VPS knocked KuPS out of the Suomen Cup after penalties and secured a place in the semifinals
VPS secured a place in the semifinals of the Finnish football cup, the Suomen Cup, after defeating KuPS at Väre Areena in Kuopio on 10 June 2026 through better penalty taking. After 90 minutes of play, the score was 0:0, and the Vaasa side advanced with a 5:4 victory in the shootout. According to Kuopion Palloseura’s report, the match ended without goals despite the more pronounced initiative of the home team, while Vaasan Palloseura assessed that the key to progression lay in disciplined defending and calmer execution of shots from the penalty spot. This was a quarterfinal match of the Suomen Cup, a competition in which, at this stage, every detail can prove decisive because defeat immediately means the end of the cup season.
The duel carried clear competitive weight even before kick-off. KuPS played in front of its own supporters at Väre Areena, in a city and at a stadium where the home team expected to continue its fight for the trophy. VPS, on the other hand, arrived in Kuopio with a realistic plan to survive periods of home dominance and wait for its own opportunities. According to KuPS’s announcement ahead of the quarterfinal, the draw had given the home side the advantage of playing on its own ground also in a possible semifinal, but that scenario remained unused for the Kuopio team. Instead of KuPS, VPS reached the final four, where it will play against FC Inter from Turku in the next stage.
A match without goals, but with a clear tactical framework
According to VPS’s report, the first twenty minutes or so belonged to KuPS, who entered the match more strongly and tried to establish control through possession. The home team had the ball at its feet for longer phases of the match, tried to build attacks from the back line and keep the opponent under pressure. KuPS stated in its own report that Miika Nuutinen’s team controlled a large part of the game and, especially in the first half, created enough dangerous situations to steer the match in its favour. VPS, however, withstood the initial pressure, maintained its structure and gradually reduced the number of open spaces in front of its penalty area. This development led to a match in which the home side had more initiative, but failed to find the final move.
The statistical framework confirms a similar picture of the encounter. According to Flashscore data for the KuPS – VPS match, the home side had 66 percent possession of the ball, while the total shots ratio was 9:4 in KuPS’s favour. The same source states that the home team had three shots on target and the visitors two, which shows that possession did not turn into a large number of especially clear chances. After the opening phase, VPS found a more stable rhythm and, in the continuation of the match, managed to do what is often decisive in cup competitions: stay in the game until the very end. Although the match produced no goals, it was tactically dense, with plenty of caution and a clear awareness from both teams that one mistake could decide the quarterfinal.
VPS highlighted in its own report that the second half was more balanced, with several more dangerous away situations in the final third. Particular mention was made of the move in the 69th minute, when Luka Smyth entered a dangerous area and looked for Yassin Daoussi with a cut-back pass, but the delivery did not finish ideally. Shortly afterwards, Miika Niemi found Smyth with a cross, whose headed attempt was stopped by KuPS goalkeeper Johannes Kreidl. These situations did not change the score, but they confirmed that the visiting team was not exclusively passive. VPS waited for moments when it could break out of its defensive block and threaten, while KuPS increasingly felt the pressure of its unused dominance.
Why there was no extra time
After 0:0, the decision went directly to penalties because such an outcome follows from the competition rules for this stage of the Suomen Cup. According to the Suomen Cup rules for 2026, from the opening rounds to the seventh round, that is, the quarterfinals, a match that ends level after 90 minutes is decided immediately by a penalty shootout. Under the same rules, extra time is introduced only from the eighth round, that is, the semifinals, where, in the event of a tied score, an additional 2 x 15 minutes is played. For that reason, the teams in Kuopio did not have an additional half hour to search for a goal; instead, the fate of the quarterfinal was determined in a series of shots from the penalty spot. This format further emphasises the importance of mental preparation and goalkeeping reactions at the end of cup matches.
For KuPS, such a system was especially painful because the home team, by its own assessment, had enough of the play to settle the match earlier. After the match, head coach Miika Nuutinen told club channels that the elimination after such a match hurt him particularly, stressing the great work of the players and the fact that KuPS had kept the match under control for a long time. At the same time, he admitted that the home side had not used what it had created during regular time. According to the club’s announcement, Nuutinen also praised VPS’s defensive performance, emphasising that the Vaasa team defended its space well. In the cup, such a combination of missed opportunities and opposition discipline is often punished in the harshest way.
Mamadou Jalloh and calm penalty takers took VPS further
The shootout brought the full intensity of an elimination match. According to KuPS’s report, VPS was accurate in its first four attempts through Martti Haukioja, Simon Lindholm, Luka Smyth and Yassin Daoussi. Jaime Moreno, Saku Heiskanen and Clinton Antwi scored for the home side, while Petteri Pennanen’s attempt did not bring an equaliser. KuPS nevertheless stayed in the game when Johannes Kreidl stopped Chukwuemeka Okereke’s shot, and Arttu Heinonen then equalised at 4:4. In the first additional round, Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan scored for VPS, while Valentin Gasc failed to convert his attempt for KuPS, which allowed the Vaasa team to seal a 5:4 victory.
In its report, VPS particularly highlighted goalkeeper Mamadou Jalloh as one of the key figures of the match because he saved two Kuopio attempts in the shootout. That goalkeeping role becomes even more important when taking into account that the match was closed and that there was no room during play for a larger number of goals. In such circumstances, a goalkeeper does not need to make dozens of interventions to leave his mark on the match; it is enough to save one or two of the most important shots. Jalloh did exactly that at the moment when the entire cup season for both teams was compressed into a few seconds. Alongside his stability, VPS also had enough precision among its takers to survive Kreidl’s save and the home team’s comeback to 4:4.
After the match, VPS coach Jussi Nuorela, according to the club announcement, emphasised that the team had known in advance that it would have to defend a lot. He spoke especially about the fact that it is difficult to establish a high press against KuPS because goalkeeper Kreidl often participates in the build-up play as an additional player. Nuorela assessed that KuPS kept the ball, but that VPS defended in a disciplined, persistent and high-quality manner, and that the home side did not create a large number of completely open chances. He also pointed out that penalties had been practised during the week and throughout the cup run, which, after the victory, gave additional weight to the preparation. His message was that progression was the result of a collective performance, not a random outcome.
KuPS left without a continuation of its cup run
For KuPS, the elimination was particularly unpleasant because the home ground and the course of the match provided a basis for expecting a place in the semifinals. In its report, the club emphasised that the team created pressure, but did not find the goal that would have broken the match open. After the match, Nuutinen said that penalties must be accepted as part of cup competitions and that, on that day, KuPS did not have its day from the spot. Such wording summarises the impression of the match well: the home side was not outplayed in the classic sense, but it did not achieve the most important thing. In elimination football, control of the game is not worth much if it does not bring a result on the scoreboard.
The elimination also changes the immediate rhythm of KuPS’s season. Instead of preparing for a home semifinal, the club must return to its Veikkausliiga obligations and try to mentally close the cup defeat quickly. KuPS and VPS meet again as early as 13 June 2026 in a league match in Vaasa, which gives an unusually quick continuation to this rivalry. According to KuPS’s preview, that match will be an opportunity to respond after the painful elimination. For VPS, meanwhile, the league duel comes after a major emotional lift, but also with the obligation that the team return to the league rhythm after an exhausting cup evening.
The semifinal schedule gained clearer contours
With VPS’s progression, an important part of the upper half of the draw was completed. According to Palloliitto’s draw announcement, the winner of the KuPS – VPS tie was supposed to play in the semifinal against the winner of the SJK – FC Inter match. Since FC Inter defeated SJK, VPS will fight for the final against the Turku club. In its own report, VPS stated that it will play the semifinal at home on 30 June or 1 July, with FC Inter as its opponent. The other part of the draw, according to the available quarterfinal results, consists of HJK and Ilves, so after the quarterfinal evening the Suomen Cup was reduced to four teams with different profiles, but the same goal: a place in the final.
The broader context of the competition further increases the value of this progression for VPS. The Suomen Cup is a classic knockout competition, and according to the rules and information from the Football Association of Finland for the 2026 season, its winner receives a trophy, a cash prize and an important sporting status in Finnish football. The 2026 rules state that the Suomen Cup winner receives 50,000 euros, while the finalist receives 10,000 euros, and the final is scheduled for 5 September 2026. Such data shows that the semifinal is not only a matter of prestige, but also of direct competitive and financial value for the clubs. For VPS, which advanced in Kuopio after penalties, this success is therefore much more than one dramatic evening.
VPS confirmed its resilience, KuPS paid the price for inefficiency
The most important sporting conclusion of the match is that VPS found a way to survive a match in which it did not have the majority of possession or a greater number of shots. According to the available reports, the Vaasa team did not try to beautify the impression, but accepted the demands of an away match against a strong opponent and played accordingly. Defensive discipline, concentration in the penalty area, a good goalkeeper reaction and pre-prepared penalty takers created the path to the semifinals. KuPS, on the other hand, showed enough quality to keep the match under control, but not enough precision to avoid the lottery of shots from the penalty spot. Ultimately, it was precisely that transition from controlled play to isolated duels between takers and goalkeepers that decided the encounter.
Väre Areena thus saw, on 10 June 2026, a match in which there were no goals from open play, but there was plenty of competitive tension. VPS advanced after 0:0 and 5:4 in the shootout, while KuPS ended this season’s Suomen Cup campaign in the quarterfinals. For the visitors, the victory is confirmation that a big result can be achieved even without dominance in possession if the plan and execution are firm enough. For the home side, there remains the bitter feeling of a missed opportunity, especially because, according to the club report, the team felt as though it had kept the match under control for a long time. Their next head-to-head meeting in the Veikkausliiga will give them a quick continuation of the story, but the cup run continues only for VPS.
Sources:
- Kuopion Palloseura – report on the match, result, statements by Miika Nuutinen and the course of the shootout (link)
- Vaasan Palloseura – report on the match, tactical framework, statements by Jussi Nuorela and progression to the semifinals (link)
- Suomen Palloliitto – rules of the Men’s Suomen Cup 2026, including the competition format, penalties and final-stage schedule (link)
- Suomen Palloliitto – announcement of the draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals of the 2026 Suomen Cup (link)
- Flashscore – statistical data for the KuPS – VPS match, including possession, shots and venue (link)