Kristian Yli-Hietanen

Kristian Yli-Hietanen (born 31 May 1996) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Veikkausliiga club Gnistan. Yli-Hietanen holds a dual Finnish-Canadian citizenship.

Early life
Born in Tampere, Finland, Yli-Hietanen began playing youth soccer with Ilves, In 2007, he moved to North Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada with his family, where he played youth soccer with North Vanocuver FC. After graduating high school at Sutherland Secondary School, he was not recruited by any university programs and began working construction as a labourer and a painter.

University career
In 2015, he began attending Capilano University, where he was the 2015 PACWEST Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, as well as Golden Boot award winner after scoring eight goals in 14 league games. He also helped Capilano win the PACWEST Gold Medal and the national CCAA silver medal and was named a CCAA All-Canadian and CCAA Tournament All-Star. In February 2016, he decided to transfer to Simon Fraser University, however, he ultimately remained with Capilano instead for 2016. In 2016, they repeated as PACWEST Gold medalists and won the CCAA bronze medal.

In 2017, following two successful seasons with the Capilano University men's soccer team, Yli-Hietanen would move on to the University of British Columbia. On September 30, 2018, he scored 4 goals in a game against the University of North British Columbia Timberwolves. While in university, he also played amateur senior soccer with Rino's Tigers in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League from 2017 to 2019.

Club career
In 2017, he played for TSS FC Rovers in the Premier Development League. He would return to TSS FC for the 2019 season, scoring once in seven appearances.

In 2020, he returned to Finland, signing with Tampereen Pallo-Veikot (TPV) of the third tier Kakkonen.

In 2021, Yli-Hietanen approached Reipas Lahti and went on trial with them, where he was recommended to the top tier side FC Lahti, where he signed a contract. He scored his first goal in a 2021 Finnish Cup match against KTP on February 13.

In 2022, he joined KäPa in Kakkonen.

On 9 January 2023, it was announced that Yli-Hietanen had signed a 1+1 year contract with FC Haka in the Veikkauslliga.

On 14 July 2023, Yli-Hietanen rejoined Ykkönen club KäPa on a contract for the rest of the season.

On 15 January 2024, Yli-Hietanen signed with newly promoted Veikkausliiga club IF Gnistan on a one-year deal.

Career statistics

 * Notes