Håvard Nielsen (born 15 July 1993) is a Norwegian 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 forward for 2. Bundesliga club

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

. He played for the Norway national team.

Club career

Born in the Norwegian capital,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Nielsen grew up in the outer-city neighborhood of Oppsal. He began his career with the local club

Oppsal IF Oppsal Idrettsforening (founded on 4 August 1912 as ''Bryn Atletklubb'') is a multi-sports club from Oslo, Norway. The club has sections for basketball, football, handball, ice hockey, cross-country skiing, athletics and orienteering. The club's ...

, but signed for

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

in 2007, when he was 14 years old. On 5 October 2009, he made his debut in the

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

against

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

as the youngest ever Vålerenga player. In January 2011, he signed a three-year professional contract with Vålerenga. At the age of 18, Nielsen was already an experienced player and on 11 July 2012, he scored his first hat-trick for Vålerenga in the match against

Odd Grenland Odds Ballklubb, commonly known as Odd, is a Norwegian professional football club from Skien. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, founded in 1894 nine years after the club's founding. Most sports other than football and gymnast ...

. In July 2012, he signed a deal with Red Bull Salzburg. In January 2014, he went on loan to the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

Eintracht Braunschweig Braunschweiger Turn- und Sportverein Eintracht von 1895 e.V., commonly known as Eintracht Braunschweig () or BTSV (), is a German football and sports club based in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony. They compete in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier o ...

. On 26 January 2014 he made his debut in the German first tier, in a game against

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 ...

. The loan deal ended in June 2015 when he returned to Salzburg. In winter 2015 Nielsen moved to

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 ...

. In July 2017, after 1.5 seasons at Freiburg, Nielsen signed a three-year contract with 2. Bundesliga side

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fo ...

. He was loaned to

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jer ...

on 8 January 2019. On 26 July 2019, Nielsen joined 2. Bundesliga side Greuther Fürth, signing a two-year contract. Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Nielsen joined 2. Bundesliga club

on a two-year contract.

International career

Nielsen has played for a national team above his age since he was 16. He played all matches during the 2011 European Under-19 Championship qualification and scored one goal, when

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

advanced to the elite qualification. Nielsen made his debut for the senior Norwegian national team in 2012 as a teenager and since then he has played 11 times for the Norway national team and he is now a regular for Norway. He scored his first international goal for Norway at only 19 years of age, in November 2012, against Hungary in a friendly match. He scored his second goal for Norway in October 2014, in a European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nielsen goal.''

References

External links

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Profile
at VIF-Fotball.no {{DEFAULTSORT:Nielsen, Havard Living people 1993 births Footballers from Oslo Men's association football forwards Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Vålerenga Fotball players FC Red Bull Salzburg players Eintracht Braunschweig players SC Freiburg players Fortuna Düsseldorf players MSV Duisburg players SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Hannover 96 players Eliteserien players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen