Stina Blackstenius
Blackstenius in 2019
Personal information
Full name Emma Stina Blackstenius[1]
Date of birth (1996-02-05) 5 February 1996 (age 27)
Place of birth Vadstena, Sweden
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 25
Youth career
2002–2011 Vadstena GIF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Vadstena GIF 34 (59)
2013–2016 Linköping 78 (37)
2017–2019 Montpellier 43 (25)
2019–2020 Linköping 22 (9)
2020–2021 BK Häcken 40 (25)
2022– Arsenal 42 (18)
International career‡
2012–2013 Sweden U17 16 (11)
2013–2015 Sweden U19 29 (34)
2016 Sweden U20 4 (5)
2015– Sweden 103 (30)
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo
FIFA Women's World Cup
Third place 2019 France
Third place 2023 Australia/New Zealand (({3))}
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 December 2023[2]

Emma Stina Blackstenius (born 5 February 1996) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Arsenal of the English Women's Super League and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Vadstena

Blackstenius grew up in Vadstena and joined local club Vadstena GIF in 2002 at the age of 6. On 20 April 2011, Blackstenius made her senior debut for the club against BK Kenty in the Östergötland region Division 3, the fifth tier of women's football in Sweden. She started the match and scored twice as Vadstena lost 5–4. In her debut season, Blackstenius started all 18 leagues games and scored 21 goals.[3] She played 16 games the following season and finished as the league's top scorer with 38 goals. She was named 2012 Östergötland player of the year.[4]

Linköping

Prior to the start of the 2013 season, Blackstenius signed a three-year contract with Linköping FC of the top-flight Damallsvenskan. She made her Damallsvenskan debut as a 68th-minute substitute on 17 April 2013 in a 1–1 draw with Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC. She scored her first top-flight goal on 28 May 2013, in a 3–1 victory over Malmö FF. On 31 July 2013, Blackstenius played her first Svenska Cupen match for the club, scoring a hattrick during a 13–0 win against Landsbro IF. Having appeared in 9 of the first 11 league games of the season all as a substitute, Blackstenius was given a bigger role towards the end of the season. She started all of the 11 remaining league games and went on a run of scoring six goals in the final five games as Linköping finished third.[5] Linköping reached the 2013–14 Swedish Cup final. They beat Kristianstads DFF 2–1 with Blackstenius appearing as a 62nd-minute substitute. In October 2014, Blackstenius made her UEFA Champions League debut away to English Super League side Liverpool. Linköping lost the first leg 2–1 but won 3–0 at home to progress. At the Fotbollsgalan 2015 [sv] awards, Blackstenius was named Breakthrough Player of the Year. In 2016, Linköping won the 2016 Damallsvenskan title. Blackstenius was the second-highest scorer in the league with 19 goals behind teammate Pernille Harder.

Montpellier

In January 2017, Blackstenius signed two-and-a-half-year deal with French Division 1 Féminine club Montpellier HSC.[6] She made her debut on 4 January 2017, entering as a halftime substitute against Paris Saint-Germain and scored the 81st-minute winner in the 2–1 victory. On 19 February 2017, she scored four goals in a Coupe de France 16–0 win over fourth division side FC Domont.[7] Joining halfway through the 2016–17 season, Blackstenius helped Montpellier to finish second in the league behind Lyon, scoring seven goals in 11 league games. The following season, Blackstenius finished as the fourth-highest scorer in the league with 12 goals in 20 games as Montpellier finished third. Blackstenius fell out of favour at the start of the 2018–19 season, only starting in six of 12 appearances and opted to leave in January 2019.[8]

Return to Linköping

On 30 January 2019, Blackstenius returned to Sweden, signing a two-year contract with her former club Linköpings FC.[9] She made her second debut in a 5–0 win over Växjö DFF in the Damallsvenskan. The team finished fifth with Blackstenius scoring nine goals.

BK Häcken

Ahead of the 2020 season, Blackstenius moved to Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC (later rebranded BK Häcken). A dispute between Linköping and Göteborg in regard to the transfer had to be settled by the Swedish Football Association's arbitration committee with neither party wishing to comment on the nature of the dispute.[10] In her debut season with the club, Göteborg won the 2020 Damallsvenskan. On 4 April 2021, Blackstenius scored the only goal in a 2020–21 Svenska Cupen semi-final win over FC Rosengård before scoring again in the final as BK Häcken beat Eskilstuna United 3–0.[11] In the 2021 season, Häcken finished second behind Rosengård. Blackstenius led the league in both goals (17) and assists (8).[12] In November 2021, she was named to the 20-player Ballon d'Or shortlist.[13] Blackstenius left the club upon the expiry of her contract at the end of the 2021 season.[14]

Arsenal

On 14 January 2022, English Super League club Arsenal confirmed the signing of Blackstenius on a free transfer.[15] She made her debut five days later, as a 69th-minute substitute for Vivianne Miedema in a 1–0 defeat at home to Manchester United in the League Cup quarter-finals.[16] She scored her first goal for Arsenal on 5 February 2022 against Manchester United, tying the game 1–1 in the 78th minute.[17] In the 2022–23 Conti Cup final against Chelsea, Blackstenius scored a goal making it 1–1 in the eventual 3–1 win for Arsenal.[18] She scored a hat trick against Reading in the 2023–24 Conti Cup.[19]

International career

Youth

On 30 October 2012, Blackstenius made her Sweden under-17 debut during 2013 UEFA Under-17 Championship qualification, scoring a hattrick in a 9–0 win over Croatia. As an under-19 international, Blackstenius featured prominently at the 2015 UEFA Under-19 Championship. She finished as tournament's top goalscorer after scoring six goals for the victorious Swedish team, including two in the 3–1 final win over Spain.[20] In total she scored 50 goals in 49 appearances while representing Sweden at various youth age groups.[2]

Senior

Blackstenius playing for Sweden in a match against the United States on 7 November 2019.

Blackstenius made her senior Sweden national team debut as a 79th-minute substitute in a 1–0 UEFA Euro 2017 qualifying win over Denmark on 27 October 2015, at Gamla Ullevi. On 8 April 2016, she scored her first senior international goal on her fifth appearance, the third goal in Sweden's 3–0 win over Slovakia in Poprad during UEFA Euro 2017 qualifying.

In June 2016, Blackstenius was named in the Sweden squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Having appeared as a substitute against South Africa in the opening group match, Blackstenius was an unused substitute for the next two as Sweden progressed as one of the two best-ranked third place teams. In the quarter-final against the reigning World Cup and Olympic champions United States, she came of the bench to replace the injured Fridolina Rolfö in the 18th minute and scored in the second half to give Sweden a lead. With the game tied at 1–1, Sweden progressed following a penalty shoot-out.[21] Coming on again as a substitute in the Gold Medal match, Blackstenius scored in the 67th minute to pull Sweden within one score of Germany. The game finished 2–1 with Sweden winning the silver medal.[22]

The following summer, Blackstenius was called up to the squad for Euro 2017. She scored in consecutive group games against Russia and Italy before Sweden were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by host nation Netherlands.

Having helped helping Sweden qualify for the 2019 FIFA World Cup with three goals, second on the team behind Kosovare Asllani, Blackstenius was selected in the final squad to travel to France. She made her World Cup debut starting the first game, a 2–0 win over Chile. She scored her first World Cup goal in the round of 16, the only goal in a 1–0 win over Canada.[23] She scored another game winniner in the following match, a 2–1 quarter-final win over Germany, Sweden's first win against Germany in a major tournament since the 1995 World Cup.[24][25] They lost the semi-final to Netherlands before winning the third-place match against England.

In July 2021, Blackstenius was named to her second successive Olympics for the delayed 2020 Tokyo games. Sweden repeated their silver medal run with Blackstenius having her most successful tournament to date, leading the team in goals with five.[26] She scored three goals during the group stage: a brace during a 3–0 win over the United States in the opening group game and another against Australia. In the knockout stage, she scored the go-ahead goal in a 3–1 quarter-final win over hosts Japan before again netting in an Olympic gold medal match, this time to give Sweden the lead over Canada. She was substituted in the 106th minute during extra-time with Canada eventually winning the gold medal on penalties 3–2 as four of Sweden's six penalty takers were unsuccessful.[27] Combined with her goals at Rio 2016, Blackstenius' seven Olympic goals surpassed the previous Swedish record of six in the competition set by Lotta Schelin.

In June 2022, Blackstenius was named to the squad for Euro 2022.[28] Despite injury concerns, she was fit enough to be named on the bench for the team's opening group stage game against Netherlands and appeared as a 68th-minute substitute in the 1–1 draw.[29] She started all four remaining matches, scoring one goal during a 5–0 victory over Portugal,[30] before Sweden were eliminated by hosts England at the semi-final stage 4–0.[31]

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 World Cup.[32] She scored in Sweden's 5–0 win over Italy.[33]

Personal life

Blackstenius is the daughter of Magnus Blackstenius and Lena Wiberg. She has an older brother, Oscar, and her younger half-sister is Sweden international handball player Nina Koppang.[34] Blackstenius also grew up playing handball and did so competitively until 2013.[35] Blackstenius studied economics at Kungshögaskolan in Mjölby.

Her last name, Blackstenius, comes from her father's family. He lived on a farm called "Blacksta", and her grandfather's name was "Sten". She, her father, and her brother are the only ones who have that name in Sweden.[36]

Career statistics

Club

As of 24 January 2024[2][37]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Vadstena GIF 2011 Division 3 18 21 ? ? — — 18 21
2012 16 38 ? ? — — 16 38
Total 34 59 ? ? 0 0 0 0 34 59
Linköping 2013 Damallsvenskan 20 8 6 7 — — 26 15
2014 17 3 5 4 — 2 0 24 7
2015 19 7 5 3 — 2 0 26 10
2016 22 19 2 5 — — 24 24
Total 78 37 18 19 0 0 4 0 100 56
Montpellier 2016–17 D1 Féminine 11 7 3 4 — — 14 11
2017–18 20 12 3 1 — 6 1 29 14
2018–19 12 6 1 0 — — 13 6
Total 43 25 7 5 0 0 6 1 56 31
Linköping 2019 Damallsvenskan 22 9 3 1 — — 25 10
BK Häcken 2020 Damallsvenskan 19 8 1 3 — 2 0 22 11
2021 21 17 5 6 — 7 4 33 27
Total 40 25 6 9 0 0 9 4 55 38
Arsenal 2021–22 WSL 11 6 2 1 1 0 2 0 16 7
2022–23 22 8 2 2 3 2 12 6 39 18
2023–24 9 4 1 1 3 5 2 1 15 11
Total 42 18 5 4 7 7 16 7 70 34
Career total 259 173 39 38 7 7 35 12 340 230
  1. ^ Svenska Cupen and Coupe de France
  2. ^ FA Women's League Cup
  3. ^ Champions League

International

As of match played 5 December 2023[2]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2015 1 0
2016 12 3
2017 17 2
2018 10 5
2019 14 4
2020 4 0
2021 14 8
2022 14 6
2023 17 2
Total 103 30
As of match played 5 December 2023
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Blackstenius goal.
List of international goals scored by Stina Blackstenius
No. Date Cap Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 8 April 2016 5 NTC Poprad, Poprad, Slovakia  Slovakia 3–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 2017 qualifying
2 12 August 2016 10 Mané Garrincha, Brasília, Brazil  United States 1–0 1–1 (4–3 p) 2016 Summer Olympics
3 19 August 2016 12 Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil  Germany 1–2 1–2 2016 Summer Olympics
4 21 July 2017 25 De Adelaarshorst, Deventer, Netherlands  Russia 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 2017
5 25 July 2017 26 De Vijverberg, Doetinchem, Netherlands  Italy 2–2 2–3 UEFA Euro 2017
6 28 February 2018 32 Estádio Municipal Bela Vista, Parchal, Portugal  Canada 3–1 3–1 2018 Algarve Cup
7 2 March 2018 33 Estádio Municipal Bela Vista, Parchal, Portugal  South Korea 1–0 1–1 2018 Algarve Cup
8 5 April 2018 34 Haladás Sportkomplexum, Szombathely, Hungary  Hungary 3–1 4–1 2019 FIFA World Cup qualification
9 7 June 2018 35 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Croatia 1–0 4–0 2019 FIFA World Cup qualification
10 3–0
11 24 June 2019 47 Parc des Princes, Paris, France  Canada 1–0 1–0 2019 FIFA World Cup
12 29 June 2019 48 Roazhon Park, Rennes, France  Germany 2–1 2–1 2019 FIFA World Cup
13 8 October 2019 53 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Slovakia 5–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying
14 6–0
15 13 April 2021 62 Stadion Widzewa, Łódź, Poland  Poland 1–1 4–2 Friendly
16 2–1
17 10 June 2021 63 Guldfågeln Arena, Kalmar, Sweden  Norway 1–0 1–0 Friendly
18 21 July 2021 65 Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu, Japan  United States 1–0 3–0 2020 Summer Olympics
19 2–0
20 24 July 2021 66 Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan  Australia 4–2 4–2 2020 Summer Olympics
21 30 July 2021 67 Saitama Stadium, Saitama, Japan  Japan 2–1 3–1 2020 Summer Olympics
22 6 August 2021 69 International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan  Canada 1–0 1–1 (2–3 p) 2020 Summer Olympics
23 20 February 2022 73 Estádio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal  Portugal 4–0 4–0 2022 Algarve Cup
24 7 April 2022 75 Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium, Gori, Georgia  Georgia 3–0 15–0 2023 FIFA World Cup qualification
25 5–0
26 28 June 2022 77 Nationalarenan, Stockholm, Sweden  Brazil 3–1 3–1 Friendly
27 17 July 2022 80 Leigh Sports Village, Manchester, England  Portugal 5–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 2022
28 6 September 2022 83 Tampere Stadium, Tampere, Finland  Finland 1–0 5–0 2023 FIFA World Cup qualification
29 29 July 2023 92 Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand  Italy 3–0 5–0 2023 FIFA World Cup
30 5 December 2023 103 La Rosaleda Stadium, Málaga, Spain  Spain 3–1 3–5 2023–24 UEFA Nations League

Honours

Linköping

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC

Arsenal

Sweden U17

Sweden U19

Sweden

Individual

References

  1. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 – Squad List: Sweden (SWE)" (PDF). FIFA. 11 July 2023. p. 28. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Stina Blackstenius – Spelarstatistik" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Stina Blackstenius - Lagstatistik". www.lagstatistik.se.
  4. ^ "Supertalang klar för LFC" (in Swedish). Linköping FC. 27 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ^ Johansson, Maja. "Sveriges 30 största talanger listas" (in Swedish). Damfotboll.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Sweden's Stina Blackstenius signs three-year deal with Montpellier". Excelle Sport. 3 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Feuille de match | MHSC Foot , billetterie Montpellier Hérault, mhsc match, match Montpellier, led publicitaire, panneau publicitaire led". www.mhscfoot.com.
  8. ^ "Stina Blackstenius: the Sweden striker who came in from the cold". The Guardian. 2 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Stina Blackstenius is back!". Linköpings Fotboll Club (in Swedish). 30 January 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Klubbarna i tvist om landslagsstjärnan". Aftonbladet (in Swedish).
  11. ^ "BK Häcken FF - Eskilstuna United DFF - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.sehttps (in Swedish).
  12. ^ a b "2021 Damallsvenskan Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish).
  13. ^ "Ballon d'Or Feminin 2021 Power Rankings". www.goal.com.
  14. ^ "Blackstenius lämnar BK Häcken". BK Häcken (in Swedish).
  15. ^ "Stina Blackstenius joins the club". Arsenal.
  16. ^ "Manchester United's Alessia Russo ends Arsenal hopes in Women's League Cup". The Guardian. 19 January 2022.
  17. ^ Gibson, Aidan (5 February 2022). "Arsenal Women 1-1 Manchester United: Blackstenius rescues point for 10-player Gunners". The Short Fuse. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Stina Blackstenius And Kim Little On Target As Arsenal Come From Behind To Beat Chelsea In Conti Cup Final". www.eurosport.com. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  19. ^ VAVEL.com (24 January 2024). "Reading 0-6 Arsenal: Blackstenius bags hattrick in dominant Gunners display". VAVEL. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Blackstenius crowned WU19 EURO top scorer". UEFA. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  21. ^ Smith, Chris (12 August 2016). "US women's national team crash out on penalties after Sweden hold their nerve". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Silver medal to Sweden's football team in Rio". sverigesradio.se. 20 August 2016. Archived from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Stina Blackstenius gives Sweden last-16 women's World Cup victory over Canada". Times of India. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  24. ^ "Stina Blackstenius sends Sweden past Germany and into World Cup semi-final". The Guardian. 29 June 2019. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  25. ^ Edwards, Luke (29 June 2019). "Sweden come from behind to knock out Germany and reach World Cup semi-final". The Telegraph UK. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  26. ^ "Football: Stina Blackstenius leads Sweden bid for Olympic gold". Tokyo 2020.
  27. ^ "Canada beat Sweden on penalties to win women's football gold at Tokyo Olympics". The Independent. 6 August 2021. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
  28. ^ "Sveriges EM-trupp 2022". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). SvFF. 7 June 2022.
  29. ^ "Netherlands 1-1 Sweden: Women's Euro 2022 Group C – as it happened". The Guardian. 9 July 2022.
  30. ^ "Sweden-Portugal | UEFA Women's EURO 2022". UEFA.com.
  31. ^ "England 4-0 Sweden: Hosts storm into Women's EURO Wembley final". UEFA.com. 26 July 2022.
  32. ^ "Sweden veteran Seger to play at fifth World Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  33. ^ "Ilestedt and Blackstenius score in big Swedish win". arsenal.com. 30 July 2023.
  34. ^ "Landslagsstjärnans lillasyster gör succé". Expressen. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  35. ^ "Stina drömde aldrig om landslaget – Motala Vadstena Tidning". mvt.se (in Swedish).
  36. ^ EKWALL MEETS: Stina Blackstenius (English subtitles), retrieved 4 August 2023
  37. ^ "Stina Blackstenius - Soccerway profile". int.soccerway.com.
  38. ^ Sanders, Emma (5 March 2023). "Arsenal 3–1 Chelsea: Gunners fight back to win Women's League Cup final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  39. ^ Sinnott, John (6 July 2019). "Sweden secures bronze medal after narrow win over England". CNN. Retrieved 2 August 2021.

External links

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