Juhani Elias Pikkarainen (born 30 July 1998) 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

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club

Degerfors Degerfors () is a locality and the seat of Degerfors Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden, with 7,160 inhabitants in 2010. Degerfors is the sixth-largest city in Örebro County. It is located at the southern shore of lake Möckeln, 13 km (8 mi) so ...

and the Finland national team.

Club career

Pikkarainen started playing in

Turun Palloseura Turun Palloseura, commonly known as TPS, is a professional association football, football club based in Turku, Finland. Since 2024, the men's team competes in Ykkösliiga, the second highest tier. Nicknamed "''Tepsi''", the club was founded i ...

(TPS), before he signed with

RB Salzburg Fußballclub Red Bull Salzburg, commonly known as simply Red Bull Salzburg, is an Austrian professional football club based in Wals-Siezenheim, that competes in the Austrian Bundesliga, the top flight of Austrian Football. Their home ground is ...

youth academy in 2015. Pikkarainen spent three years in Austria, before he returned to Finland and signed with newly promoted

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

Kokkolan Palloveikot KPV (or Kokkolan Palloveikot) is a Finnish football club, based in Kokkola. It currently plays ''Ykkönen'', in Finnish third-tier. The club's head coach is Christian Sund, and it plays its home matches at ''Kokkolan keskuskenttä''. History K ...

(KPV) on 11 December 2018 until 2019, with an option to extend the deal until 2020.SOPIMUSUUTISIA: Topparilupaus Juhani Pikkarainen KPV:n
kpv.fi, 11 December 2018 KPV were relegated back, and he then returned to his former club

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

for the 2020 season, signing a deal until the end of 2021. On 17 November 2021, he signed a contract with

Vaasan Palloseura Vaasan Palloseura, commonly referred to as VPS, is a Finnish football club, based in Vaasa. It currently plays in the first tier of Finnish football (''Veikkausliiga''). The club's current manager is Jussi Nuorela. The club plays its home matc ...

(VPS) for the 2022 season. On 9 September 2022, his contract with VPS was extended for the

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 ...

season. Pikkarainen helped VPS to finish 3rd in the league and qualify for the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

qualifiers. He was named in the league's Team of the Season in 2023. On 6 November 2023, it was announced that Pikkarainen had signed with

club

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, ...

on a two-year deal, starting in 2024. He helped Ilves to finish as the runners-up in the league. Pikkarainen was named in the Veikkausliiga Team of the Season again in 2024. On 5 January 2025, Pikkarainen signed with

club

Degerfors IF Degerfors IF is a Swedish professional association football, football club located in Degerfors. The club, formed 13 January 1907, is currently playing in the highest tier in Swedish football, Allsvenskan. Background Degerfors IF first played ...

until the end of 2027 for an undisclosed fee. Per the reports in media, the fee was in the region of €200,000–300,000.

International career

Pikkarainen is a former youth international for Finland. On 2 October 2024, Pikkarainen received his first call-up to the Finland senior national team by the head coach

Markku Kanerva Markku Tapio Kanerva (born 24 May 1964) is a Finnish football manager, former player and elementary school teacher. Most recently he served as the manager of the Finland national team. Playing career Kanerva, who is known by the nickname ''"Ri ...

, for the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League B The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League B was the second division of the 2024–25 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 54 of 55 member associations of ...

matches against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He made his debut on 17 November 2024 in a Nations League game against Greece at the

Helsinki Olympic Stadium The Helsinki Olympic Stadium (; ), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country. The stadium is best known for being the centre of activities in the 1952 Summer ...

. He started the game and played 67 minutes, as Greece won 2–0.

Personal life

His father Tommi Pikkarainen is a Finnish football manager and a former player.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

VPS *

3rd place Ilves *Veikkausliiga runner-up:

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 ...

Individual *Veikkausliiga Team of the Year:

Koplajoukkue 2024 nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat vuoden parhaiksi palkitaan lauantaina
veikkausliiga.com, 19 October 2024 *Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year: 2024

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pikkarainen, Juhani 1998 births Living people People from Paimio Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finnish expatriate men's footballers FC Liefering players FC Blau-Weiß Linz players FC Wacker Innsbruck (2002) players Kokkolan Palloveikot players Turun Palloseura footballers Vaasan Palloseura players Austrian Regionalliga players 2. Liga (Austria) players Veikkausliiga players Men's association football defenders Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Footballers from Southwest Finland Kolmonen players Ykkönen players Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's international footballers FC Red Bull Salzburg players Degerfors IF players Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Allsvenskan players