Viktor Johan Anton Claesson (; born 2 January 1992) is a Swedish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a winger for the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

club

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and the Sweden national team. He is known for his passing and set piece abilities.

Club career

Early career

Claesson started his career with local club

IFK Värnamo IFK Värnamo is a Swedish football club located in Värnamo. The club plays in the Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. The most famous player from the club is Jonas Thern, who was captain of the Swedish national football team when the ...

. After progressing through the youth ranks, he made his senior debut in 2009 in a

Division 1 Södra Ettan Fotboll, or simply Ettan ( en, the one), which also is its common name in everyday speech, is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden ...

match. After a breakthrough campaign during the

2011 Superettan Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

season, Claesson join

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

in the

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

, the top division of Swedish football.

Krasnodar

On 25 January 2017, Claesson signed a 3.5-year contract with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

team

FC Krasnodar FC Krasnodar is a Russian professional football club based in Krasnodar that plays in the Russian Premier League. The club was founded in 2008. In 2009, the club was promoted to the Russian First Division, the second highest division of the Ru ...

. He scored on his debut on 16 February 2017 in a 1–0 Europa League Round of 32 win against Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side Fenerbahçe, scoring a header on his first touch in any competitive Krasnodar game in the 4th minute. He was selected by UEFA as "Man of the Match". He continued his form with two goals in a Russian Cup game against

FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast FC Ural Yekaterinburg (russian: ФК Урал) is a Russian association football club based in Yekaterinburg. They play in the Russian Premier League. History The club was founded in 1930 and was known as Avangard (1930–1948, 1953–1957), Ze ...

on 28 February 2017 and a goal against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

in the first leg of Europa League Round of 16 on 9 March 2017. Claesson missed all of the 2019–20 season with a serious knee injury.

2020–21 season

Out of action for over 14 months, Claesson returned from injury on 18 August 2020, playing the last 15 minutes of Krasnodar's 2–0 home win over Arsenal Tula in the

. On 18 September, he scored his first two goals since his return from injury in a 7–2 thrashing of

Khimki Khimki ( rus, Химки, p=ˈxʲimkʲɪ) is a city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, 18.25 kilometres northwest of central Moscow, and immediately beyond the Moscow city boundary. History Origins and formation Khimki was initially a railway station tha ...

. Four days later, Claesson scored from the penalty spot in the club's first-leg

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

match against PAOK for qualification to the group stage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

. Krasnodar would win the second leg against PAOK by the same scoreline and secure progression to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

2021–22 season

On 3 March 2022, following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Krasnodar announced that his contract is suspended and he will not train with the team, but the contract is not terminated and remains valid. On 5 March 2022, his contract was terminated and he was released from the club.

Copenhagen

On 30 March 2022, Claesson signed with

in Denmark until the end of the season. On 3 April, he scored the winning goal in his debut match for the club after coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute. On 16 June 2022, Claesson signed an extension with Copenhagen until 2026.

International career

In May 2018, Claesson was named in Sweden’s 23 man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. He was one of Sweden's main men for the duration of the tournament, in which the Blågult reached the quarterfinals. In a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

on 10 June 2019, Claesson suffered a serious knee injury, rupturing the cruciate knee ligaments, after a clash with

Jordi Alba Jordi Alba Ramos (born 21 March 1989) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is often regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation. Alba started his ...

. He was named in Sweden's

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

squad, and appeared in all four games as Sweden was eliminated in the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He scored the winning goal in a 3–2 win against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

in the group stage.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Claesson goal.''

Honours

Elfsborg *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 2013–14 Copenhagen *

: 2021–22 Sweden *

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual * Swedish Midfielder of the Year: 2018 * Stor Grabb: 2018 *

Best Left Winger: 2018–19

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Claesson, Viktor 1992 births Living people People from Värnamo Municipality Swedish footballers Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Sweden youth international footballers Association football midfielders Ettan Fotboll players Superettan players Allsvenskan players IFK Värnamo players IF Elfsborg players Russian Premier League players FC Krasnodar players F.C. Copenhagen players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Swedish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Russia Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate footballers in Denmark Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Sportspeople from Jönköping County