In October 2022, Tihinen was appointed as an expert adviser of FIFA in Global Football Development Division High-Performance -unit.

Tihinen spent two and a half seasons with Viking, while also having a brief loan spell at West Ham United in the English Premiership.

Whilst at West Ham, he played in their 1–0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2000–01 FA Cup, and was named the man of the match.

On 30 September 2009, Tihinen scored the winning goal for Zürich after ten minutes against A.C. Milan in the Group C game of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.

He scored five goals in the national team matches and formed Finland's regular central defensive pairing with Sami Hyypiä for most of the 2000s.

After his career, Tihinen has studied international leadership and management at the UEFA Academy and at the Aalto University in Helsinki and since 2014, he has been the technical director of the Football Association of Finland.

In October 2022, Tihinen was appointed as an expert adviser of FIFA in Global Football Development Division High-Performance -unit.