Anna Linnea Sandberg (; born 23 May 2003) is a Swedish

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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for English

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Örebro

Sandberg started playing football at IFK Lindesberg and then she went on to play for Adolfsbergs IK. Her first senior club was Örebro SK Söder. She made her senior debut with the team in 2019, making four appearances in Division 1, the third highest league in Sweden. In December 2020, Sandberg signed for

Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988. The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...

team KIF Örebro, initially joining the club's under-19 side but made her debut with the first team on 13 March 2020, starting and playing 63 minutes in a 3–0 defeat to Hammarby in the

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

. She made a total of 38 appearances for the club in all competitions.

BK Häcken

In July 2022,

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

paid a

record transfer fee to KIF Örebro for Sandberg. She made her Champions League debut on 21 September 2022, 2022–23 Champions League qualifying, playing the full 90 minutes of both legs against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

as Häcken lost 4–1 on aggregate.

Manchester United

On 2 August 2024, English

club

announced the signing of Sandberg on a three-year contract with an additional option year. The transfer fee was reported as a new record for a female Swedish player, surpassing the £150,000 Everton paid to Rosengard for Hanna Bennison in August 2021.

International career

Sandberg took part in the first

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

round for the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

in October 2021 with the U19 team and was able to qualify with the team for the second round. They qualified for the finals at a tournament in Croatia in April 2022, where they lost 1–0 to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the semifinals. From September 2022 she was used in the U23 team. On 16 February 2023, she made her senior debut in the 4–1 win over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, playing all 90 minutes. On 13 June 2023, she was named to the squad for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

in Australia and New Zealand, the youngest player in the squad. She made her World Cup debut on 2 August 2023, starting in the final group stage game, a 2–0 win over

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Manchester United *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

runner-up: 2024–25

References

External links

Anna Sandberg
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sandberg, Anna Living people 2003 births Swedish women's footballers Sweden women's international footballers BK Häcken FF players Damallsvenskan players Women's association football defenders Sweden women's youth international footballers 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players Manchester United W.F.C. players Women's Super League players Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England 21st-century Swedish sportswomen