Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir (born 27 June 1995) is an Icelandic 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

both

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and the Iceland national team. She started her career with HK/ Víkingur, Horsens SIK, and

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

. She moved to Sweden in 2015, first playing for Eskilstuna United and then

FC Rosengård FC Rosengård (), known as Malmö FF Dam () until 2007 and later LdB FC Malmö until 2013, is a professional football club based in Malmö, Scania, Sweden. The team was established as Malmö FF Dam in 1970. It started out with playing 7 seasons ...

. With Rosengård, she won one

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

title and two

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, 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 ...

trophies. She then moved to Bayern Munich, where she has won three consecutive

titles. Glódís Perla is a three-time Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year winner and one-time

Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year The Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year () is an annual award given to the best Icelandic sportsperson of the year. The winner is selected by the Icelandic Association of Sports Journalists. It was first given in 1956 to the triple jumper Vilhjálm ...

. In 2024, she became the frst Icelandic player to be nominated for the

Ballon d'Or Féminin The Ballon d'Or Féminin (), also known as the Women's Ballon d'Or, is an association football award presented by ''France Football'' that honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. Overview The Ballon d'Or ...

Club career

HK/Víkingur (2009–2011)

Glódís Perla played youth football in Denmark with Egebjerg EIF before moving to her first senior club, HK/ Víkingur, in 2009. She was a productive scorer for HK/Víkingur, managing to net 14 goals in 17 league appearances with the team while playing as a striker.

Stjarnan (2012–2015)

She had a short, three-month stint with Horsens SIK in Denmark before heading back to Iceland and joining

for the 2012 season. With Stjarnan, Glódís Perla won two

Besta deild kvenna The Besta deild kvenna () is the top-tier women's football league in Iceland. It features 10 teams that play a double round robin to decide the champion, which qualifies for a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The 2022 season was the f ...

titles across four years.

Eskilstuna United (2015–2017)

In November 2014, Glódís Perla signed in

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 ...

for

club Eskilstuna United, where she played between 2015 and 2017. After her first season with the club, in which she played every single minute of the campaign, Eskilstuna and Glódís Perla agreed on a one-year contract extension. She later helped contribute to Eskilstuna United's run in the

2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 16th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 8th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was held at the Card ...

, where they reached the Round of 16. She started all 11 matches in 2017 before ultimately departing.

FC Rosengård (2017–2021)

In July 2017, Glódís Perla moved clubs and signed for one Eskilstuna's competitors,

. She had prior familiarity with the club, having attended Rosengård training camps at ages 16 and 17. With center backs

Emma Berglund Emma Sofia Berglund (born 19 December 1988) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a defender. Club career Berglund joined Umeå IK in 2006 and later captained the team. She left Umeå after the 2014 season to sign with Damallsvenskan c ...

and

Amanda Ilestedt Amanda Ilestedt (; born 17 January 1993) is a Swedish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Women's Super League, Women's Super League club Arsenal WFC, Arsenal and the Sweden ...

having previously moved on from Rosengård, Glódís Perla was able to cement herself as an important figure in the team. Her play earned her a contract extension in 2018, and she re-signed for two more seasons. In 2019, she helped Rosengård win the Damallsvenskan title. In 2020, Rosengård finished second overall in the league and secured qualification for the

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

. Earlier on in the year, Glódís Perla had helped the team start the season on a good note, scoring the lone goal against

Kristianstad Kristianstad ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 41,198 inhabitants in 2023. Since the 1990s, the city has gone from being a garrison town to a developed commercial city, ...

to give Rosengård their second win in as many games. An example of consistency, she ended up not missing a single club match for the first three years of her tenure, starting 57 in a row. At the end of 2020, she was nominated for the Damallsvenskan's Defender of the Year award, but the accolade was instead won by Kopparbergs/Goeteborg player Natalia Kuikka. However, Glódís Perla still was able to secure a spot on the Damallsvenskan team of the season, along with five of her teammates. She played her final Rosengård match on 9 July 2021. In her five years at Rosengård, Glódís Perla had appeared for the team in 89 league matches and scored 10 goals.

Bayern Munich (2021–present)

In July 2021, Glódís Perla signed with

of the

, inking a three-year contract in the midst of her sixth professional season. Although she had previously heard negative stories about Bayern, a chat with Icelandic teammate Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir assuaged her concerns. She made her Bayern debut in the club's season-opener, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Sarah Zadrazil Sarah Zadrazil (born 19 February 1993) is an Austrian Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for German club FC Bayern Munich (women), Bayern Munich and the Austria women's national football team, Austria national team. With ...

in an eventual 8–0 victory over

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

. On 12 September 2021, she scored her first Frauen-Bundesliga goal in a win over

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

. The following season, Bayern Munich hired manager Alexander Straus, whom Glódís Perla has expressed helped her perform better than the year prior. She earned her first trophy at the club by winning the

2022–23 Frauen-Bundesliga The 2022–23 season of the Frauen-Bundesliga was the 33rd season of Germany's premier women's football league. It ran from 16 September 2022 to 28 May 2023. The fixtures were announced on 5 July 2022. Bayern Munich won their fourth title, while ...

, capping off a season in which she played every single minute of Bayern's campaign. Ahead of the 2023–24 season, she was named club captain (a position which had been held for three years prior by

Lina Magull Lina Marie Magull (born 15 August 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan. She represented the Germany national team until 2024, scoring 22 goals in 77 caps. Club career Youth career Lina ...

) and extended her contract until 2026. In 2023–24, she was a key contributor as Bayern won their second Frauen-Bundesliga in a row. The team repeated the feat in the following season, securing the title in the third-to-last match of the season. During the game, Glódís Perla scored once as Bayern beat

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, 3–1, to ensure that the title would end up in their hands. Once again, she did not miss a single game of the season as Bayern also finished second in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

International career

Glódís Perla played for multiple Icelandic youth national teams, one of which she has captained. It was at the under-17 level that she was fully converted into a centre-back after playing as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and forward for HK/Víkingur. In July 2012, Glódís Perla received her first call-up to the Icelandic senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. On 4 August 2012, she made her senior international debut in Iceland's 1–1 friendly draw with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Cappielow Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

. She was called up to be part of the national team for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

. Glódís Perla was also a member of Iceland's team in the 2017 Women's Euro. While she expressed excitement and balance among the team leading up to the tournament, Iceland lost their opening match 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 a slim defeat and were beaten in each of their other two fixtures, resulting in their elimination from the group. On 11 June 2018, she scored her first international brace against Slovenia as part of Iceland's

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process decided all 24 teams which played in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the hosts France women's national football team, France qualifying automatically. It is the eighth FIFA Women's World ...

journey. Glódís Perla was included in Iceland's squad for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

. She started in all three matches as Iceland posted three 1–1 draws, staying undefeated but failing to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament. On 7 April 2022, she played her 100th match for Iceland in a 5–0 win over

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

in the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification process determined 30 of the 32 teams which will play in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, with the co-hosts Australia women's national soccer team, Australia and New Zealand women's national football ...

. At the end of 2022, she was named Iceland's Footballer of the Year, beating teammate Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir. Glódís Perla would go on to win the award in 2023 and 2024 as well, setting a three-year streak. In 2024, Glódís Perla received multiple other honors in addition to the Icelandic Footballer of the Year, as she was named the

and nominated for the

. She became the first Icelandic women's footballer to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or. Despite not winning, she was also the highest-voted centre-back. In July 2024, Glódís Perla played in a 3–0 win over

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 ...

and executed a key goal-line clearance in the second half. The result, Iceland's first-ever win against the Germans, sealed their spot in the

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

. When the Euros rolled around the following summer, Glódís Perla was called up to the Iceland squad, marking her fourth Euro tournament since her arrival onto the national team. In the opening game of the competition, a match against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, she went down for treatment in the first half of the game before being substituted off during halftime. After the conclusion of the game, which ended as a 1–0 win for Finland, Glódís Perla revealed that her absence was caused by

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

Style of play

Glódís Perla plays primarily as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for both club and country, although she was a

at the start of her career. She has been described by ''

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's'' Bill Connelly as a "do-everything defender". As a captain for both Bayern Munich and Iceland, Glódís Perla has been recognized for her leadership qualities. She is also known for her aerial presence, physical strength, capabilities in build-up play, and calmness on the field. Glódís Perla has also been touted for her experience from a young age, having already received 25 international caps at the age of 19.

Personal life

Born in

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

, Iceland, Glódís Perla grew up in

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

. She dabbled in multiple sports as a child, including

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

and

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

, before focusing completely on football at age 16. After graduating from the Reykjavík Women's College, she studied at the

University of Akureyri The University of Akureyri ( , regionally also ) was founded in 1987 in the town of Akureyri in the northeastern part of Iceland. It is today a school of Humanities and Social science, and a school of Health, Business and Natural science. Over 280 ...

. She graduated from Akureyri with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

the day after scoring a brace against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

in a 2019 World Cup qualifier. Glódís Perla is also a certified

personal trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, providing m ...

and enjoys playing the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

in her spare time.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first.

Honours

Stjarnan *

Icelandic Women's Cup The Icelandic Women's Football Cup () is the national women's football cup competition in Iceland. The first edition of the cup was played out in 1981. List of finals The list of finals: By team See also *Icelandic Men's Football Cup Refer ...

: 2012 * Icelandic Women's Football League Cup: 2013 * Icelandic Women's Super Cup: 2012 FC Rosengård *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: 2017, 2018 Bayern Munich *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2023–24, 2024–25 *

: 2024–25 *

DFB-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Footbal ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year: 2022, 2023, 2024 *

: 2024 *

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

: 2025

References

External links