Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

award given by ''

Aftonbladet ''Aftonbladet'' (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish daily newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan H ...

'' and the

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association ( sv, Svenska Fotbollförbundet, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women – and the men's and women's nati ...

to the best male Swedish footballer each year.

History

The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was awarded in cooperation with '' Stockholms-Tidningen''. The first Guldbollen award was given in 1946 to

Gunnar Gren Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and A.C. Milan. A creative forward, known for his technical skill, vision, ta ...

. In 1973,

Bo Larsson Bo-Göran "Bosse" Larsson (born 5 May 1944) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Best remembered for his time with Malmö FF, he also represented VfB Stuttgart and Trelleborgs FF during his caree ...

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

became the first player to win the award for a second time, having previously won it in 1965.

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

is the only player to win the award more than twice, winning it twelve times between 2005 and 2020. The female equivalent of the award,

Diamantbollen Diamantbollen, Swedish for the ''Diamond Ball'', an annual award for Sweden's best female football player. The award is currently awarded by the Swedish Football Association and Sydsvenskans newspaper, in conjunction with its male equivalent, ''Gu ...

, was established in 1990. Both Guldbollen and Diamantbollen are now awarded at the

Fotbollsgalan Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association and televised by TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to: *TV4 (Poland), a private Polish televi ...

Winners

Source:

By club

References

External links

{{National Footballer of the Year 1946 establishments in Sweden European football trophies and awards Awards established in 1946 Football in Sweden Swedish sports trophies and awards Annual events in Sweden