Otto Ruoppi (born 31 January 2006) is a Finnish professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 ...

side

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

Club career

KuPS

After playing in a youth sector of his home town club

Kuopion Palloseura Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

, Ruoppi started his senior career in 2021 at the age of 15 with KuFu-98, the club's reserve team at the time, playing 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 ...

MP (loan)

He was loaned out to 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 ...

club

Mikkelin Palloilijat Mikkelin Palloilijat (or MP) is a Finnish professional football club, based in Mikkeli, that competes in the Ykkönen, the third tier in Finnish football league system. The club was founded in 1929 and also included volleyball, bandy and ice h ...

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. During the season, he made 30 appearances for MP in all competitions combined, scoring two goals, as MP surprisingly finished in the 3rd place of the 2023 Ykkönen.

Return to KuPS

On 6 April 2024, Ruoppi debuted in

with KuPS first team, as a starter in the opening match of the 2024 season, in a 3–1 home win against

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 ...

. He scored his first league goal in the next game on 13 April, in a 2–2 away draw against

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''), winning their first title in 2016. The club is managed by Gary Williams, and it plays ...

. On 31 May, Ruoppi extended his deal until the end of 2026. On 18 July, he scored a brace as KuPS defeated UNA Strassen 5–0 in the first round of the UECL qualifiers. In his debut season in Veikkausliiga, Ruoppi contributed in 25 appearances and scored three goals, helping KuPS to win the Finnish championship title and the

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 ...

title, completing the club's first-ever double. On 8 July 2025, Ruoppi scored the winning goal in a UCL qualifying win against

Milsami Orhei Fotbal Club Milsami Orhei, commonly known as Milsami Orhei or simply Milsami, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Orhei, Moldova, currently playing in the Liga, the top tier of Moldovan football. Previously known as ''FC Viito ...

International career

Ruoppi is a regular Finnish youth international, and has represented his country at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 national team levels. He was part of the Finland U17 squad, scoring once, in the 2023 UEFA Euro U17 Championship qualification, where Finland advanced to the

Elite round In political and sociological theory, the elite (, from , to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful or wealthy people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. Defined by the ...

Career statistics

Honours

KuPS *

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 ...

KuPS nousi takaa ohi Suomen Cupin voittoon – Petteri Pennanen ratkaisi pelin upealla laukauksella

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

, 21 September 2024 *

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 ...

runner-up: 2024

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruoppi, Otto Living people 2006 births Finnish men's footballers 21st-century Finnish sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Kakkonen players Ykkönen players Veikkausliiga players SC Kuopio Futis-98 players Kuopion Palloseura players Mikkelin Palloilijat players Finland men's youth international footballers