Hannes Þór Halldórsson (born 27 April 1984) is an Icelandic filmmaker and 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 ...

. He was a member of the Iceland national team where he was capped 77 times and appeared at

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 the

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

Club career

Iceland

Hannes played club football in Iceland for Leiknir, Afturelding,

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan, commonly known as Stjarnan, is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær.and in the top 10 in the World and they have won the Leagu ...

, Fram and KR. Hannes joined KR at the age of 5. He quit football at the age of 20 following a shoulder injury, before returning to the sport and joining third-tier Leiknir. Hannes started his career at Leiknir at a time when the team was in the fourth- and third tier of the Icelandic football league system. Hannes was let go from Leiknir in 2004 after making a number of serious mistakes in an important game that revolved around progressing to the second tier. During his time at Leiknir, Hannes sought to join Númi, which played in the Icelandic bottom tier, after struggling to get into the Leiknir first team, but the team rejected him. After leaving Leiknir, Hannes joined Afturelding, which played in the third tier. Early in his career, Hannes struggled with shoulder injuries. Hannes was known for poor kicking during his early career. In 2006, Hannes joined Stjarnan, which played in the second tier. He joined Fram, a first tier team, in 2007. Hannes said that at the time (in early 2005), he set a goal of becoming a goalkeeper for a team in the first tier in three years' time, and hoped to play abroad after that. He joined KR in 2011, winning the double with the team in his first season.

Out of Iceland

On 28 March 2012, Hannes joined Norwegian club

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann (commonly known as Brann, and less often as SK Brann) is a Norwegian professional football club, founded 26 September 1908, from Bergen. Brann had been in the Eliteserien, Norway's Premier Division of Football, since 1987, bar ...

on a short-term loan, as a cover for injured goalkeeper Piotr Leciejewski. In December 2013, Hannes joined Norwegian club

Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 1. divisjon, the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The cl ...

, having trained with the club in October 2013 as preparation for Iceland's World Cup playoff game against Croatia. He became a professional footballer in 2014. On 6 July 2015, Dutch

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 ...

club

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

announced they had signed Hannes on a two-year contract. On 15 July 2016, Danish club

Randers FC Randers FC () is a professional football club based in Randers, East Jutland, Denmark, that plays in the Danish Superliga, the top flight of the Danish football league system. Founded on 1 January 2003, the club builds upon the license of R ...

signed Hannes on a three-year contract. On 3 July 2018, Hannes signed a two-year contract with

Qarabağ FK Qarabağ Futbol Klubu, commonly known as Qarabağ () is an Azerbaijani professional football club, based in Baku, that competes in the Azerbaijan Premier League, the top flight of Azerbaijani football. The club originates from Aghdam but has ...

. On 5 April 2019, he left Qarabağ by mutual consent. Hannes had at that point become the third-choice goalkeeper at Qarabag.

Return to Iceland

On 9 April 2019, Icelandic club Valur signed Hannes on a four-year contract. Hannes cited family reasons and the four-year contract as reasons to return to the Icelandic top flight division. He left Valur on 11 November 2021. On 16 March 2022, Hannes announced his retirement from football. In June 2022, Hannes agreed to join Víkingur Reykjavík as backup goalkeeper following the injuries of Víkingur goalkeepers

Ingvar Jónsson Ingvar Jónsson (born 18 October 1989) is an Icelandic football goalkeeper who plays for Víkingur Reykjavík and the Iceland national team. He made his senior debut in 2014, earning 8 caps for Iceland and was selected for Euro 2016 as an un ...

and Uggi Auðunsson.

International career

FWC 2018 - Group D - ARG v ISL - Messi penalty kick

Hannes made his international debut for

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 ...

in 2011, keeping a clean sheet in a Euro 2012 qualifier against

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. At that time, Hannes was considered the main goalkeeper of the national team, after appearing in all twelve 2014 World Cup qualifiers for Iceland. Hannes was selected for

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 Iceland's first ever appearance in a major tournament. He made his first UEFA European Championship appearance in matchday 1 of

Group F Group F may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group F ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F ** 2014 FIF ...

versus

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

which ended in a 1–1 draw. Iceland eventually reached the

knockout phase 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 ...

after finishing runner-up behind

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

. Played on China Cup 2017, where Iceland won silver medals In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the

2018 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. On 16 June 2018, Hannes saved a penalty kick from Argentina's

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

in Iceland's first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

match, which ended in a 1–1 draw and Hannes being named

man 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 ...

. On 8 September 2021, Hannes announced his retirement from the national team after his 77th match.

Personal life

Hannes has worked as a film director when not playing football. He directed, amongst other things, Iceland's video for their entry to the

2012 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azer ...

. His employer before leaving to Norway to become a fully professional footballer,

Sagafilm Sagafilm is an Icelandic production company for TV, commercials and feature films. It was founded in 1978 and is the oldest film production company in Iceland. Documentaries *Out of Thin Air (2017) *Raise the bar (2021) Films *Fish out of water ...

, has promised him his job back when he returns to Iceland after his expatriate footballing career. Hannes directed a

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Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atla ...

, and his directional film debut ''

Cop Secret ''Cop Secret'' ( is, Leynilögga) is a 2021 Icelandic action comedy film directed by Hannes Þór Halldórsson from a screenplay that he co-wrote alongside Nína Pedersen and Sverrir Þór Sverrisson. The film stars Auðunn Blöndal, Egill Einar ...

''. In 2022, he directed an

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 football championship organised by U ...

advertisement for N1, featuring

Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir (born 27 June 1995) is an Icelandic footballer who plays as a defender for FC Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga and the Icelandic national team. Club career Glódís Perla played youth football in Denmark w ...

Career statistics

International

References

External links