Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, in which he won the scudetto twice, and also the title of pluricapocannoniere, with an unprecedented five top scorer (capocannonieri) awards, more than any other player in the history of the Italian championship.
Nordahl is Milan's all-time record goalscorer, and he long held the record for most goals for a single club in the history of Italian league, before being surpassed by Francesco Totti in January 2012. He still holds the record for goals per appearance in Italy. He had several nicknames in Italy, whereof the most famous was Il Cannoniere ("The Prime Gunner"). He was also known as Il Pompiere ("The Fireman") and Il Bisonte ("The Bison'").
A full international between 1942 and 1948, he won 33 caps and scored 43 goals for the Sweden national team. He represented his country at the 1948 Summer Olympics, where he was the joint top scorer alongside Denmark's John Hansen as Sweden won gold.
Nordahl is considered to be one of the greatest Swedish players and one of the best strikers of all-time. In 2017, he was included in FourFourTwo magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of all time, at the 54th position.
He is the father of former footballer Thomas Nordahl.Gunnar Nordahl. Swedish Olympic Committee
Club career
Sweden
Nordahl started out at Hörnefors IF in Sweden before moving to first Degerfors IF and then IFK Norrköping. He won four Swedish championships with IFK Norrköping and once scored seven goals in one game. During his time in Swedish clubs, Nordahl scored 149 goals in 172 matches.
Italy Nordahl transferred to AC Milan on 22 January 1949. This made him the first Swedish player to play in a foreign league. Later, he would team up with his national team strike partners, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm to form the renowned Gre-No-Li trio. Playing eight seasons with Milan, he was Serie A's top scorer a record five times (1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54 and 1954–55). Nordahl is also Milan's all-time top-scorer, with 210 league goals.
Nordahl is the third-highest Serie A goalscorer of all time, with 225 goals in 291 matches, only behind Silvio Piola and Francesco Totti. That makes Nordahl the top goalscorer among non-Italian players, and he is also the most efficient goalscorer goals in Serie A ever with 0.77 goals/match. He was nicknamed Il Pompiere ("The Fireman"), because of his former job while he played in Sweden.
After leaving Milan, Nordahl played for Roma for two seasons. Nordahl's record for most goals scored in Serie A (not including Divisione Nazionale, before Serie A was installed) of 35 in 1949–50 in a season was broken by Gonzalo Higuaín in the 2015–16 season who scored 36. Nordahl, together with the mentioned Gre-No-Li is today legendary in Milan. When Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko scored his 100th goal in Serie A for Milan, it is said that some old Milanese supporters commented: "Well he can double that number, and then add another 26, then, and just then, he has passed Il Cannoniere."
International career Nordahl was first called up to the Sweden national team in 1942. In 1948, he helped Sweden to win the Olympic football tournament, achieving top tournament scoring status. The Swedish team also included his brothers Bertil and Knut Nordahl. Nordahl's transfer to Milan forced him to retire from the national team, as the rules at the time prevented professionals from serving on the Sweden national team and unavailable to the 1950 FIFA World Cup as were Gren and Liedholm. His 33 matches in the national team resulted in scoring 43 goals. However, both Nordahl and other Swedish professionals appeared in the euphemistic Sveriges proffslandslag ("Swedish professional national team") during the 1950s. Det svenska proffslandslaget (English: The Swedish professional national team). The latter was discontinued in 1958, when Sweden, like many other nations, lifted the professional ban for respective national team consideration.
Career statistics
Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsHörnefors IF1937–38Division 3 Nedre Norrländskan1420——14201938–39Division 3 Nedre Norrländskan1425——14251939–40Division 3 Nedre Norrländskan1323——1323Total4168——4168Degerfors1940–41Allsvenskan1715——17151941–42Allsvenskan2113——21131942–43Allsvenskan2014——20141943–44Allsvenskan1914——1914Total7756——7756Norrköping1944–45Allsvenskan1927——19271945–46Allsvenskan2125——21251946–47Allsvenskan2017——20171947–48Allsvenskan2218——22181948–49Allsvenskan106——106Total9293——9293AC Milan1948–49Serie A1516——15161949–50Serie A3735——37351950–51Serie A3734—2439381951–52Serie A3826——38261952–53Serie A3226—2234281953–54Serie A3323——33231954–55Serie A3327—2135281955–56Serie A3223—543727Total257210—1111268221Roma1956–57Serie A3013——30131957–58Serie A42——42Total3415——3415Karlstad BIK1959Division 2 Svealand——1960Division 2 Svealand——Total2411——2411Career total525453—1111536464
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsSweden19424219435519440019455719463219477151948912Total3343 Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nordahl goal. + List of international goals scored by Gunnar Nordahl Date VenueOpponent Score Result Competition Ref.128 June 1942Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–03–0Friendly24 October 1942Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–02–1Friendly320 June 1943Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–22–3Friendly412 September 1943 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–02–3Friendly52–167 November 1943Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary4–27–2Friendly75–2824 June 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–12–1Friendly91 July 1945Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–14–3Friendly1030 September 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–14–1Friendly1121 October 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–010–0Friendly123–0138–01410–0157 July 1946Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden7–27–2Friendly166 October 1946Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden3–23–3Friendly1715 June 1947Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark1–04–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship182–01926 June 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden4–06–1Friendly2028 June 1947Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland1–15–1Friendly212–1223–1234–12424 August 1947Ryavallen, Örebro, Sweden2–07–01937–47 Nordic Football Championship254–0265–02714 September 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–15–4Friendly284–2295 October 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–04–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship303–13119 November 1947Highbury, London, England1–22–4Friendly322 August 1948White Hart Lane, London, England1–03–01948 Summer Olympics332–0345 August 1948Selhurst Park, London, England2–012–01948 Summer Olympics354–0369–03710–03813 August 1948Wembley Stadium, London, England2–13–11948 Summer Olympics3919 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway1–15–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship402–2413–2424–2435–2
Honours IFK Norrköping Allsvenskan: 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48 Svenska Cupen: 1945
AC Milan Serie A: 1950–51, 1954–55 Latin Cup: 1951, 1956
Sweden Olympic Gold Medal: 1948 Nordic Football Championship: 1937–1947
Individual Allsvenskan top scorer: 1942–43, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1947–48 Swedish Footballer of the Year: 1947 Olympic Games top scorer: 1948 Capocannoniere: 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55 Serie A Team of The Year: 1951, 1955 AC Milan Hall of Fame Venerdì's 100 Magnifici"The Best of The Best" Retrieved on 17 November 2015 Nordic Football Championship top scorer: 1937–1947 Allsvenskan Player of the Century: 1924–2024
Records Most goals scored for AC Milan: 221 Most Serie A Top Scorer titles: 5 Most consecutive Serie A Top Scorer titles: 3 (record shared with Michel Platini) Most braces scored in Serie A: 49 (record shared with Silvio Piola) Most hat-tricks scored in Serie A: 17 (all with AC Milan)
See also List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals List of footballers who achieved hat-trick records List of AC Milan players List of foreign Serie A players
References
External links
Gunnar Nordahl – Classic Player profile – [FIFA.com] List of Swedish Players and Coaches in Italy since 1945 – RSSSF Detail of international appearances and goals – by Roberto Mamrud, RSSSF Profile at magliarossonera.it Biography at Storie di Calcio Obituary in la Repubblica