Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (; born 16 July 1948) is a Swedish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former player who currently serves as an advisor for the

Iceland national football team The Iceland national football team () represents Iceland in men's international Association football, football. The team is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland, and have been a FIFA member since 1947 and a UEFA member since 1957. ...

. Lagerbäck has managed a number of national teams prior to his current position. He managed the Sweden national team from 1998 until 2009, leading Sweden to five consecutive tournaments. He resigned as manager in 2009, after Sweden failed to qualify for the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. After a short stint as manager of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, he led Iceland to unprecedented success as they qualified for their first finals competition,

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

, and reached the quarter-finals, beating

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the last 16. Apart from his coaching duties, Lagerbäck has in recent years been a pundit for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

broadcasting on Swedish television. He currently holds the record for managing a team in the finals of the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

s with four appearances.

Playing career

Born in

Katrineholm Katrineholm (pronunciation: or ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 24,271 inhabitants in 2018. It is located in the inland of Södermanland and is the third largest ur ...

and raised in Ovansjö,

Medelpad Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northe ...

, in his youth, Lagerbäck played for Alby FF. When he was 13 years old, he began playing for their P16 team. After completing his upper secondary school studies at the end of the 1960s, Lagerbäck studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Umeå University Umeå University (; Ume Sami language, Ume Sami: ) is a public university, public research university located in Umeå, in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present bord ...

in northern Sweden. On the side of his studies, he also played football for Gimonäs CK under the guidance of Calle Lindelöf. He continued to play there until 1974 and worked as a club clerk from 1970. Over the course of the following years, he played twice for the club in the qualifying rounds to division two in the Swedish League without success. Lagerbäck himself played midfielder, but was often an unused substitute. In 1974, he attended the

Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (, GIH) in Stockholm is a Swedish institution offering higher education in the fields of teaching profession in Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools w ...

, where he was a classmate of current assistant coach Roland Andersson.

Managing career

Club-level

In 1977, he was called up to the senior team. It was former teammate Kjell Pettersson that recommended him to Kilafors. He coached the Division IV team until 1982. In 1983, he moved to Arbrå IK until 1985. In 1987, he took over Hudiksvall ABK but left in 1989.

Sweden

In 1990, Lagerbäck took a job with the

Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a ...

. He began as a coach for the junior levels which included

Freddie Ljungberg Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg ( ; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. He is also a former Manager (association football), manager, and was most recent ...

. He helped Tommy Svensson and

Tord Grip Tord Erland Grip (born 13 January 1938) is a Swedish former association football, football coach and Football player, player. He has worked with several national teams, including England national football team, England, Sweden men's national foot ...

with the Sweden national team. In 1996, Lagerbäck took over the Sweden B national team, until 1997. In 1998, Tommy Söderberg chose him to be the assistant coach for the Sweden national team. In 2000, he was promoted to dual-coach, a responsibility he shared with Söderberg until 2004. Under their guidance, the Sweden national team qualified for

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

but was eliminated in the group stages. In 2002, they led Sweden to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, where Sweden were drawn in the 'group of death', together with

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

. Sweden won the group but subsequently lost against

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in the first knockout round. In 2004, Sweden qualified for their third straight championship. At

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

, Sweden made it to the quarter-finals where they lost to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. That same year, Tommy Söderberg left the Sweden national team to coach the Sweden U21 team. After the departure of Söderberg, Lagerbäck appointed Roland Andersson as assistant coach. In 2006, Lagerbäck took Sweden to their fourth consecutive championship, the first time in Swedish history. He led Sweden to the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

, losing against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

2–0 in the knockout stage. Under Lagerbäck, Sweden also qualified for

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

, however they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 2–0 against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The team's early dismissal from the tournament led sport columnists to ask Lagerbäck to be sacked. Despite this, he signed an extension, which kept him until the end of the

campaign. After Sweden's unsuccessful qualification campaign, Lagerbäck resigned and was replaced by

Erik Hamrén Erik Anders Hamrén (born 27 June 1957) is a Swedish manager and former football player, who most recently was the manager of Danish Superliga club AaB. He also previously coached the Sweden national team between 2009 and 2016 and the Iceland ...

Iceland

On 4 October 2011, KSÍ's chief executive Geir Þorsteinsson reported that talks had begun over the appointment of Lagerbäck as the new manager of the Icelandic national team. The appointment was then confirmed ten days later. Under Lagerbäck, Iceland qualified for the play-off stage of the qualification tournament for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, but

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

were the victors over two legs. Shortly thereafter Lagerbäck signed a new contract, this time as joint manager with his former Iceland assistant

Heimir Hallgrímsson Heimir Hallgrímsson (born 10 June 1967) is an Icelandic professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Republic of Ireland men's national team. Early life Heimir was born on 10 June 1967, and grew up in a ...

, who took over as sole manager with Lagerbäck's retirement following

, where Iceland famously reached the quarter-finals, beating

in the last 16. They went out to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the quarter-finals. Lagerbäck won 30 votes as a write-in candidate in the 2016 Icelandic presidential election. He was later (2020-2021) the technical advisor of the

Norway

On 1 February 2017, Lagerbäck was announced as the new manager for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, signing a contract lasting until the end of 2019. On 26 March, Lagerbäck took charge of his first game as manager of Norway, which resulted in a 2–0 defeat to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. His tenure as manager was considered somewhat mixed in terms of success. In December 2020, Lagerbäck was fired from his role as national team manager, being replaced by

Ståle Solbakken Ståle Solbakken (born 27 February 1968) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, an ...

Managerial statistics

As of 18 November 2020

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Honours

Manager

Sweden U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Runners-up Sweden * King's Cup: 2001, 2003 Nigeria *

WAFU Nations Cup The WAFU Nations Cup (also known as the WAFU Cup of Nations or simply the WAFU Cup) is an association football competition that is contested by representative teams of the West African Football Union. History A trophy was commissioned by Presiden ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

Lars Lagerbäck profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagerback, Lars 1948 births Living people Sportspeople from Katrineholm Footballers from Södermanland County Swedish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Umeå University alumni Swedish football managers Sweden men's national football team managers Nigeria national football team managers Iceland national football team managers Norway national football team managers UEFA Euro 2000 managers 2002 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 2004 managers 2006 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 2008 managers 2010 FIFA World Cup managers UEFA Euro 2016 managers Swedish expatriate football managers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate football managers in Nigeria Expatriate football managers in Iceland Expatriate football managers in Norway 20th-century Swedish sportsmen Gimonäs CK players