Samuel Pasanen

Samuel Pasanen (born 2 January 2006) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club KuPS.

Club career FC Lahti Pasanen started football in the youth sectors of Werder Bremen and Kuusysi before joining FC Lahti organisation. Pasanen signed his first professional contract with FC Lahti on 27 January 2022, on a three-year deal ahead of the 2022 Veikkausliiga season. Pasanen made his Veikkausliiga debut on 24 July 2022, at the age of 16, in a 3–1 home defeat against SJK. He scored his first Veikkausliiga goals on 16 October 2022, a brace against HIFK in a 6–1 home victory.

After the 2024 season, Pasanen was named the Promising Young Player of the Year, by the Football Association of Finland. As his father was awarded the same prize in 1998, they became the first father and a son to win the award.

KuPS On 6 November 2024, Pasanen signed with reigning Finnish champions Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) on a multi-year deal. In January 2025, in the last minutes in the pre-season friendly match against MP, Pasanen suffered an ACL injury, and was ruled out for several months. KuPS won the match 9–0.

After recovering from the injury, Pasanen made his KuPS debut on 29 July 2025, in a UEFA Champions League qualification match against Kairat Almaty. On 17 August, he scored his first goal for KuPS, the winning goal in a 2–1 home win over the league leaders Inter Turku.

International career A regular Finnish youth international, Pasanen has represented Finland at under-16, under-17 and under-18 youth national team levels.

In September 2022, Pasanen was named the captain of Finland U17 squad for the 2023 UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualification tournament against Greece, Italy and Kosovo. Finland finished 2nd in the group and qualified to the elite round in March 2023.

Pasanen was part of the Finland U18 squad winning the friendly tournament Baltic Cup in June 2023.

Personal life Pasanen is the son of former Finland national team defender Petri Pasanen. He was born in Bremen, Germany, when his father was playing for Werder Bremen. He has also lived in Austria and Denmark as a child.

Career statistics

Honours Finland U18 Baltic Cup: 2023 Individual Football Association of Finland: Promising Young Player of the Year 2024 Football Association of Finland: Boy Player of the Year 2022