Gustav Svensson
Svensson with Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Karl Gustav Johan Svensson
Date of birth (1987-02-07) 7 February 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Gothenburg, Sweden
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 IFK Göteborg
Number 13
Youth career
1999–2000 Azalea BK
2000–2001 ES Le Cannet-Rocheville
2001–2005 IFK Göteborg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2010 IFK Göteborg 101 (8)
2010–2012 Bursaspor 25 (0)
2012–2014 Tavriya Simferopol 21 (0)
2014–2015 IFK Göteborg 52 (1)
2016 Guangzhou R&F 28 (0)
2017–2020 Seattle Sounders FC 90 (4)
2021 Guangzhou City 5 (0)
2021– IFK Göteborg 73 (2)
International career
2007–2009 Sweden U21 24 (1)
2009–2021 Sweden 32 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:24, 12 November 2023 (UTC)

Karl Gustav Johan Svensson (born 7 February 1987) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg as a midfielder. Starting off his footballing career in Sweden with IFK Göteborg in 2005, he went on to play professionally in Turkey, Ukraine, China, and the United States before returning to Sweden in 2021. A full international between 2009 and 2021, Svensson won 32 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as UEFA Euro 2020.

Club career

IFK Göteborg

He played for a local team in Gothenburg as well as a French team in his youth but joined IFK Göteborg at the age of 14. He played there until 2010 and won the Swedish Championship with the club in 2007. Gustav was nominated as the Newcomer of the year in Swedish football the same season but lost out to Johan Oremo.

Bursaspor

On 1 September 2010, he signed a three-year contract with 2009–10 Süper Lig champions Bursaspor.[2]

Tavriya Simferopol

On 7 July 2012, he signed a three-year contract with Ukrainian club Tavriya Simferopol.[3] According to Svensson he was forced to flee Tavriya's native soil Crimea by bus during the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.[4]

Return to IFK Göteborg

On 23 March 2014, he signed a four-year contract with his former club IFK Göteborg.[5]

Guangzhou R&F

On 14 January 2016, he signed a three-year contract with Chinese club Guangzhou R&F.[6]

Seattle Sounders FC

On 30 January 2017, Svensson joined MLS side Seattle Sounders FC.[7] Svensson made his Sounders debut in the opening game of the 2017 season, starting at right back in a 2–1 loss to Houston.[8] While he has also played as a center back, Svensson primarily plays as a defensive midfielder for the Sounders.[9]

Guangzhou City

On 9 April 2021, Svensson returned to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou City.[10]

Second return to IFK Göteborg

On 22 July 2021, Svensson returned to IFK Göteborg for the second time, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract.[11]

International career

Youth

Making his debut in 2007, Svensson played 24 games for the Sweden under-21 team and was a part of the U21 team that reached the semi-finals of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Senior

In May 2018, he was named in Sweden's 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[12] At the 2018 World Cup, Svensson played in three games for Sweden as they were eliminated by England in the quarter-final.[13] He started and played the full 90 minutes in the second-round game against Switzerland.[14]

On 8 September 2020, Svensson was sent off for the first time in his senior international career in the first half after two yellow cards in Sweden's game against Portugal in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League.[15] He served as Sweden's team captain for the first time in a friendly game against Denmark on 11 November 2020, in his 30th international appearance.[16]

In May 2021, he was named in Sweden's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020.[17] He appeared in the 1–0 group stage win against Slovakia as Sweden reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by Ukraine.[17] Svensson announced his retirement from international football following the tournament, having won 32 caps for his country between 2009 and 2021.

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 December 2021
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
IFK Göteborg 2005 Allsvenskan 0 0 0 0 2 0 — 2 0
2006 Allsvenskan 5 1 0 0 0 0 — 5 1
2007 Allsvenskan 22 1 6 0 — — 28 1
2008 Allsvenskan 27 3 3 0 3 0 — 33 3
2009 Allsvenskan 29 2 4 0 2 0 — 35 2
2010 Allsvenskan 18 1 2 0 2 0 — 22 1
Total 101 8 15 0 9 0 — 125 8
Bursaspor 2010–11 Süper Lig 16 0 3 0 5 0 — 24 0
2011–12 Süper Lig 9 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 15 0
Total 25 0 4 0 7 0 3 0 39 0
Tavriya Simferopol 2012–13 Ukrainian Premier League 11 0 2 0 — — 13 0
2013–14 Ukrainian Premier League 10 0 0 0 — — 10 0
Total 21 0 2 0 0 0 — 23 0
IFK Göteborg 2014 Allsvenskan 24 0 0 0 5 0 — 29 0
2015 Allsvenskan 28 1 5 0 4 0 — 37 1
Total 52 1 5 0 9 0 — 66 1
Guangzhou R&F 2016 Chinese Super League 28 0 5 0 — — 33 0
Seattle Sounders FC 2017 Major League Soccer 32 1 5 1 — — 37 2
2018 Major League Soccer 24 3 2 0 4 0 — 30 3
2019 Major League Soccer 22 0 4 1 — — 26 1
2020 Major League Soccer 12 0 2 1 0 0 1[a] 0 15 1
Total 90 4 13 3 4 0 1 0 108 7
Guangzhou City 2021 Chinese Super League 5 0 0 0 — — 5 0
IFK Göteborg 2021 Allsvenskan 19 0 0 0 — — 19 0
Career total 341 13 44 3 29 0 4 0 418 16
  1. ^ MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage.

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[18]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2009 2 0
2010 0 0
2011 0 0
2012 0 0
2013 0 0
2014 0 0
2015 2 0
2016 2 0
2017 4 0
2018 10 0
2019 7 0
2020 3 0
2021 2 0
Total 32 0

Honours

IFK Göteborg

Seattle Sounders FC

References

  1. ^ "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 30 June 2018. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Bursaspor'a İsveçli orta saha". NTV Spor. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Ofitsial'no: Gustav Svensson — igrok Tavrii". Football. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  4. ^ (in Ukrainian) The Russians forced me to flee the Crimea - a football player of the Swedish national team, Lb.ua [uk] (29 June 2021)
  5. ^ "Gustav tillbaka i Blåvitt". IFK Göteborg. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Gustav till Guangzhou". IFK Göteborg. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  7. ^ Krasnoo, Ryan (30 January 2017). "Seattle Sounders sign Gustav Svensson, strengthen midfield crop". soundersfc.com. Seattle Sounders FC. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  8. ^ Sounders FC Communications (4 March 2017). "Sounders FC falls 2–1 in Houston to open 2017 MLS season". SoundersFC.com. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Taking a deep dive into Sounders organizational depth chart". sounderatheart.com. Vox Media. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  10. ^ "官方：瑞典球员斯文森回归加盟广州城，双方签约一年" (in Chinese). Dongqiudi. 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  11. ^ Göteborg, I. F. K. (22 July 2021). "Välkommen hem igen!". IFK Göteborg – Hela stadens lag (in Swedish). Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". goal.com. Goal. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  13. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - Teams - Sweden - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  14. ^ "Sweden, Gustav Svensson advance to quarterfinals with win over Switzerland".
  15. ^ "Här är situationerna som ledde till Svenssons utvisning". SVT Sport (in Swedish). 8 September 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Ny - och stolt - kapten för Blågult: "Inte ens försökt tänka tanken på det här"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  17. ^ a b "Gustav Svensson slutar i landslaget". SVT Sport (in Swedish). 17 July 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  18. ^ "Gustav Svensson". National Football Teams. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Seattle Sounders are 2019 MLS Cup champions: Rave Green win second MLS title". Major League Soccer. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2019.

External links

IFK Göteborg – current squad
Sweden squads
Categories