Carl Mikael Lustig (; born 13 December 1986) is a Swedish former 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, rugb ...

who played as a

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. Beginning his career with

Umeå FC Umeå FC is a Swedish professional football club located in Umeå, Sweden. The club, formed in 1987, is currently playing in the third tier of the Swedish league, Ettan Fotboll. The club is affiliated to the Västerbottens Fotbollförbund. Seaso ...

in 2004, he went on to represent

GIF Sundsvall Gymnastik- och Idrottsföreningen Sundsvall, more commonly known as GIF Sundsvall (), Giffarna or simply Sundsvall, is a Swedish professional football club based in Sundsvall. The club is affiliated with Medelpads Fotbollförbund and plays its h ...

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

, and Gent before retiring with AIK in 2022. A full international for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

between 2008 and 2021, he won 94

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for his country and represented Sweden at three

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

s as well as at the

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

Club career

Early career

Lustig began his career with Sandåkerns SK. He then moved to

, where he played for two years.

GIF Sundsvall

Lustig moved to

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

club

for the 2005 season, scoring twice in eight games.

were relegated the following season to the

Superettan Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...

. They were in that division for the next two years, with Lustig playing in 57 of their 60 games. For the 2008 season the team was back in the Allsvenskan and Lustig continued to be a regular in the team, playing in all 11 league games before the Euro break. During the summer he moved to the Norwegian club

Rosenborg

After four seasons with Rosenborg, Lustig left the club in November 2011. He had attracted interest from other European clubs, such as

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

team Celtic, English Premier League club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

side

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...

Celtic

On 23 November 2011, Celtic announced that they had signed Lustig on a pre-contract. He officially joined the club on 1 January 2012. He made his debut for Celtic on 3 March, in a 1–1 draw with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

. He scored his first goal for the Hoops in a 2–2 home draw against Hibernian on 1 September 2012. He was also initially credited with Celtic's second goal that day, although it was later given as an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

. On 17 July 2013, Lustig opened the scoring in Celtic's 3–0 away victory in the second round of qualifying against Cliftonville in the Champions League. On 6 February 2017, Lustig performed a classic rabona in an unbroken 25-pass move involving all 11 Celtic players, which resulted moments later in a goal for team-mate Moussa Dembélé, sealing his hat-trick and a 5–2 win over home team St. Johnstone. The goal was shortlisted for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's prestigious Puskas Award. On 28 October 2018, Lustig led the Hoops out to victory in what was his 250th game for the club as they defeated Hearts 3–0 in the League Cup semi-final at Murrayfield. On 4 May 2019, Lustig nodded home a terrific diving header against Aberdeen, sparking a 3–0 victory for the Celts which secured all three points and the club's eighth consecutive league title. On 20 June Lustig decided to leave Celtic after 7 and a half years which saw him lift 8 titles in a row.

Gent

On 21 June 2019 , Lustig signed a contract with Gent until 2022.

AIK

On 25 August 2020, Lustig signed for Swedish club AIK on a free deal, a club which he did a trial for in 2004. Lustig made his debut on 30 September, playing 29 minutes in a 1-0 lost at home to

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 August 1940, Häcken has p ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 20 September 2020 in the Stockholm derby against

Hammarby IF Hammarby Idrottsförening ("Hammarby Sports Club"), commonly known as Hammarby IF or simply Hammarby ( or, especially locally, ), is a Swedish sports club located in Stockholm, with a number of member organizations active in a variety of differ ...

, which AIK won 3–0. In the last game of the

2020 Allsvenskan The 2020 Allsvenskan, part of the 2020 Swedish football season, was the 96th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. A total of 16 teams participated. Djurgårdens IF were the defending champions after winning the title in the pr ...

season Lustig scored and assists when AIK draw 2-2 against

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spen ...

. Lustig retired after the 2022 season.

International career

Lustig played for Sweden's under-18 team. During the 2006 season, Lustig made his national team debut in under-21 team playing in the 2009 European Under-21 Championship. He had been made vice-captain of the team. In total Lustig made 21 appearances for Sweden under-21s.Mikael Lustig
UEFA.com Mikael Lustig - Yevhen Konoplyanka 20120611

Mikael Lustig - Yevhen Konoplyanka 20120611

Lustig made his full debut for the Sweden national team on 19 January 2008 in a 2–0 loss against the USA in January 2008. He has been quoted saying if he had signed for

Celtic FC The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

by this point in his career he would have declared for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

national team due to discovering his love for the IRA. His first goal came on 29 March 2011 in a European Championship qualifier with

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistri ...

, which Sweden won 2–1. He won his 50th cap for Sweden on 29 March 2016, a 1–1 draw with the

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

. In May 2018 he was named in

's 23-man squad for the

in Russia. At the 2018 World Cup, Lustig started in 4 games for Sweden as they were eliminated by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in the quarter final. Lustig 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 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

. On 13 July 2021, Lustig announced his retirement from international football. He won a total of 94

for Sweden, scoring 6 goals.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals :''Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.''

Honours

Rosenborg *

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Superfinalen Mesterfinalen ( en, Champions Final), also known as UNICEF Mesterfinalen due to its cooperation with UNICEF, is a Norwegian association football competition contested between the champions of the previous Eliteserien season and the holders of t ...

Celtic *

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

: 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existe ...

: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Sweden U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...

bronze:

Individual * PFA Scotland Team of the Year (Premiership): 2016–17

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lustig, Mikael 1986 births AIK Fotboll players Allsvenskan players Association football fullbacks Belgian First Division A players Celtic F.C. players Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Scotland GIF Sundsvall players K.A.A. Gent players Living people Eliteserien players Sportspeople from Umeå Rosenborg BK players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Sweden international footballers Sweden under-21 international footballers Sweden youth international footballers Swedish expatriate footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Swedish footballers Superettan players UEFA Euro 2012 players UEFA Euro 2016 players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players Umeå FC players