Joona Marko Aleksi Toivio (born 10 March 1988) is a Finnish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

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 ...

club KTP. Toivio was a core defender of the Finland national team during 2011–2021. He has previously played for

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 ...

, AZ,

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

, and Termalica Nieciecza.

Early life

Toivio's parents have worked as foster parents, and Toivio had many siblings while growing up.

Club career

Early career

Earlier in his career, he was training with HJK's first team before he had a trial at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. Though this proved unsuccessful, he later signed for AZ. He did not make a single appearance during his two years with AZ, and had a loan spell with

before he decided to move to Swedish side

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

in January 2010.

Molde

On 13 March 2013, Toivio signed for Norwegian side

, as a replacement for Vegard Forren who had moved to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The transfer fee was reported to be €500,000. On 23 November 2013, he was an unused substitute as Molde defeated Rosenborg in the

2013 Norwegian Football Cup Final The 2013 Norwegian Football Cup final was the 108th final of the Norwegian Football Cup. The final was contested by Rosenborg and Molde and took place on 24 November 2013 at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. Route to the final *(TL) = Tippeligaen team ...

by a score of 4–2. Molde would reach the

final 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 ...

of the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

the following year as well, and this time Toivio started the match as Molde once again were crowned champions, with a 2–0 win over Odd.

Häcken

In 2018, after leaving on a bosman from Termalica Nieciecza, Joona Toivio signed for Swedish side Häcken. He made his competitive debut for the club on 19 August 2018 in a 2–0 away victory over

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

, registering an assist on Alexander Jeremejeff's 54th-minute goal. On 30 May 2019, Toivio scored for Häcken in the 2019 Svenska Cupen Final, a convincing 3–0 victory over

AFC Eskilstuna Athletic Football Club Eskilstuna, also known as AFC Eskilstuna or simply AFC, is a Swedish professional football club based in Eskilstuna. The club has previously been known under the names FC Café Opera and Väsby United before switching owne ...

. During the

2020 Allsvenskan The 2020 Allsvenskan (commonly known as CoronAllsvenskan, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2020 Allsvenskan season), part of the 2020 Swedish football season, was the 96th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. ...

season, Tovio played every minute for Häcken as the club finished in third place and qualified for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round. Häcken reached the 2021 Svenska Cupen Final where they faced Hammarby at the

Tele2 Arena 3Arena, formerly the Stockholmsarenan (and Tele2 Arena), is a retractable roof multi-purpose arena in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov, just south of Stockholm City Centre, Sweden. It is used mostly for concerts and Association football, footbal ...

on 30 May 2021. After finishing 0–0

after extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Tie (draw), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is ...

, the match went to penalty-kicks; Toivio converted his kick but Häcken fell 4–5 in the shoot-out with the solitary miss coming from

Bénie Traoré Bénie Adama Traoré (born 30 November 2002) is an Ivorian professional association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward or winger (association football), winger for Swiss Super League club FC Basel, Basel. ...

HJK

On 1 November 2021, he signed a three-year contract with HJK beginning in 2022.

KTP

On 17 January 2025, Toivio joined newly promoted

club KTP for the 2025 season.

International career

Toivio was the captain of the under-21 team, for whom he played in both midfield and in defense. Since his senior debut in 2011, Toivio has been capped over 70 times for

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, ...

. In June 2021, Toivio was selected to the final 26-man squad for the rescheduled

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

tournament. It was Finland's first appearance in a major tournament. Toivio started the nation's first match, a 1–0 win over

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in Copenhagen on 12 June. The game was overshadowed and initially suspended by the on-field collapse and cardiac arrest of Danish midfielder

Christian Eriksen Christian Dannemann Eriksen (; born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the Denmark national football team, ...

. He played in two other group stage matches as well. Toivio announced his retirement from international football after

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification was the FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar national football team, Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Par ...

match against France on 16 November 2021, along with fellow centre-back Paulus Arajuuri.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Molde *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

BK Häcken *

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

: 2018–19; runner-up: 2020–21 HJK *

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 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup (in Finnish: ''Liigacup''), is a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The competition is notably the only football competition in Europe which is most ...

: 2023

References

External links

UEFA profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toivio, Joona 1988 births Living people People from Sipoo Men's association football defenders Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Klubi 04 players AZ Alkmaar players SC Telstar players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Molde FK players Bruk-Bet Termalica Nieciecza players BK Häcken players Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Eerste Divisie players Eliteserien players Allsvenskan players Ekstraklasa players UEFA Euro 2020 players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Poland Footballers from Uusimaa IF Sibbo-Vargarna players