In an insane final Finland took the victory over Sweden in a thrilling penalty finale – and won the World Floorball Championships 2016!

First period:

The game started as so many finals before. All players filled with adrenaline and focus, energy radiating from their eyes. Neither team really pressed but kept to their game plan. The first big chance would go to Sweden when Kotilainen (Finland) received a 2-min penalty stopping a Swedish counter. It was not the start Kotilainen had hoped for: having to watch his teammates fight a 4 vs 5 battle for two minutes.

Sweden got a couple of chances and eventually scored with 25 seconds left, when Martin Östholm volleyed Kim Nilsson in the slot. He calmly backhanded the ball behind Eero Kosonen. Neither side dominated in the following minutes, but then a strange situation occurred, just before the powerbreak: Sweden got a counter and the ball, hitting the boarding behind the goal, bounced back in front of the goal. The rebound was taken by Johan Eriksson, but stopped by the goalkeeper – but wasn’t the goalie behind his line?! The referees, unable to see it, forced a time out and watched the replay during the powerbreak. After the small break the referees approved the goal and Sweden suddenly led by 2-0.

Overall, defense was tight and real chances were only given in rare situations. In a free ball, Peter Kotilainen corrected his error at 12.05 when he scored – a low dragshot fast enough to leave Johan Rehn without chance. The ball went back and forth and especially Sweden had some nail-biting moments. It was in one of these moments, the ball ended up in the Swedish goal area without a real ‘owner’, when Nico Salo kept his cool and assisted Sami Johansson who easily netted it: 2-2! The last big chance for this period was for Sweden when Rasmus Sundstedt threw away the ball giving Johan Samuelsson a 1 vs 0 with the goalkeeper. With two defenders in his trail, he missed and the teams went into break.

Second period:

Finland started the second period best, being a constant annoyance when not in ball possession. Sweden was at times sloppy and was fortunate that Finland did not score in one of their many counters. Sweden regained its lead when Tobias Gustafsson found a small hole. After a free ball he dragged it into the net. It was specifically Finland’s first line that impressed, led by the infamous Peter Kotilainen which tormented the Swedish goal on many occasions. Sweden tried to force the status quo and added Henrik Stenberg to their line-up. The game knew its dip half way the second period when neither side received any chances. However, that changed when Sweden received its 2nd powerplay – but Finland survived, despite some small chances for Sweden. The game would go into 3rd period with Sweden in the lead: 3-2.

Third period:

During the last period the Finns tried their best to score, but at first their attempts all failed. Sweden defended like crazy and got some opportunities to score during counter attacks. However, at 47.47 the Finnish crowd exploded as Peter Kotilainen – who else? – scored the equalizer: 3-3! Twelve hectical minutes were about to follow. Right before the powerbreak Tommi Aro (Finland) showed an incredible slapshot, but goalie Rehn had an answer. Both teams showed excellent play and proved they were indeed the two best floorball countries of the world. At 53.10 Mattias Samuelsson got a 2-min penalty against, so Finland had the powerplay advantage – but they couldn’t take profit! The tension rose, the audience got louder and the teams played harder, but still without a goal. Despite some enormous chances at the end of p3, the official time passed by without any more goal, meaning the game went into overtime.

Overtime:

Two minutes into overtime the Finns got a huge chance – but they missed! On the other side Sweden had a good opportunity after another quick counter, but Galante Carlström’s shot ended up in the hands of Finland’s goalie Kosonen. Both teams could’ve scored the winning goal, but Kim Nilsson SHOULD have score as he had a 1-vs-1 moment vs. Kosonen – but he missed! As the score stayed 3-3 during overtime, the goalies became the heroes of the game, but there was still one more thing to do: the penalty shoot-out!

Penalty shootout:

Amazingly, the first couple of penalties all found the net, but Sweden’s first crack appeared when Henrik Stenberg missed Sweden’s 3rd penalty. Score at that moment was 3-2 in Finland’s favor, and then Miko Kailiala scored Finland’s 4th – 4-2! Sweden knew they had to score both of their remaining shots, but Johan Samuelsson missed! What a shock to floorball titan Sweden and what a surprise for the floorball world: Finland finally reclaimed their crown – they became the new World Floorball Champion!

More about this historic event

Beautiful moments as Mika Kohonen receives the honor of raising Finland’s trophy

Eemeli Salin: “I want to say thank you to everybody”

Finland’s winning moment – from a closer perspective

Goals in time order:

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