Marcus Uolevi Forss (born 18 June 1999) 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

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for club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and the Finland national team. Forss is a graduate of the

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and after transferring to Brentford B in 2017, he was promoted into the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

squad in 2018. Following four seasons with Brentford, Forss transferred to Middlesbrough in 2022. Forss made his international debut for Finland in November 2020, at the age of 20. He was a member of Finland's final squad in the Euro 2020 tournament.

Club career

Early years

, Forss began his career in his native Finland with spells at FC Ruskon Pallo, TuWe and the FDS-Suomi football school. At age 13, he moved to England to join the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

and progressed to sign a two-year scholarship deal in 2015. He was called into the U21 squad for two

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

matches in the first half of the 2016–17 season and made one appearance, with a start in a 2–0 group stage defeat to Gillingham on 8 November 2016. Forss was released when his scholarship ended in May 2017.

Brentford

2017–2019

On 22 June 2017, Forss joined the B team at

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 ...

club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on a two-year contract. After scoring 11 goals in his first 23 B team appearances, he signed a new -year contract in February 2018. He finished the 2017–18 season as the B team's top scorer with 21 goals and won both of the team's Player of the Year awards. Forss was promoted into the first team squad for the 2018–19 season and despite missing five months of the campaign with a back injury, he was a regular inclusion in matchday squads when fit and finished the season with 9 appearances and two goals.

2019–20 season

After one goal in three early- 2019–20 season appearances, Forss signed a new four-year contract and joined League One club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

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until the end of the 2019–20 season. He scored seven goals in his first seven appearances for the club and scored the first senior

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of his career in a 4–1 victory over

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on 12 October. Four goals in five appearances in October 2019 won Forss the

EFL Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mos ...

award. Four further goals in December 2019 saw him nominated for the League One Player of the Month award. By the time his spell was ended early by a season-ending torn hamstring on 14 January 2020, he had scored 11 goals in 19 appearances. Forss' performances during the season were recognised with the AFC Wimbledon Young Player of the Year award.

2020–21 season

Following surgery on his torn hamstring, Forss returned fit for the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season and the departures of

Ollie Watkins Oliver George Arthur Watkins (born 30 December 1995) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa and the England national football tea ...

and

Saïd Benrahma Mohamed Saïd Benrahma (; born 10 August 1995) is an Algerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), left winger for Saudi Pro League club Neom SC, Neom, and the Algeria national football team, ...

elevated him to second-choice behind new signing

Ivan Toney Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney (born 16 March 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and the England national team. Toney became the youngest player to represent Northampton Town when ...

. For two-thirds of the season he served predominantly as a substitute, playing forward and

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roles. Off the back of a spell of seven goals in 13 appearances, Forss signed a new -year contract in December 2020. In April 2021, a change in formation allowed Forss to break into the starting lineup, as one of two forwards alongside Ivan Toney. His first appearance as part of the new formation saw him score his first goal for over five months, in a 5–0 win over

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Brentford qualified for the

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and playing as a substitute in the semi-final second leg versus

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, Forss scored the 81st-minute goal which secured a 3–2 aggregate victory and sent the Bees to a second consecutive playoff

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 ...

. Forss' 2020–21 season ended with 50 appearances, 10 goals and promotion to the Premier League after a 2–0 victory over

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

in the playoff Final.

2021–2022

Forss began the 2021–22 season principally involved in Brentford's

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

campaign, with his starting performances in second and third round matches versus

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

yielding five goals. His four-goal haul in the latter match was recognised with a place in the EFL Cup Team of the Round and a nomination for Player of the Round. Forss' 2021–22 EFL Cup performances were later recognised with a place in the Team of the Tournament and his five goals scored in the tournament tied him with

Eddie Nketiah Edward Keddar Nketiah (born 30 May 1999) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace and the England national football team, Eng ...

as top-scorer. By the final day of the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, Forss had scored six goals in 12 appearances, but with no goals in seven Premier League appearances. In need of "more consistent game time", Forss joined Championship club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. Deployed in a mix of starting and substitute roles, Forss made 11 appearances during his spell and scored one goal, in a 1–1 draw with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

on 19 February 2022. Ahead of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, Forss was not called into Brentford's

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

in Germany and transferred out of the club in July 2022. He scored 19 goals in 74 appearances during four seasons as a first team player with the club. Forss' 9 EFL Cup goals tied the club record.

Middlesbrough

2022–23 season

On 28 July 2022, Forss transferred to Championship club

and signed a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £3 million. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, in a 3–2 defeat to Queens Park Rangers on 6 August 2022. Following the sacking of manager

Chris Wilder Christopher John Wilder (born 23 September 1967) is an English professional football manager who formerly played as a right-back. He is the manager of club Sheffield United. Wilder's extensive professional playing career saw spells at Sheff ...

and the appointment of

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

on 24 October 2022, Forss ended a three-month goal drought. After being deployed on the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

in late December 2022, he scored five goals in 9 appearances. By the time the

season ended with defeat in the playoff semi-finals, Forss had scored 10 goals in 42 appearances.

2023–2025

Either side of being sidelined for months by a thigh problem suffered in late October 2023, Forss made 23 appearances and scored seven goals during the 2023–24 season, in a mix of starting and substitute roles. Forss missed the final month of the 2023–24 season with a hamstring injury, which kept him out for the opening seven weeks of 2024–25. He made four substitute appearances before suffering a setback, which caused him to miss six weeks. Forss ended a mid-table 2024–25 season with one goal and 25 appearances, predominantly from the bench.

International career

Forss was capped by Finland at U17, U18, U19 and U21 level. He captained the U19 team, but was not included in the squad for the 2018 European U19 Championship on home soil due to club commitments. Good goalscoring form at club level saw Forss receive his maiden call up to the senior team for a series of three matches in November 2020. He made his debut with a start in a friendly versus

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and scored the opening goal in the 2–0 victory. Forss was named in Finland's Euro 2020 squad and made two substitute appearances prior to the team's group stage exit. He made two appearances during Finland's failed 2022 World Cup qualification campaign, scoring one goal, which came in a 3–1 victory over

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 ...

in the penultimate group stage match.

Personal life

Forss hails from a football family. His father Tero Forss and brother Niclas are both involved in football, and his grandfather is former Finland international

Rainer Forss Rainer Forss (20 October 1930 – 2 August 2005) was a Finnish professional association football, football player, Manager (association football), manager and Coach (association football), coach. A forward (association football), forward player, ...

. Growing up he was a

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supporter.

Career statistics

Club

International

:: ''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Forss goal.''

Honours

Brentford *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-o ...

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 ...

Individual * Brentford B Mary Halder Award: 2017–18 *Brentford B Player of the Year: 2017–18 *

Young Player of the Year: 2019–20 *

: October 2019 *

Top Goalscorer: 2021–22 *EFL Cup Team of the Tournament: 2021–22

References

External links

Marcus Forss
at mfc.co.uk
Finnish Football Federation profile
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forss, Marcus 1999 births Living people Footballers from Turku Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Finland men's youth international footballers Finland men's under-21 international footballers Finland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Brentford F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players English Football League players UEFA Euro 2020 players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Premier League players Hull City A.F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Turun Weikot players