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

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

football manager and former player, who is the technical director of the

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

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

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. After a short stint as manager of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, 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 football championship of Europe ...

, and reached the quarter-finals, beating

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

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 ...

and

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 competi ...

broadcasting on Swedish television. He currently holds the record for managing a team in the finals of the European Championships with four appearances.

Playing career

Born in Katrineholm 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 Northern ...

, 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, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Umeå University Umeå University ( sv, Umeå universitet; Ume Sami: ) is a 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 borders. As of 2 ...

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, 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 ( 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 nat ...

. 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 footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal. He began his career at Hal ...

. He helped

Tommy Svensson Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 1997 and ...

and

Tord Grip Tord Erland Grip (born 13 January 1938) is a Swedish former football coach and player. He has worked with several national teams, including England, Sweden, Indonesia, Mexico, the Ivory Coast and Kosovo. Playing career Grip began his football ca ...

with the Swedish national team. In 1996, Lagerbäck took over the Sweden B national team, until 1997. In 1998,

Tommy Söderberg Tommy Söderberg (born 19 August 1948) is a Swedish football manager and coach. Career As a manager, he won the Swedish league title with AIK in 1992. Later he went on to coach the Swedish U21 national team, and when Tommy Svensson left h ...

chose him to be the assistant coach for the Swedish national team. In 2000, he was promoted to dual-coach, a responsibility he shared with Söderberg until 2004. Under their guidance, the Swedish 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 wa ...

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 football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

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

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

. Sweden won the group but subsequently lost against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

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 football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

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

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. That same year, Tommy Söderberg left the Swedish national team to coach the 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, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

, losing against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

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

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. 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.

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, but

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

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, 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 primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the quarter-finals. Lagerbäck won 30 votes as a write-in candidate in the 2016 Icelandic presidential election.

Norway

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

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, 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 ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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 manager of the Norway national team. During his playing career, Solbakken was named 1995 Norwegian midfielder of the year, and h ...

Managerial statistics

As of 18 November 2020 Sweden

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

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 Runners-up Sweden * King's Cup: 2001, 2003 Nigeria * WAFU Nations Cup: 2010

References

External links

Lars Lagerbäck profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagerback, Lars 1948 births Swedish footballers Swedish football managers Sweden national football team managers Nigeria national football team managers Iceland national football team managers Norway national football team 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 Expatriate football managers in Nigeria Expatriate football managers in Iceland Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate football managers in Norway Umeå University alumni People from Katrineholm Municipality Living people UEFA Euro 2000 managers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Association football midfielders Sportspeople from Södermanland County