Match report
Shumanskiy strike inside first minute sends Belarus past Finland
Belarus edged Finland 1-0 in a UEFA Nations League League C fixture at Illovszky Rudolf Stadion, with the only goal settling matters inside the opening minute. The result left both sides level on points, with Belarus second and Finland third in their group table after four matches each.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Artem Shumanskiy put the hosts ahead almost immediately, converting to make it 1-0 within the first minute, and that scoreline held firm through to half-time and beyond. Finland pushed for an equaliser across the remaining 89 minutes but could not find a way past the Belarus defence, leaving the early goal to decide the contest.
Despite conceding so early, Finland dominated territory and chances, holding 74 percent of possession and firing 14 shots to Belarus's six, including five corners to the hosts' one. Belarus, by contrast, were more combative without the ball, picking up four yellow cards to Finland's two and committing 17 fouls, but their discipline in defending the lead proved decisive.
Shumanskiy scored the match's only goal inside the first minute and finished with a rating of 7.61, the highest of any player on the pitch.
Finland's 74 percent of possession underlined their control of the ball, yet it was Belarus who made their solitary first-minute chance count.
Belarus beat Finland 1–0 (half-time 1–0).
Belarus met Finland in the UEFA Nations League (League C - 4). Kick-off was Tuesday, 6 October 2026, 18:45 UTC at Illovszky Rudolf Stadion. Referee: Sascha Stegemann.
Team pages: Belarus · Finland · UEFA Nations League
Key moments
- 1' Goal: Artem Shumanskiy (assist: German Barkovskiy) — 1–0 · Watch Artem Shumanskiy's goal video (1')
Starting line-ups
Belarus (4-2-3-1)
- 21 Fedor Lapoukhov
- 2 Kirill Pechenin
- 13 Kirill Gomanov
- 20 Zakhar Volkov
- 5 Vladislav Kalinin
- 8 Aleksandr Selyava
- 4 Valeri Bocherov
- 7 Artem Shumanskiy
- 9 Max Ebong
- 19 Anton Lukashov
- 11 German Barkovskiy
Finland (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Belarus 33%, the draw 27%, Finland 40%. It finished Belarus 1–0 Finland.
Finland's rating edge outweighs Belarus' home ground — Finland are the stronger side on our strength rating, and that is most of Finland's 40%. The draw at 27% is about what a gap this size usually leaves.
Why Finland at 40%?
Finland sit 121 points higher on our strength rating — 1478 to 1598. Sides with a 80–160-point rating edge on the road won 40.0% of 13,743 such games. The 300 most similar past games finished 31–32–37.
Why only 40%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 40% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 27% and Belarus at 33%.
Why the draw at 27%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 27.6%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.8% of 25,107.
What did we measure but not count?
Finland have averaged 15 percentage points more possession than Belarus in recent games. That doesn’t change our forecast here. Last five: Belarus L-D-W, Finland W-D-W — Finland are clearly the hotter side on recent results. Between equals, recent form told us almost nothing: the home side won 43.3% of 1901 games when clearly hotter and 43.6% of 3634 when clearly colder. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Belarus vs Finland final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Nations League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Belarus 1–0 Finland. Explore more on the Belarus and Finland team pages or the UEFA Nations League page.