Riski withSt. Pölten in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roope Vilhelmi Riski | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-08-16)16 August 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Askainen, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Ilves | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| MaPS | |||
| TPS | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2011 | TPS | 18 | (12) |
| 2010 | →Viikingit (loan) | 6 | (5) |
| 2010 | →ÅIFK (loan) | 9 | (12) |
| 2011–2014 | Cesena | 1 | (0) |
| 2011 | →TPS (loan) | 11 | (4) |
| 2012 | →Hønefoss (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | →TPS (loan) | 35 | (8) |
| 2014–2015 | Hønefoss | 23 | (12) |
| 2015–2016 | Haugesund | 10 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | →SJK (loan) | 13 | (8) |
| 2016–2017 | SJK | 33 | (17) |
| 2017 | →SC Paderborn (loan) | 10 | (1) |
| 2017–2019 | St. Pölten | 33 | (5) |
| 2018–2019 | →PAE Chania (loan) | 22 | (7) |
| 2020–2023 | HJK | 54 | (22) |
| 2024– | Ilves | 57 | (24) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2010–2012 | Finland U21 | 11 | (6) |
| 2015– | Finland | 8 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 November 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 December 2021 | |||
Roope Vilhelmi Riski (born 16 August 1991) is a Finnish professionalfootballer who plays as aforward forVeikkausliiga clubIlves.
He is known as a clinical, well-positioned forward who can get into the right place at the right time. In the middle of the 2010 season, Riski was selected to the opening squad for the first time of his career. Since then he has enjoyed a phenomenal season, starting 12 games and scoring 11 goals.[peacock prose] He has the best game/goal ratio in theVeikkausliiga.[1]
Riski started football in the youth sector ofMaskun Palloseura, and later joinedTurun Palloseura. He made his senior debut with TPS inVeikkausliiga in the 2010 season. On 22 September 2010, Riski scored a hat-trick for TPS againstAC Oulu. By doing this, he became the first ever player in Finland to score a hat-trick in all the highest three levels of Finnish football system during one season,[2] as he had loan stints withViikingit inYkkönen andÅbo IFK inKakkonen during 2020.
On 27 January 2011, he was announced as theCesena player in ItalianSerie A.[3] The transfer fee was reported to be €750.000.[4] He made his Serie A debut on 19 March 2011 againstLazio onStadio Olimpico (1−0 away loss) as a 69th-minute substitute forFabio Caserta, he has had loan spell in Finland forTPS Turku in 2012 andHønefoss BK in Norway. In August 2012, Riski joined English sideDerby County on trial ahead of their pre-season againstChesterfield, where he started in a 3–1 loss,[5] he scored in a reserve friendly againstMatlock Town.[6]

On 8 February 2016,SJK announced the signing of Riski on a two-year contract.[7] Riski was the top goal scorer in Veikkausliiga in 2016.
On 10 January 2017, he was loaned toSC Paderborn in German3. Liga.[8]
In June 2017, Riski left SJK when he signed withAustrian Bundesliga clubSt. Pölten for an undisclosed fee.[9]
On 28 August 2018, Riski was loaned out to Greek clubAO Chania − Kissamikos.[10]
On 21 November 2019,HJK Helsinki confirmed the signing of Riski on a contract until the end of 2021 with an option for one further year.[11] He was crowned the Veikkausliiga top goal scorer again in 2020. During the 2022 and 2023 season, he suffered from knee injuries and missed several months.
On 6 November 2023, it was announced that Riski had signed withVeikkausliiga clubIlves on a two-year deal, starting in 2024.[12] During his first season with Ilves, Riski scored 11 goals in 26 Veikkausliiga appearances.
On 19 January 2015, Riski made his senior debut for theFinland national team in a 1–0 friendly againstSweden, where he scored the only goal of the match.[13]
He was called up for theUEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournamentfriendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[14]
He is the younger brother of former Finnish international footballerRiku Riski.
Since 2019, Riski has abstained from drinking alcohol.[15] He has also revealed his devotion forpoetry.[16]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| TPS | 2010 | Veikkausliiga | 18 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 4[c] | 1 | 29 | 16 |
| Viikingit (loan) | 2010 | Ykkönen | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 5 | ||
| Åbo IFK (loan) | 2010 | Kakkonen | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 12 | ||
| Cesena | 2010–11 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| TPS (loan) | 2011 | Veikkausliiga | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 11 | 5 | |
| Hønefoss (loan) | 2012 | Tippeligaen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| TPS (loan) | 2012 | Veikkausliiga | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 7 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Veikkausliiga | 27 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2[c] | 1 | 35 | 10 | |
| Total | 34 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 42 | 11 | ||
| Hønefoss | 2014 | 1. divisjon | 24 | 12 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 12 | ||
| Haugesund | 2015 | Tippeligaen | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| SJK Seinäjoki | 2015 | Veikkausliiga | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 13 | 8 | |
| 2016 | Veikkausliiga | 33 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2[d] | 1 | 44 | 25 | |
| 2017 | Veikkausliiga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 46 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57 | 33 | ||
| SC Paderborn (loan) | 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| SC Paderborn II (loan) | 2016–17 | Oberliga Westfalen | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | ||
| St. Pölten | 2017–18 | Austrian Bundesliga | 25 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 26 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19 | Austrian Bundesliga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Austrian Bundesliga | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 33 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| Chania (loan) | 2018–19 | Football League Greece | 22 | 7 | 5 | 3 | – | – | 27 | 10 | ||
| HJK | 2020 | Veikkausliiga | 20 | 16 | 9 | 3 | – | – | 29 | 19 | ||
| 2021 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 6 | 6 | 5 | – | 14[e] | 9 | 42 | 20 | ||
| 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | |
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[f] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 54 | 22 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 9 | 92 | 44 | ||
| Klubi 04 | 2023 | Kakkonen | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | |||
| Ilves | 2024 | Veikkausliiga | 26 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4[g] | 3 | 35 | 15 |
| 2025 | Veikkausliiga | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | |
| Total | 32 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 47 | 18 | ||
| Career total | 316 | 129 | 33 | 16 | 30 | 14 | 29 | 15 | 408 | 174 | ||
| Finland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 January 2015 | Zayed Sports City Stadium,Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [13] |
SJK
HJK
Ilves
Individual