| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jacob Fischer Friis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1976-12-11)11 December 1976 (age 48) | ||
| Place of birth | Aalborg, Denmark[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Finland (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | Aalborg Chang | ||
| 2001–2003 | AaB | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003–2006 | AaB II (assistant) | ||
| 2006–2008 | Tigres UANL (assistant) | ||
| 2008–2015 | AaB U19 | ||
| 2016–2018 | AaB (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2020 | AaB | ||
| 2021 | Hobro (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2022 | Denmark U19 women | ||
| 2022–2023 | Viborg | ||
| 2023–2025 | FC Augsburg (assistant) | ||
| 2025– | Finland | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jacob Fischer Friis (born 11 December 1976) is a Danish professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who is serving as the head coach of theFinland national team.
Friis wasteam captain of theAaB reserve team playing in the fourth tierDenmark Series before retiring due to injury in 2002–03.[3] Beside AaB, he also played for two years forAalborg Chang (1999–2001).[4]
Friis started his career as a coach in connection with a job as an assistant coach for AaB's seventh-tier Series 3 team.[5] He then continued as an assistant coach for AaB's reserves, playing in the fourth-tierDenmark Series, where he remained until the summer of 2006.[3]
In the summer of 2006, Friis travelled to Mexico, where he was to teach English at Instituto CEFI and coach their football team.[3] However, the job as a football coach was not satisfactory for Friis,[3] and instead an opportunity arose for Friis to be part of the coaching staff aroundMonterrey's university team,Tigres UANL.[3]
WhenAllan Kuhn resigned as a result of a finding a new coaching job atMalmö FF, Friis became the new assistant coach at AaB in January 2016 under head coachLars Søndergaard. He had already been promised a promotion to the assistant coaching position from the summer of 2016, but these plans were advanced with the premature change of head coach.[6]
Søndergaard was dismissed in December 2016.[7]Morten Wieghorst signed with AaB as their new head coach in early-January 2017,[8] and Friis was appointed his main assistant withThomas Augustinussen as second assistant.[9] He signed an ongoing contract extension at the end of March 2018.[9]
In the fall of 2018, AaB won just one match out of 12 possible,[10] and Wieghorst was subsequently fired on 26 November 2018.[10][11][12] As his interim, Friis was appointed head coach for the three remaining matches in theDanish Superliga during the fall.[13] Friis' first match in charge resulted in a 4–1 win overEsbjerg fB on 1 December 2018.[14] Despite AaB losing the next match 4–2 at home toAC Horsens on 9 December,[15] Friis was still signed on a permanent deal for the remained of the 2018–19 season.[15]
Friis stepped back from the position as head coach of AaB on 29 October 2020, for personal reasons related to his daughter fightingleukaemia.[16] AssistantPeter Feher took over ascaretaker manager withRasmus Würtz continuing as assistant.[16]
On 3 February 2022, Friis was appointed head coach of Superliga clubViborg, leaving his job as coach of theDenmark women's U19 national team.[17]
On 8 November 2023, Friis left Viborg to become new assistant manager ofJess Thorup atFC Augsburg in the GermanBundesliga.[18]
On 20 January 2025, theFootball Association of Finland announced that Friis was named the new head coach of theFinland national team on a three-year contract with an option for the possibleUEFA Euro 2028 final tournament.[19]
In August 2015, Friis acquired theUEFA Pro Licence, also known as the 'P licence'; the highest coaching education. His final assignment was entitledAfslutningspil fra mellemrum - Mod etableret forsvar (Finishing from the red zone - against established defense).[1]
Friis was born inAalborg, Denmark, and grew up in Aalborg Øst where he attended Mellervangsskolen.[2] While managingAaB he lived inVodskov northeast of Aalborg with his wife, Merle, and three children.[2][20]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| AaB |  | 10 December 2018 | 29 October 2020 | 64 | 27 | 13 | 24 | 101 | 77 | +24 | 042.19 |
| Viborg | | 3 February 2022 | 8 November 2023 | 76 | 34 | 19 | 23 | 109 | 93 | +16 | 044.74 |
| Finland |  | 20 January 2025 | present | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Total | 141 | 62 | 32 | 47 | 211 | 170 | +41 | 043.97 | |||