Soiri was born in Ekenäs, Finland, to a Finnish mother, Iina Soiri, and a Namibian father, he spent most of his childhood in Africa.[1] He holds both Finnish and Namibian citizenships.[2] His football journey began at age 17 with MYPA, his hometown club.[3]
Club career
MYPA
Soiri spent his last years on youth level in MYPA and debuted in Veikkausliiga in April 2012 in a match against Jaro.[4] During season 2012 he was also loaned out to Kakkonen teams JäPS and KTP. During season 2013 he secured his place in the team and gained 22 caps and 1 goal.[5]
VPS
In 2015 Soiri transferred to fellow Veikkausliiga club Vaasan Palloseura (VPS) signing a two-year deal.[5] During his two seasons with VPS, he made 62 appearances in Veikkausliiga scoring 14 goals. He also represented the club in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers.
In August 2018 Soiri transferred to Austrian Bundesliga club Admira Wacker.[7] Soiri made 12 appearances and scored two goals for the club, before he left after just one season.
Esbjerg
Esbjerg fB in Danish Superliga announced on 18 June 2019, that they had signed Soiri on a contract until June 2022.[8] However, after 54 appearances and five goals, the spell was cut short, when he got his contract terminated by mutual agreement on 25 August 2021.[9]
On 28 December 2023, Romanian Liga I club Universitatea Craiova announced the signing of Soiri on a two-and-a-half-year deal, on a free transfer.[12] He left the club next summer, having made seven appearances in total.
Athens Kallithea
On 4 July 2024, Soiri joined a newly promoted Super League Greece club Athens Kallithea for an undisclosed fee, which was reported to be in six figures.[13]
International career
On 6 October 2017, Soiri made his debut for Finland's senior national team in a qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup against Croatia. Brought on as a substitute late in the match, he scored the equalising goal for the 1–1 draw in the 90th minute.[14] Soiri was called up for the UEFA Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly match against Sweden on 29 May 2021.[15] In UEFA Euro 2020 Group B he gained one cap for Finland on 16 June 2021 in a match against Russia when he replaced Jukka Raitala as a substitute on 75th minute of the match.[16] Soiri made his international debut for Finland in November 2017 and has since had over 30 caps. He appeared in 9 out of 10 of Finland's UEFA Euro 2020 qualification matches and thus helped Finland reach their first ever major tournament, the UEFA Euro 2020.