Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson (born 18 February 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and the Iceland national team. He has also previously played for

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

, Nordsjælland, KR Reykjavik and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Family

Rúnar Alex is the son of Rúnar Kristinsson, a former professional footballer.

Club career

Rúnar Alex was player of the season for

FC Nordsjælland Football Club Nordsjælland, commonly known as FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland () or FCN, is a professional Danish association football, football team from the North Zealand town of Farum. Founded as ''Farum Boldklub'' from the merger of the to ...

in the 2017–18 Danish Superliga. In June 2018, Rúnar Alex joined French side

on a four-year agreement.

Arsenal

On 21 September 2020, Rúnar Alex signed for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

on a four-year deal. He chose the number 13 at the club. Rúnar Alex made his debut for the club on 29 October 2020, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

win over

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

side

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

. Arsenal faced

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

quarter-finals on 22 December. With the score at 1–1, Rúnar Alex let

Riyad Mahrez Riyad Karim Mahrez (born 21 February 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli and captains the Algeria national team. He is regarded as one of the best African players of all time. Ma ...

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

slip through his arms to put Manchester City back in front. Arsenal lost the tie 4–1. After first choice goalkeeper

Bernd Leno Bernd Leno (born 4 March 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fulham. Early and personal life Bernd Leno was born on 4 March 1992 in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Baden-Württemberg. His father is Russian-Germ ...

was sent off against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on 2 February 2021, Rúnar Alex made his Premier League debut as a substitute for

Thomas Partey Thomas Teye Partey (born 13 June 1993) is a Ghanaian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and the Ghana national football team, Ghana national team. Partey began his ...

in a 2–1 away defeat.

Loan spells

On 31 August 2021, Rúnar Alex joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

club

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 27 October 2021, Rúnar Alex made his first appearance of the season for OH Leuven in their 2–1

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

win over

Lierse Kempenzonen Koninklijke Lierse Sportkring is a Belgian association football club located in Lier, in the province of Antwerp. The club, founded in 1943 as Oosterzonen in Oosterwijk, was relocated to Lier following the bankruptcy of Lierse in 2018. Afte ...

, with his league debut coming one month later on 26 November 2021 in a 1–3 away win to league leaders Union SG. On 15 August 2022, Arsenal announced that Rúnar Alex was loaned to

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

side

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

. On 18 August 2023, Rúnar Alex joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on a season long loan. He was recalled on 1 February 2024 to Arsenal, where he was released on a free by mutual termination.

Copenhagen

Rúnar Alex made the move to Danish side

on 1 February 2024 via a free transfer.

International career

Having previously represented his country at youth level, Rúnar Alex was called up to the senior Iceland squad for the 2017 China Cup, where the team became the silver medalist He earned his first senior

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in a friendly against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

on 9 November 2017. In May 2018, he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the

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

in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Copenhagen *

: 2024–25 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Runarsson, Runar 1995 births Living people Footballers from Reykjavík Runar Alex Runarsson Men's association football goalkeepers Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur players FC Nordsjælland players Dijon FCO players Arsenal F.C. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players Alanyaspor footballers Cardiff City F.C. players F.C. Copenhagen players Danish Superliga players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Belgian Pro League players Süper Lig players Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson 2018 FIFA World Cup players Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson Runar Alex Runarsson Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Wales English Football League players Iceland men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Icelandic sportsmen