takkula ...

and Jyrki Ahola, and later in the same year, he joined the youth academy of

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. Founded in 1907, the ...

Club career

HJK

Casper Terho made his professional debut for

Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki (), or simply as HJK (), is a Finnish Association football, football club based in Helsinki. The club competes in Veikkausliiga, the top division of the Finnish football league system. ...

on the 26 August 2020, coming on as a substitute in the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

2–0 home win against

Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho, commonly referred to as SJK, also internationally SJK Seinäjoki, is a Finland, Finnish professional association football, football club from the city of Seinäjoki. The club plays in the Veikkausliiga, the highest ...

. Along with other youngsters such as

Kai Meriluoto Kai Meriluoto (born 2 January 2003) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for HJK Helsinki. Early life Meriluoto was born in Pori, Finland, to a Japanese Catholic mother from Hakodate, Hokkaido, and to a Finnish father. Hi ...

, he played a few other games by the end of season, where his team ended up winning the 2020 championship. He has also played for HJK reserve team

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 ...

in third-tier

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

and second-tier

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 ...

. Being already viewed as one of the brightest hopes from the Finnish champions academy, he scored his first goal in his

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

debuts, during the 4–2 home

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

win against

FC Honka FC Honka is a Finland, Finnish Association football, football club based in Espoo. It was founded in 1957 as Tapion Honka, and changed its name to FC Honka in 1975. The club will play in Kakkonen in the 2024 season, after Esport Honka filed for ...

on the 24 April 2021. By the end of May, he became a regular starter with HJK, scoring another goal against

Ilves Tampereen Ilves, commonly known as Ilves, (; Finnish language, Finnish for "Eurasian lynx, Lynx") is a Finnish professional ice hockey team based in Tampere. They play in the Liiga at the Nokia Arena (Tampere), Nokia Arena. The colors of Ilves, ...

, while still aged only 17.

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise

On 29 September 2022, Belgian side

Union SG Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG or simply Union, is a Belgian professional football club from Brussels based in Forest. Founded in 1897 in the neighbouring Saint-Gilles, the club has played its home ...

announced that they had reached an agreement with HJK about his transfer. He joined the Belgian side on 1 January 2023 on a deal until 30 June 2026, for an undisclosed fee, with HJK securing a sell-on clause.Casper Terho siirtyy Belgian pääsarjaan
hjk.fi, 27 September 2022 He officially made his debut for the club on 8 January against

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, as a 77th minute substitute. Terho scored his first goal for the club on 20 April 2023, in the first leg of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League quarter finals against

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Despite his goal, his team lost the game 4–1 (5–2 on aggregate), and were eventually knocked out of the competition. On 23 April 2023, Terho scored his first goals in the

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023� ...

, a brace in a 4–2 away win against

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

. In 2024, Terho and Union SG won the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

and the

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

SC Paderborn (loan)

On 1 January 2025, it was announced that Terho was loaned out to 2. Bundesliga club

SC Paderborn 07 Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the ...

for the remainder of the season with a purchase option.

OH Leuven

On 3 July 2025, Terho signed with Belgian Pro League club

on a deal until 2028 for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Terho is a youth international for Finland, taking part in the 2020 Euro under-17 qualifications, where

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, ...

topped their pool with

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, although the final stage of the tournament was eventually canceled due to the

covid pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...

. Terho played regularly for the Finnish under-17, under-19 and under-21 national teams, before making his senior debut for

on 4 June 2024, in a 4–2 friendly defeat against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. In November 2024, Terho scored two goals for Finland U21 in the

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs The play-offs of the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition involves six of the nine runners-up in the qualifying group stage, the three top-ranked teams being directly qualified for the tournament. Ranking of second-plac ...

matches against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, helping Finland to win the pair 6–3 on aggregate and to qualify for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, for the second time in the nation's history. He also scored Finland's first goal in the tournament, in a 2–2 draw against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

HJK *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup (; ) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the UEFA Europa Conference League ...

runner-up:

Union SG *

: 2024–25 * Belgian Pro League runner-up: 2023–24 *

: 2023–24Belgian Cup finalists
/ref> *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terho, Casper 2003 births Living people 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish men's footballers Men's association football wingers Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Kakkonen players 2. Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players Malmin Palloseura players PK-35 (men) players FC Kontu players Klubi 04 players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Royale Union Saint-Gilloise players SC Paderborn 07 players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany