Emil Peter Forsberg (; born 23 October 1991) is a Swedish 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

and the Sweden national team. Forsberg was awarded

Guldbollen Guldbollen (''Golden Ball'') is a Swedish Association football, football award given by ''Aftonbladet'' and the Swedish Football Association to the best male Swedish footballer each year. History The award was created by Bengt Liljedahl and betw ...

in 2021 as Sweden's best footballer of the year. He has also been voted the Swedish Midfielder of the Year four times (2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021). He was a member of the Sweden squad that reached the quarter-finals of 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 ...

, and also represented his country at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, the latter of which he scored four goals in four games. He is known for his quick, effective passing style, and is a creative playmaker renowned for his ability to create chances and assists.

Club career

GIF Sundsvall

Born in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

, Forsberg started his career with his home-town team and joined the first team squad in 2009 when the club was playing in Sweden's second tier of football,

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

. He went on to play several matches for Sundsvall in his first season. For his second season at the club he had become a regular in the starting eleven at Sundsvall and played 30 out of 30 matches for the 2010 season. Forsberg had started to produce goals during his second season at the club but raised his performance for the 2011 season when he scored 11 goals in 27 matches as Sundsvall were promoted to Sweden's first tier of football,

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

. For his first season in Allsvenskan Forsberg played 21 matches out of 30 and scored 6 goals, however Sundsvall were relegated to Superettan once again after losing the relegation play-offs against

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish professional Association football, football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and app ...

Malmö FF

On 10 December 2012, Forsberg was presented as a

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

player. He joined the club on 1 January 2013 when the transfer window opened in Sweden. Forsberg signed a four-year contract lasting until the end of the 2016 season. His first season at the club proved to be a success as he played 28 matches out of 30 and scored five goals for the club as they won the league title. He also played all matches for the club during the qualification stage for the

2013–14 UEFA Europa League The 2013–14 UEFA Europa League was the 43rd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the fifth season under its current title. The final was played between Sevilla and Benfica at the Juventus Stadium in Tu ...

and scored two goals. During Malmö FF's successful 2014 season Forsberg made 29 league appearances, scoring 14 goals and thus being an important part in the team that defended the league title. He also participated in all of the club's matches in the

2014–15 UEFA Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Champions League was the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions Lea ...

campaign in which Malmö FF qualified for the group stage. As recognition of Forsberg's feats during the season he won the award for Allsvenskan Midfielder of the year. He was also nominated for Swedish midfielder of the year at

Fotbollsgalan Fotbollsgalan is an official and annual Swedish sports awards ceremony honoring achievements in Swedish football. It is organised by Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football ...

RB Leipzig

In January 2015, Forsberg joined German second league side

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

on a three-and-a-half-year deal. In February 2016, he extended his contract until 2021. During the 2015–16 season Forsberg was voted the best player in 2. Bundesliga and in January 2016

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

were reportedly eyeing Forsberg. In round three of

2016–17 Bundesliga The 2016–17 Bundesliga was the 54th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football competition. It began on 26 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. Bayern Munich were the defending champions. Fixtures for the 2016–17 season were announ ...

Forsberg was named player of the round by ''

Kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

''. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Forsberg finished off as the highest assister in the Bundesliga and top 5 leagues in Europe with 22 assists, and made the Bundesliga team of the season. On 13 September 2017, Forsberg scored RB Leipzig's first ever Champions League goal in their first match ever in a 1–1 draw against

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. In the 2019–20 season, he scored a brace in the stoppage time in a 2–2 draw against Benfica, to secure a place for RB Leipzig in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League knockout phase, where they managed to reach the semi-finals until they lost to

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 ...

. On 4 November 2020, Forsberg scored the winning goal in a 2–1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

, to be his club's first victory against the latter. On 24 February 2022, he scored a penalty in the 89th minute to secure a 3–1 away victory over

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

during the

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 ...

knockout round play-offs, which marked the 1000th goal in club's history. In his final home match for Leipzig on 16 December 2023, Forsberg came off the bench and scored the game winner and assisted another goal in a 3–1 victory over

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

. Forsberg was received by fans with banners in the crowds paying homage to their departing player. He made his final appearance for the club three days later in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

. He captained the side and provided the assist for

Loïs Openda Ikoma-Loïs Openda (born 16 February 2000) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Belgium national team. Club career Early career Openda played as a youth for Patro Othee FC and RFC L ...

's goal.

New York Red Bulls

On 16 December 2023,

side

announced that Forsberg would join the club in 2024, signing a contract until 2026, with an option for a further year. On 25 February 2024, Forsberg made his debut for New York, appearing as a starter in the opening match of the season, a 0–0 draw against

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

. On 9 March 2024, Forsberg scored his first goal for New York and assisted another, in a 2–1 victory over

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. On 29 May 2024, Forsberg scored two goals for New York in a 3–1 victory over

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

International career

Early career

Having previously played for the Sweden under-19 team, Emil Forsberg made his senior international debut for the Sweden national team in a 2–1 friendly win over

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

on 17 January 2014.

UEFA Euro 2016

He made his competitive debut in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

on 12 October 2014. He scored his first international goal for Sweden in the

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs The play-offs of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament decided the final four teams which qualified for the UEFA Euro 2016 final tournament. Eight teams, each of which finished third in their qualifying group were paired and contested in four t ...

against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, helping Sweden beat the Danes 4–3 on aggregate and qualify for

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. Forsberg played in all three games for Sweden at Euro 2016 as Sweden was eliminated in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

2018 FIFA World Cup

In May 2018, he was named in Sweden's 23 man squad for the

in Russia. On 3 July 2018 in a round of 16 tie between Sweden and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Forsberg scored the winner for Sweden to send them into the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in almost a quarter of a century.

UEFA Euro 2020

Forsberg was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

. Forsberg scored four goals in the tournament, and hit both the crossbar and the post in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

game against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

when Sweden lost 2–1 after extra-time, for his performances, he received praise as one of the best players in the tournament. He is the only Swedish player to have scored four goals in a

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

, beating

Tomas Brolin Per Tomas Brolin (; born 29 November 1969) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward and midfielder. At the club level, he had a successful period with Parma AC, Par ...

's (in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

) and

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...

's (in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) previous record of three goals.

Personal life

Emil Forsberg is the son of former

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollf� ...

player Leif Forsberg, and grandson of

Lennart Forsberg Lennart Forsberg (28 March 1928 - 6 September 2020) was a Swedish footballer who played as a left winger. Forsberg debuted in 1945 at the age of 17 with GIF Sundsvall. He made 28 Allsvenskan appearances for Djurgården and scored 14 goals. Lenna ...

who also played for GIF Sundsvall. On 17 July 2016, Forsberg married Shanga Hussain, who is a former footballer. The couple live in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, having first met in Sundsvall. They own a dog, Roffe, who is a golden retriever. They had their first child in August 2018. Forsberg has named Dutch winger

Ryan Babel Ryan Guno Babel (; born 19 December 1986) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Babel began his career at Ajax in 1997, working his way up through the youth tea ...

as a player he has looked up to.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first''

Honours

Malmö FF *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Svenska Supercupen Svenska Supercupen, ''Swedish Super Cup'', was a one-off fixture in Swedish football played between the Allsvenskan champions and the winners of Svenska Cupen. The fixture was played in November, after the Allsvenskan season. In the event of a ...

RB Leipzig *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

DFL-Supercup The Franz Beckenbauer Supercup or ''German Super Cup'' is a one-off association football, football match in Germany that features the winners of the Bundesliga championship and the DFB-Pokal. The competition is run by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (E ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

New York Red Bulls *

Eastern Conference (MLS) The Eastern Conference () is one of Major League Soccer's two conferences, along with the Western Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, with c ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual *

Midfielder of the Year:

* Swedish Midfielder of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 *

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 ...

top assist provider: 2016–17 *

Team of the Season: 2016–17 *

: 2021

References

External links

Malmö FF profile
*
archive
*
archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forsberg, Emil 1991 births Living people Footballers from Sundsvall Swedish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders GIF Sundsvall players Malmö FF players RB Leipzig players New York Red Bulls players Division 3 (Swedish football) players Superettan players Allsvenskan players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Sweden men's youth international footballers Sweden men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century Swedish sportsmen