The Finns had to settle for a point, 2–2, despite a promising start.
Kaan Kairinen scored 1–0 as early as the third minute and Joel Pohjanpalo extended the lead with a penalty after a quarter of an hour.
However, Lithuania's attacking talent Armandas Kucys pulled one back before halftime, and in the 70th minute came the big shock. Gvidas Gineitis got space outside the Finnish penalty area and the Torino midfielder thundered in the 2–2 equalizer with a left-footed cannon.
Finland's new national team coach, the Dane Jacob Friis, has thus had a tough start to his new job. And yet, Monday's performance was possibly marginally better than the one on Friday, when a stumbling Finland won 1–0 against Malta, 168th in the world.
The other teams in the group are Poland and the Netherlands.
