Finland looked lacklustre in attack when these two sides played out a goalless draw in Helsinki this week, yet this time it was their defence that was found wanting just 16 seconds in when Artem Shumansky opened the scoring for Belarus with a spectacular strike from the edge of the box after the ball had been played long.
Matti Peltola made a good burst up the pitch before seeing his shot saved as Finland looked to get back into the game, but he then fouled Shumansky to concede a penalty on the quarter-hour mark. But Huuhkajat avoided any further damage, as Lukas Hradecky got a strong hand to Zakhar Volkov’s spot-kick and gathered the loose ball.
Fyodor Lapoukhov rushed out to deny Adrian Svanback’s header from a corner as the away team tried to make the most of their reprieve, but they struggled to create more clearcut chances despite having spells of nice possession as the first half progressed. That was down to the White Wings’ committed play as much as anything else, even if that also meant they picked up three bookings in the space of 11 minutes.
Belarus head coach Viktor Goncharenko made a double change ahead of the restart and his side continued to work to maintain their lead, although Topi Keskinen did well to get into a promising position but smashed his effort off-target.
Neither Keskinen nor Finland's two-goal hero from their victory over Albania last time out, Leo Walta, could find a route to goal as they both had shots blocked, before Volkov got his head in the way of Oiva Jukkola’s header. Unable to find a way past Belarus’ defence, Finland suffered yet more frustration with Ryan Mahuta going off injured with a quarter-hour remaining.
Jukkola then saw another effort saved moments after Kirill Pechenin had sent a disappointing free-kick into the wall at the other end. After Trofim Melnichenko had sent a header wide, Joel Pohjanpalo did the same at the other end as Belarus did enough to record back-to-back competitive wins for the first time since November 2023.
This result, coupled with Albania's win over San Marino, means Finland drop from first to third in the group, with their chances of promotion in the balance once more with two matches to come in November.
Review all tonight's UEFA Nations League results on Flashscore.