Urho Nissilä

Urho Nissilä (born 4 April 1996) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Hungarian club Puskás Akadémia.

Early life
Nissilä was born in Kuopio to a Conservative Laestadian family. Nissilä and his six siblings were raised by their single-parent mother. In Laestadianism, competitive club sports are prohibited, and Nissilä only played football with his brother and friends until aged 10, when his mother reluctantly allowed him to join a youth team of KuPS for the first time.

He later resigned from the Laestadian movement.

Club career
Nissilä played football with his brother and friends until aged 10, when he joined the youth team of KuPS.

He signed with Zulte Waregem in 2018. According to media, the transfer fee was the highest in the history of KuPS at the time. He made his debut on 10 November, playing the first 58 minutes of a 2–0 win against Lokeren.

He returned to KuPS on loan in February 2020, and subsequently signed a permanent contract for the 2021 season. At the end of the season, Nissilä was named the Veikkausliiga Player of the Year.

Nissilä joined K League 1 side Suwon FC in January 2022.

In the early 2023 he returned to KuPS again on a short contract, and left the club in July.

On 29 January 2024, Nissilä signed with Puskás Akadémia in Hungarian Nemzeti Bajnokság I (NB I), on a deal until the end of the 2024–25 season. On 20 April 2024, Nissilä scored his first goal in NB I, in a 5–0 home win over Paksi.

International career
He has represented the Finland national under-21 football team.

He made his debut for the Finland national football team on 1 September 2021 in a friendly against Wales. He substituted Jasin-Amin Assehnoun at half-time of a 0–0 home draw. Three days later he gained his first cap in FIFA World Cup qualifications when he replaced Onni Valakari as a substitute on 78th minute in Helsinki Olympic Stadium in a match against Kazakhstan.

International
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Honours
KuPS
 * Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2017, 2021, 2023
 * Finnish Cup: 2021

Individual
 * Veikkausliiga Player of the Year: 2021
 * Veikkausliiga Midfielder of the Year: 2021
 * Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2021
 * Veikkausliiga Player of the Month: August 2021