Alexander Hartmann Bah (born 9 December 1997) is a Danish 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 a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Benfica and the Denmark national team. After coming through

Næsby Næsby is a western central neighbourhood of Odense, in Funen, 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 Dani ...

's youth academy, he was promoted to the first team in 2016, and later represented fellow Danish side

HB Køge HB Køge () is a professional Danish football club based primarily in the town of Herfølge, and secondly in the town of Køge, both in the Køge Municipality, part of 'Region of Zealand', in the eastern part of Zealand, south of Copenhagen. It ...

and spent two years with

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

. In January 2021, Bah joined

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

, where he won the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

and

Czech Cup The Czech Cup (), officially known as the MOL Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the major men's football cup competition in the Czech Republic. It is organised by the Czech Football Association. The Czech Cup was first held in 1961. The winner ...

in 2021 and was named the

's Defender of the Season in 2022, and then transferred to Benfica for €8 million. After representing Denmark at various youth levels, Bah was called up to the full international team for the first time in November 2020. He scored on his international debut against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and went on to represent the side at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

Early life

Bah was born in

Årslev Årslev is a town in central Denmark on the island of Funen. It was located in Årslev Municipality, until 1 January 2007 when it became part of Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality. The town has a population of 4,447 (1 January 2025).Funen Funen (, ), is the third-largest List of islands of Denmark, island of Denmark, after Zealand and North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy, with an area of . It is the List of islands by area, 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in th ...

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 ...

, and is of Danish and Gambian descent. He later attended

efterskole An efterskole (literally ''"afterschool"'', plural efterskoler) is a unique type of Danish voluntary independent residential school for young people between the age of 14 to 18. At an efterskole, students can choose to spend one, two or three yea ...

education at ISI Idrætsefterskole in

Ikast Ikast is a Danish town in Central Denmark Region (''Region Midtjylland''). It is the seat of Ikast-Brande Municipality since 2007. It was the seat of the former Ikast Municipality. Geography The town is situated in the middle of Jutland. The ...

, where he also made appearances for local side

Ikast FS Ikast FC is an association football club based in the town of Ikast, Denmark, that competes in the Jutland Series, the sixth tier of the Danish football league system and the first tier of the regional DBU Jutland. Founded in 2018 as a superst ...

Club career

Early career

Bah started his footballing career with local club Aarslev Boldklub, where he played for ten years before joining

B 1913 Boldklubben 1913 is a Danish football club which plays in the fifth-tier Denmark Series. They play at Campus Road, in Odense on Funen. B1913 spent one season in the ''1961–62 European Cup'', which is the club's most notable international appe ...

. He joined

Næsby Boldklub Næsby Boldklub is a Danish Association football, football club currently playing in the Danish 3rd Division, the fourth tier of Danish football. They play at Næsby Stadium, ALPI Arena Næsby in Odense Municipality#Neighbourhoods and settlements ...

three years later, in the spring of 2013, because the club according to Bah " ..had a good reputation for developing young players". Furthermore, his youth coach Andreas Bech had also moved to Næsby Boldklub, which was also a significant factor in Bah's choice. After attending ISI Idrætsefterskole in

in 2014–15, he returned to Næsby.

Næsby Boldklub

Bah made his breakthrough on the first team of

in the spring of 2016. He started on the bench in the first three games of the season, where he impressed as a substitute. He made his first start in the fourth matchday of the spring against

Avarta Boldklubben Avarta is a Danish professional football club currently competing in the 3rd division, which ranks as the fourth-highest league in the country. Avarta's home ground is Tømrermester Jim Jensens Park in Rødovre, Copenhagen ...

on 2 April 2016, which Næsby won 4–0 at home at ALPI Arena Næsby, putting on a strong performance. He continued the season as a starter during the spring of 2016, where he made a total of six assists in 16 appearances in the third-tier

Danish 2nd Division The 2nd Division () is a professional association football league for men and the third division in Denmark. It is organised by the Divisionsforeningen on behalf of the Danish Football Association (Danish FA; DBU) as part of the nation-wide Da ...

HB Køge

In August 2016, it was announced that Bah moved to

, where he signed a three-year contract. He made his debut for the club in the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

as part of the starting lineup, where he played the first 60 minutes before being replaced by Ahmed Hassan in a 0–2 win over

Karlslunde IF Karlslunde IF is a Danish association football club from Karlslunde, Greve Municipality. The football team is part of a sports club with approximately 900 members, and departments for badminton, table tennis, gymnastics, and shooting sports, a ...

in the 1st round. In November 2017, he was named "Talent of the Year", also known as the "

Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S (, ) is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail custome ...

Award", for HB Køge in 2017.

SønderjyskE

On 7 August 2018, Bah signed a five-year contract with

club

. He arrived at the club as a

right winger 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. ...

, but largely played as a

right wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

with great success, which, among other things, have contributed to SønderjyskE winning a

title and Bah making his full international debut for the Denmark national team. He was among the three nominated for Superliga Player of the Month in November 2020, but saw the award go to

Jesper Lindstrøm Jesper Grænge Lindstrøm (; born 29 February 2000) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for club SSC Napoli, Napoli, and the Denmark national football team, Denmark natio ...

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

Slavia Prague

On 5 January 2021, Bah signed for

club

on a four-and-a-half-year contract. In doing so, SønderjyskE received a club record fee reported to be around DKK 13 million. He made his debut for the club as a starter on 16 January in a 3–1 win over

Sigma Olomouc SK Sigma Olomouc is a Czech professional football club based in the city of Olomouc. The club currently competes in the Czech First League, the first tier of Czech football. The club played in the first tier league for 30 years between 1984 and 2 ...

. Bah arrived at the club as a replacement for Vladimír Coufal, who left the for English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, during the season, quickly became a starter in the right-back slot, after impressing his coach Jindřich Trpišovský for his defensive positioning and attacking play, helping his team win the

domestic double The Double, in association football, is the achievement of winning a country's top tier division and its primary domestic cup competition in the same season. The lists in this article examine this definition of a double, while derivative sectio ...

of the

and

. The following season, Bah was named the Czech First League's Defender of the Season, making 26 appearances and scoring three goals as Slavia Prague finished runners-up behind

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victor ...

, while also helping the club reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

, where his team were eliminated, after losing 6–4 on aggregate to eventual finalists

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

Benfica

On 7 June 2022, Bah signed a five-year contract with

side Benfica, for a reported fee of €8 million, joining former Slavia Prague teammate Petar Musa. He made his debut for the club on 5 August, replacing Gilberto in the 63rd minute and providing the assist for

Rafa Silva Rafael Alexandre Fernandes Ferreira da Silva (; born 17 May 1993), known as Rafa Silva or Rafa, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or second striker for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. After starting his professional career at Fei ...

's goal in a 4–0 home win over Arouca in the

International career

Bah represented

at under-20 and under-21, for a total of 2

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 Java ...

. On 9 November 2020, he was called up to

Kasper Hjulmand Kasper Hjulmand (born 9 April 1972) is a Danish Association football, football manager and a former player. He was most recently the head coach for the Denmark national football team, Denmark national team. As a manager, he led FC Nordsjælland ...

's senior squad for the friendly against

due to several cancellations from, among others, the Danish national team players playing in England, due to the

COVID-19 restrictions During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...

, as well as a case of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in the squad, which had put several national team players in quarantine. He came on as a substitute at half-time during the match against Sweden and scored the final goal in a 2–0 win at

Brøndby Stadium Brøndby Stadium (, ) is a football stadium in Brøndbyvester, Denmark. It is the home ground of the Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. The venue is the second-largest stadium in Denmark. Built in 1965 and inaugurated on 31 July 1966 where it ha ...

in his debut match, on 11 November 2020.

Style of play

Bah is mainly known for his speed, energy and offensive capabilities, as well as his technique, creativity and crossing ability. He is capable of playing as a full-back or winger on the right flank. He is an aggressive player who attacks spaces and seeks to break deep blocks with accurate passes, capable of receiving a pass from on the byline and finding the penalty spot with a pinpoint cross to allow his teammate to convert.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bah goal.''

Honours

SønderjyskE *

: 2019–20 Slavia Prague *

2020–21 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 ...

Benfica *

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 ...

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2024–25 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

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 ...

Individual *

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991, the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the for ...

Talent of the Year: 2017 *

Defender of the Season: 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the S.L. Benfica website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bah, Alexander 1997 births Living people Danish men's footballers Sportspeople from Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality Denmark men's international footballers Danish people of Gambian descent Men's association football fullbacks Danish Superliga players Czech First League players Primeira Liga players Ikast FC players FC Fyn players Næsby Boldklub players HB Køge players Sønderjyske Fodbold players SK Slavia Prague players S.L. Benfica footballers Danish 1st Division players Danish 2nd Division players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Czech Republic Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Danish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Footballers from the Region of Southern Denmark 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Danish sportsmen