Hodgson, appointed England coach in May, managed the Nordic nation from January 2006 to November 2007 when they came agonisingly close to qualification for a first major tournament at Euro 2008.
"Roy's time as the manager of Finland lifted the level of Finnish football culture and made Finland internationally better known as a football nation," Finnish ambassador to Britain Pekka Huhtaniemi said on the English FA's website on Saturday.
"I enjoyed my life [in Finland] very much. Not only in football, but outside of it as well. I hope that my relationship with Finland, which is already great, becomes even greater," said the 65-year-old Hodgson.
"Roy brought with him a higher degree of professionalism and more disciplined style of playing," added Huhtaniemi.
