# 2023 Veikkausliiga

The 2023 Veikkausliiga was the 93rd season of top-tier football in Finland, which takes place from April to November.
The winners (HJK, their fourth successive title win and thirty-third overall) qualified for the Champions League first qualifying round. The 2023 Finnish Cup winners (Ilves) qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round. The second-placed team (KuPS) and Conference League play-off winners (VPS) qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. The eleventh-placed team (Mariehamn) qualified for the Veikkausliiga play-off, winning to retain their place in the league. The bottom-placed team (KTP) were relegated to the 2024 Ykkösliiga. The fifth-placed team (Honka) were demoted to the 2024 Kakkonen due to financial issues.

## Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top eleven teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the Ykkönen. After 22 games, the season split into a championship/relegation round.
HJK were the defending champions. HJK drew an average home attendance of 5,631 in the 2023 Veikkausliiga, the highest in the league. Veikkaus was the league’s sponsor.
| Promoted from 2022 Ykkönen | Relegated to 2023 Ykkönen |
| KTP | HIFK |

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Turf | Capacity |
| AC Oulu | Oulu | Raatti Stadion | Natural | 5,000 |
| FC Haka | Valkeakoski | Tehtaan kenttä | Artificial | 3,516 |
| FC Honka | Espoo | Tapiolan Urheilupuisto | Natural | 6,000 |
| FC Inter | Turku | Veritas Stadion | Natural | 9,372 |
| FC Lahti | Lahti | Lahden Stadion | Natural | 7,465 |
| HJK | Helsinki | Bolt Arena | Artificial | 10,770 |
| IFK Mariehamn | Mariehamn | Wiklöf Holding Arena | Artificial | 1,650 |
| Ilves | Tampere | Tampere Stadium | Natural | 16,800 |
| KTP | Kotka | Arto Tolsa Areena | Artificial | 4,780 |
| KuPS | Kuopio | Savon Sanomat Areena | Artificial | 2,700 |
| SJK | Seinäjoki | OmaSP Stadion | Artificial | 5,817 |
| VPS | Vaasa | Hietalahti | Artificial | 6,005 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | HJK | 22 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 39 | 19 | +20 | 44 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 2 | KuPS | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 34 | 15 | +19 | 43 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 3 | SJK | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 38 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 4 | VPS | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 36 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 5 | Honka | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 17 | +6 | 35 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 6 | Inter Turku | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 33 | 31 | +2 | 34 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 7 | Oulu | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 32 | 37 | −5 | 31 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 8 | Haka | 22 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 24 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 9 | Lahti | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 32 | −11 | 22 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 10 | Ilves | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 27 | −7 | 20 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 11 | KTP | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 33 | −13 | 20 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 12 | Mariehamn | 22 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 21 | 34 | −13 | 15 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |

### Results

| Home \ Away | HAK | HJK | HON | ILV | INT | KTP | KPS | LAH | MAR | OUL | SJK | VPS |
| Haka | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| HJK | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 |
| Honka | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Ilves | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Inter Turku | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| KTP | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | — | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| KuPS | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Lahti | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–4 | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Mariehamn | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Oulu | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 0–3 | 2–1 |
| SJK | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 1–4 | — | 2–1 |
| VPS | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | — |

## Championship Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | HJK (C) | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 50 | 26 | +24 | 53 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | KuPS | 27 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 20 | +21 | 53 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | VPS (O) | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 41 | 26 | +15 | 49 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off final |
| 4 | SJK | 27 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 42 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 5 | Honka (R) | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 41 | Relegation to the 2024 Kakkonen and qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 6 | Inter Turku | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 35 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
* ↑ Honka were relegated to 2024 Kakkonen after the end of the season due to financial issues.

### Results

| Home \ Away | HJK | HON | INT | KPS | SJK | VPS |
| HJK | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | — |
| Honka | — | — | 3–0 | — | — | 0–3 |
| Inter Turku | — | — | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | — |
| KuPS | — | 3–1 | — | — | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| SJK | 2–3 | 1–2 | — | — | — | 0–2 |
| VPS | 3–2 | — | 1–1 | — | — | — |

## Relegation Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Oulu | 27 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 38 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round play-off quarter-finals |
| 2 | Ilves | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 35 | 33 | +2 | 33 | Qualification for the Conference League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Haka | 27 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 35 | 42 | −7 | 32 | |
| 4 | Lahti | 27 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 26 | 41 | −15 | 29 | |
| 5 | Mariehamn (O) | 27 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 22 | Qualification for the Veikkausliiga play-off final |
| 6 | KTP (R) | 27 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 21 | 44 | −23 | 20 | Relegation to the Ykkösliiga |
* ↑ Ilves qualified for the Conference League second qualifying round by winning the 2023 Finnish Cup.

### Results

| Home \ Away | HAK | ILV | KTP | LAH | MAR | OUL |
| Haka | — | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | — |
| Ilves | — | — | — | — | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| KTP | — | 0–3 | — | — | 0–2 | — |
| Lahti | — | 1–5 | 2–1 | — | — | 2–1 |
| Mariehamn | 2–1 | — | — | 0–0 | — | — |
| Oulu | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | — | 3–2 | — |

## Play-offs
### Conference League play-off

Teams placed 3rd-7th (Honka, Inter Turku, Oulu, SJK, and VPS) entered play-off matches for the second spot in the Conference League first qualifying round. The third-placed team (VPS) received a bye to the final. The quarter-finals and semi-finals are held over one leg (with the higher-placed team gaining home advantage), while the final is held over two legs.

#### Second leg
### Veikkausliiga play-off

The eleventh-placed team (Mariehamn) qualified for a play-off alongside the second, third, and fourth-placed teams from the 2023 Ykkönen (Gnistan, MP, and SJK Akatemia). The third and fourth-placed Ykkönen teams entered the quarter-finals, with the winners facing the second-placed Ykkönen team in the semi-finals. The semi-final winners then face the eleventh-placed Veikkausliiga team, with the winners securing the final place in the 2024 Veikkausliiga. For the quarter and semi-finals, the higher-placed team gained home advantage.

#### Final
##### First leg
##### Second leg
## Top scorers

    As of 1 November 2023
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Bojan Radulović | HJK | 18 |
| 2 | Peter Godly Michael | VPS | 17 |
| 3 | Ashley Coffey | Oulu | 13 |
| 4 | Jaime Moreno | SJK | 11 |
| 5 | Juan Lescano | Haka | 9 |
| 6 | Darren Smith | Inter Turku | 8 |
| 6 | Santeri Haarala | Ilves | 8 |
| 6 | Rasmus Karjalainen | Oulu | 8 |
| 9 | Jeremiah Streng | SJK | 7 |
| 9 | Elias Mastokangas | Haka | 7 |
| 9 | Tuomas Ollila | HJK | 7 |
| 9 | Niklas Jokelainen | Oulu | 7 |