Jakob Valdemar Olsson Johansson (born 21 June 1990) 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 le ...

who played as a defensive midfielder. Becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play in

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 ...

while at IFK Göteborg, he went on to represent AEK Athens and

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

before retiring at IFK Göteborg in 2021. A full international between 2013 and 2019, he won 18 caps for the Sweden national team and is best remembered for scoring the winning goal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying playoffs against Italy when Sweden qualified for their first FIFA World Cup in 12 years.

Club career

IFK Göteborg

Born in Trollhättan, Johansson's first club was Trollhättans BoIS. He was brought to IFK Göteborg, together with manager Jonas Olsson, from

FC Trollhättan FC Trollhättan is a Swedish football club located in Trollhättan currently playing in Division 1. Background The club was founded in 2001, when the old rivals Trollhättans IF and Trollhättans FK decided to merge. In their first league m ...

. On 27 June 2007, he became the first player born in the 1990s to have played in the top league of Sweden,

when he debuted for his IFK Göteborg.

AEK Athens

On 28 December 2014, Johansson signed a 3.5-year contract with AEK Athens. On 22 August 2015, he made his debut in

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

helping his team AEK win 3–0 against

Platanias Platanias (Greek: Πλατανιάς) is a village and municipality on the Greek island of Crete. It is located about west from the city of Chania and east of Kissamos, on Chania Bay. The seat of the municipality is the village Gerani. Platania ...

. On 22 November 2015, he scored his first season goal with a header in AEK Athens' away win against Panthrakikos. On 21 December 2015, the 15th matchday of the season, he again netted with a header giving his club the lead in 2–1 home defeat against

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Λεβαδειακός) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, afte ...

. He finished the 2015–16 season with seven goals, including a header against

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

in a 3–1 victory. Johansson started the 2016–17 season as a key player for the team in midfield. In the late days of July 2017 AEK made a last effort to extend Johansson's contract, which is set to expire on 30 June 2018. On 20 August 2017, he scored in the opening match of the season against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

, which ended as a 2–0 home win. Johansson started the 2017–18 season as a key player for the team in midfield.

Rennes

He signed for the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

in the summer of 2018.

Return to IFK Göteborg and retirement

In 2020, he return to IFK Göteborg after six years abroad. On 22 June 2021, after suffering many injuries in the latest years, he decided at the age of only 31 to retire from professional football, citing his injuries as the reason that obliged him to retire.

International career

Johansson made his international debut in a friendly against North Korea on 23 January 2013. He made his competitive debut in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against France on 11 November 2016. On 10 November 2017 the Swedes won against Italy 1–0 in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Second Round first leg at the

Friends Arena Nationalarenan, currently known as Friends Arena for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the City Centre, it is the biggest stadium in ...

, and the only goal coming when Jakob Johansson drilled home from 20 yards, via a Daniele De Rossi deflection. On 13 November 2017, in the game where Sweden held on to force a goalless draw in the second leg at the San Siro to defeat the Italians 1–0 on aggregate in their Russia 2018 World Cup play-off, Johansson faced an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for 11 months. Consequently, he also missed 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 ...

Style of play

Johansson was a box-to-box midfielder, with his stand-out features being his physical strength, marking, accurate passing and overall significance in build-up play.

Personal life

His older brother Rickard Johansson is a former goalkeeper.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals :''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.''

Honours

IFK Göteborg *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

* Svenska Cupen:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2019–20 AEK Athens *

: 2017–18 *

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

: 2014–15 (South Group) * Greek Cup: 2015–16 Rennes * Coupe de France: 2018–19 Individual *Årets ärkeängel (IFK Göteborg player of the year as decided by the supporters):

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johansson, Jakob 1990 births Living people People from Trollhättan Association football midfielders Swedish footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Sweden youth international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Sweden international footballers IFK Göteborg players FC Trollhättan players AEK Athens F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Allsvenskan players Super League Greece players Football League (Greece) players Ligue 1 players Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Sportspeople from Västra Götaland County