Watch: Grech strikes late as Malta snatches victory against Finland in World Cup qualifier

FINLAND       0

MALTA           1

Grech 87

The Malta national team stunned Finland with a late goal to secure their first win in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Helsinki.

Substitute Jake Grech turned out to be Malta’s hero as the attacking midfielder came off the bench to fire home the winner with virtually his first touch of the match and lift Malta off the bottom spot and above Lithuania in the standings.

While Grech will take the plaudits for netting the winner, however, several players produced a heroic performance, with goalkeeper Henry Bonello standing tall with a world-class display that saw him produce a string of excellent saves that handed the team their first away win in an away World Cup qualifier against Armenia in 2013.

The Maltese were forced to defend for long stretches of the match, but they showed great resilience, and in the end, their never-say-die spirit was rewarded with Grech’s winner that lifted the team to fifth place in the group on five points and boosted their hopes of finishing a qualifying campaign above the bottom place for the first time in several years.

Malta will now turn their sights on Monday’s final World Cup qualifier against Poland at the National Stadium, where they will hope to wrap up the campaign with another positive showing against the Poles, who, with our national team’s win, are assured of playing in the play-offs for next year’s World Cup.

Finland made their intentions clear after three minutes of play as Oliver Antman raced clear on the right, and his cross was flicked by Benjamin Kallman in the six-yard box, and Pepe’s deflection hit the upright. Skipper Joel Pohjanpalo tried to backheel the ball home, but Kurt Shaw was on hand to block.

Finland’s pace on the flanks was creating all sorts of problems for Malta, and their short-passing vertical game was enabling them to breach through the visitors’ defence with ease.

On the eve of the match, coach Emilio De Leo emphasised the importance of keeping control of the ball, but in these early minutes, the visitors were being too careless with their passing play, giving the initiative to their opponents.

The home side had to wait until the 35th minute to threaten when the excellent Antman raced clear on the right and his cross was flicked towards goal by Pohjanpalo but Bonello was on hand to block.

The Malta goalkeeper again distinguished himself a minute later when he dived full stretch to palm away.

Finland continued to dominate proceedings but they could not create a serious chance as the visitors held on to a clean sheet at the interval.

 On the restart, the Maltese showed signs of improvement in their possession play as they started to hold the ball well, but they still struggled to create chances.

At the other end, Bonello again showed his talent when pushing over Adam Marhiev’s shot.

The Ħamrun goalkeeper continued to be his team’s saviour when on 57 minutes, he showed great reflexes to palm away Leo Walta’s deflected shot.

Six minutes later, Masuba came close but his curling drive flashed wide.

Malta won their first corner on 67 minutes but Ilyas Chouaref’s shot finished high and wide.

Twenty minutes from time, Altman showed all his dribbling skills when he whizzed past four defenders on his way to bursting inside the area, but his low drive was somehow kept out by the excellent Bonello.

Fourteen minutes from time Malta rued their luck when Altman found Rob Lod in space, but his shot was somehow deflected wide by Pepe, with Bonello beaten.

Eleven minutes from time, Finland roped in veteran striker Teemu Pukki who was making his final appearance for his country, in a bid to find a breakthrough.

However, it was Malta who scored the killer goal eight minutes from time. Chouaref picked Jake Grech, who had just replaced Paul Mbong, on the edge of the area, and the Floriana midfielder hit a thumping drive that gave no chance to Finland’s goalkeeper Viljani Sinisalo.

Here, Finland threw caution to the wind and laid siege to the Malta goal in search of an equaliser.

But the Maltese players defended valiantly to hold on to a famous victory.