Andreas Granqvist (; born 16 April 1985) is a Swedish former 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 ...

who played as a centre-back. He currently serves as the director of sports of

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish first tier, Allsvenskan, following promotion in the 2021 Superett ...

. Starting his career with Helsingborgs IF in the mid-2000s, he went on to play for clubs in England, the Netherlands, Italy, and Russia before retiring at Helsingborg in 2021. A full international between 2006 and 2021, he won 88

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Sweden national team and represented his country at four

UEFA European Championships The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He captained the national team between 2016 and 2021. However, due to injuries, he played his last international match in 2019. He was awarded

Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and between 1946 to 1965 it was ...

(''the Golden Ball''), given to the Swedish player of the year, in 2017.

Club career

Born in Påarp, Granqvist started his career with his local club, Påarps GIF. He later transferred to

and he made his debut in Allsvenskan, 2004. Two years later he was team captain, when the club won its third Swedish Cup title, beating

Gefle IF Gefle Idrottsförening, also known simply as Gefle IF, Gefle (, as if spelled ''Gävle''), or locally Gif (), are a Swedish professional football club based in Gävle. The club is affiliated with Gestriklands Fotbollförbund and play their home ...

with 2–0. The victorious Helsingborg side also contained Swedish internationals Henrik Larsson and

Andreas Jakobsson Bo Janne Andreas Jakobsson (born 6 October 1972) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender and defensive midfielder. Starting off his professional career with Landskrona BoIS in 1990, he went on to also represent He ...

as well as former Hibernian goalkeeper Daniel Andersson. In January 2007, he completed a loan move to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. On 19 June 2007, he signed a two-year deal with Wigan, for a fee reported to be around £750,000. On 12 March 2008, he returned to Helsingborg on a loan deal until the end of the English season in June. On 9 July 2008, Granqvist signed a four-year contract with Dutch club, Groningen, with Wigan receiving a fee of around £600,000. On 13 September 2008, he scored after a 65-metre solo run, a remarkable feat, which he again managed to accomplish in the last match of the regular season on 10 May 2009. On 15 June 2011, Groningen sold Granqvist to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

for €2 million. The Swedish international has signed a four-year contract with the Italian club. On 16 August 2013, Granqvist moved from Genoa to

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 ...

side

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

. On 28 January 2018, it was announced that Granqvist would return to

after the World Cup. He would join the club on a 3.5-year player contract that would be followed by a three-year term as the director of sports for the club. He officially played his farewell game for Krasnodar on 13 May 2018. Granqvist officially retired on 17 July 2021, having played in 6 leagues; Allsvenskan,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

and Superettan, never playing for 2 clubs in one country. He said that he wanted to continue, but his body wasn't feeling it. He continued working at Helsingborg IF as the director of sports.

International career

Granqvist played for the Swedish national team, and, in May 2008, he was included in Sweden's 23-man squad 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 football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. He was an unused substitute in all three of Sweden's games. In 2011, he played in the finals of the

Cyprus International Football Tournament The Cyprus International Football Tournament was an annual winter association football friendly competition for national teams that takes place in Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of C ...

, but Sweden lost to Ukraine. On 6 July 2016 Granqvist was appointed captain of Sweden by the new manager Janne Andersson. Granqvist succeeded

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 ...

after the latter's retirement from the national team following

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 football championship of Europe ...

. In May 2018 he was named in the 23-man Sweden squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He captained the team for their opening World Cup fixture against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

on 18 June 2018. Over the course of the match he provided several long balls over the top which posed a threat to the South Korean defenders. In the 65th minute he scored the only goal of the game, calmly slotting home from the penalty spot. He was given the

Player of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award. Nine days later he scored another penalty, the second goal in a 3–0 win over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

which meant Sweden qualified for the next round and topped the group. Overall, Granqvist played a full 90 minutes in all games as Sweden were eliminated by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the quarter final. In May 2021, Granqvist was somewhat controversially included in Sweden's 26-man squad for the postponed

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 ...

, since he had not made an appearance for the national team for nearly two years due to ongoing injury problems.

Personal life

Granqvist goes by the nickname ; ),Andreas Granqvist med i EM-truppen
svt.se. originating from his last name which means " spruce twig".grankvist
Svenska Akademiens Ordlista Granqvist became a father for a second time after his wife Sofie gave birth in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

on 6 July 2018, while he was with the Sweden team at the World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Sweden's score is listed first, and the score column indicates the score after each Granqvist goal.''

Honours

Helsingborgs IF * Superettan:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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 ...

: 2006 Individual *

: 2017 * Fotbollsgalan Best Defender: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 * FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team:

References

External links

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archive
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archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Granqvist, Andreas 1985 births Living people People from Helsingborg Municipality Swedish footballers Helsingborgs IF players Wigan Athletic F.C. players FC Groningen players Genoa C.F.C. players FC Krasnodar players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Premier League players Eredivisie players Serie A players Russian Premier League players Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers UEFA Euro 2008 players UEFA Euro 2012 players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Swedish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Russia Footballers from Helsingborg Men's association football defenders Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Russia