Andreas Granqvist (; born 16 April 1985) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.
Starting his career with Helsingborgs IF in the mid-2000s, he went on to play for several different clubs in various countries, such as England, the Netherlands, Italy, and Russia before retiring at hometown club Helsingborg in 2021.
A full international between 2006 and 2021, he won 88 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at four different UEFA European Championships as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He captained the national team between 2016 and 2021. However, due to injuries, he played his last international match in 2019.
He was awarded Guldbollen (the Golden Ball), given to the Swedish player of the year, in 2017.
Club career Born in Påarp, Sweden, Granqvist started his career with his local club, Påarps GIF. He later transferred to Helsingborgs IF and he made his debut in Allsvenskan, 2004. Two years later as team captain, the club won its third Swedish Cup title, defeating Gefle IF, 2–0. Others on the victorious Helsingborg side were Swedish internationals Henrik Larsson and Andreas Jakobsson as well as former Hibernian goalkeeper Daniel Andersson.
In January 2007, he completed a loan move to Wigan Athletic with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. On 19 June 2007, he signed a two-year deal with Wigan, for a fee reported to be around £750,000. On 12 March 2008, he returned to Helsingborg on a loan deal until the end of the English season in June.
On 9 July 2008, Granqvist signed a four-year contract with Dutch club, Groningen, with Wigan receiving a fee of around £600,000. On 13 September 2008, he scored after a 65-metre solo run, a remarkable feat, which he again managed to accomplish in the last match of the regular season on 10 May 2009.
On 15 June 2011, Groningen sold Granqvist to Genoa for €2 million. The Swedish international has signed a four-year contract with the Italian club.
On 16 August 2013, Granqvist moved from Genoa to Russian Premier League side Krasnodar.
On 28 January 2018, Helsingborgs IF announced that Granqvist would return following the World Cup. He would join the club on a 3.5-year player contract that would be followed by a three-year term as the director of sports for the club. He played his farewell game for Krasnodar on 13 May 2018.
Granqvist officially retired from professional football on 17 July 2021, having played in 6 leagues in 17 years as a professional footballer; Allsvenskan, Premier League, Eredivisie, Serie A, Russian Premier League and Superettan. He said that he wanted to continue, but his body was not feeling it. He continued at Helsingborg IF as the director of sports.
International career Granqvist played for the Swedish national team, and, in May 2008, he was included in Sweden's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2008. He was an unused substitute in all three of Sweden's games. In 2011, he played in the finals of the Cyprus International Football Tournament, but Sweden lost to Ukraine. On 6 July 2016 Granqvist was appointed captain of Sweden by the new manager Janne Andersson. Granqvist succeeded Zlatan Ibrahimović after the latter's retirement from the national team following UEFA Euro 2016.
In May 2018, he was named in the 23-man Sweden squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He captained the team for their opening World Cup fixture against South Korea on 18 June 2018. Over the course of the match he provided several long balls over the top which posed a threat to the South Korean defenders. In the 65th minute he scored the only goal of the game, calmly slotting home from the penalty spot. He was given the Player of the Match award. Nine days later, he scored another penalty, the second goal in a 3–0 win over Mexico which meant Sweden qualified for the next round and topped the group. Overall, Granqvist played a full 90 minutes in all games as Sweden were eliminated by England in the quarter final.
In May 2021, Granqvist was somewhat controversially included in Sweden's 26-man squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020, since he had not made an appearance for the national team for nearly two years due to ongoing injury problems. He didn't appear in any of their games as Sweden would go on to lose to Ukraine 2-1 in the round of 16, subsequently eliminating them from the tournament.
Personal life Granqvist goes by the nickname ; ),Andreas Granqvist med i EM-truppen, svt.se. originating from his last name which means "spruce twig".grankvist, Svenska Akademiens Ordlista
Granqvist became a father for a second time after his wife Sofie gave birth in Helsingborg on 6 July 2018, while he was with the Sweden team at the World Cup in Russia.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsHelsingborgs IF2005Allsvenskan26100——2612006Allsvenskan25010——250Total51110——521Wigan Athletic (loan)2006–07Premier League001000—10Wigan Athletic2007–08Premier League1401010—160Helsingborgs IF (loan)2008Allsvenskan11100——111Groningen2008–09Eredivisie36431——3952009–10Eredivisie34631——3772010–11Eredivisie361141——4012Total10621103——11624Genoa2011–12Serie A28120——3012012–13Serie A35110——361Total63230——662Krasnodar2013–14Russian Premier League20130——2312014–15Russian Premier League27020—9Appearances in UEFA Europa League13812015–16Russian Premier League29131—1214432016–17Russian Premier League29022—1204322017–18Russian Premier League29100—41332Total1343103—37318110Helsingborgs IF2018Superettan15200——1522019Allsvenskan22000——2202020Allsvenskan1000——102021Superettan5000——50Total43200——432Career total422302661037348639
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSweden200610200710200820200910201042201160201212020135020148020158020161212017932018123201970Total889 Sweden's score is listed first, and the score column indicates the score after each Granqvist goal.
+ International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competitionNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 7 September 2010 Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden 7 4–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying2 12 October 2010 Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands 8 1–4 1–4UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying3 24 March 2016 Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey 49 1–1 1–2 Friendly4 3 September 2017 Borisov Arena, Barysaw, Belarus 65 4–0 4–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification5 7 October 2017 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden 66 1–0 8–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification6 6–07 18 June 2018 Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia 73 1–0 1–0 2018 FIFA World Cup8 27 June 2018 Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, Russia 75 2–0 3–02018 FIFA World Cup9 17 November 2018 Konya Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey 80 1–0 1–0 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B
Honours Helsingborgs IF Superettan: 2018 Svenska Cupen: 2006 Individual Guldbollen: 2017 Swedish Defender of the Year: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team: 2018 Stor Grabb: 2014
References
External links
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