Amanda Ilestedt (; born 17 January 1993) 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 a defender for

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

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Ilestedt started playing football in her birthplace with the local Sölvesborgs GIF and moved up to their first team in 2006. After one season, she signed with Karlskrona FF in 2007. In 2009 she moved to LdB FC Malmö, initially playing for the B team. She broke into the

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 ...

side in 2010, playing ten league games and winning the championship. In August 2011, she moved on loan to the second division club

Vittsjö GIK Vittsjö Gymnastik- och Idrottsklubb is a association football, football club from Vittsjö, Sweden. They play in the highest level of women's football leagues in Sweden, the Damallsvenskan. Vittsjö GIK play their home games at Vittsjö IP in Vi ...

. After one season, she moved back to LdB FC Malmö, which changed their name to

FC Rosengård FC Rosengård (), known as Malmö FF Dam () until 2007 and later LdB FC Malmö until 2013, is a professional football club based in Malmö, Scania, Sweden. The team was established as Malmö FF Dam in 1970. It started out with playing 7 seasons ...

in 2013. Rosengård reached the quarter-finals of the 2014–15 Champions League, in which she met defending champions

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

. After the 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg and the 3-3 draw in the second leg, she and her team were eliminated from the competition due to the away goals rule. Ilestedt played over ninety minutes in all six games. In June 2017, Ilestedt joined German club

Turbine Potsdam 1. Frauenfußballclub Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V., commonly known as 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam (or Turbine Potsdam outside of Germany), is a German women's football club located in Potsdam, Brandenburg. They are one of the most successful women's footb ...

on a two-year deal. In May 2019, she moved to fellow German side

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, signing a contract until June 2021. She made her debut for Bayern on 17 August 2019, first matchday, in the 3-1 away win against

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

. Against SC Freiburg in the home game on 6 December 2019, she scored her first

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 ...

goal in the 81st minute. She scored four goals from 18 league matches in 2020–21 season, helping the club to win their first league title in five years. On 12 July 2021 Ilestedt joined French club

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 a two-year deal. In the 2021–22 Champions League she played in five of six group games and scored one goal. On 17 June 2023 PSG announced she would leave at the end of her contract after two years in the French capital. On 27 June 2023

announced the signing of Ilestedt. She scored her first goal for Arsenal on 23 November 2023 in the Conti Cup match against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, giving her team a 2-1 victory in the 92nd minute. On 29 January 2025, following the birth of her daughter, Ilestedt returned to the bench, in Arsenal's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

campaign, coming on in the 79th minute, to help secure a 5–0 victory over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. Ilestedt will leave Arsenal as her contract expires at the end of the 2024–25 season, having made 23 appearances for the club.

International career

From 2009, Ilestedt took part with the under-17 national team in qualifying for the 2010 European Championship, but lost in the second round at the under-17 national team of Ireland. In 2012 she won 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 ...

with the U19 national team, of which she was captain, and thus the second title for a Swedish selection after 1999. Ilestedt made her debut for the senior

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 ...

team in a 4–1 win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a European Championship preparation game on 4 July 2013. Coach

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. Currently, she is coaching Switzerland. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as the top scorer fo ...

named Ilestedt in the Sweden squad for Euro 2013. In May 2015 she was nominated for the 2015 World Cup. She was used in all four games, but retired with her team in the round of 16 against the Germany national team from the tournament. In 2018 she played four international matches, two of them in the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

tournament. On 16 May she was nominated for the 2019 World Cup. In the tournament, she was used in three of seven games. Her only ninety-minute appearance was in the group final against the United States national team, which they lost 2–0. As group runners-up, they reached the knockout stages, where she came on as a 66th-minute substitute against the German team in the quarter-finals. The Swedes won another competitive match against Germany after 24 years, thereby qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Football Tournament. Her third appearance was in the 3rd place match against the England national team, which was won 2–1 by coming on as a substitute after 72 minutes. In the successful qualification for Euro 2022, she was used five times, scoring two goals. She was nominated for the national team squad for the Olympic Football Tournament to be held in Japan from 21 July to 7 August 2021. During the games, she was used in all games, making one and one substitution. In the end, the Swedes won the silver medal. For the successful qualification for the 2023 World Cup, she was always nominated and played six times, always playing full time and scoring two goals. She was used in her team's five games at the finals of the

in England, which was also postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a 4–0 defeat against hosts England, the Swedes were eliminated in the semi-finals. On 23 July 2023, Ilestedt was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 World Cup. Her late goal gave Sweden the win in their opening match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was her first goal at a World Cup. On 29 July 2023 she scored 2 goals in their 2nd group stage match against Italy. She scored her 4th goal of the World Cup on 11 August 2023 in the quarter-final win against Japan. She was her country's top scorer in the tournament, and one goal behind Golden Boot winner Hinata Miyazawa.

Style of play

Ilestedt is renowned for her heading technique. Three of her four 2023 World Cup goals were headers. In the Arsenal fan song it reads: "It's Amanda Ilestedt - Better in the air than

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

Easyjet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...

Personal life

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Oliver Oscar Emanuel Ekman-Larsson (; born 17 July 1991) is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenceman for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known by his initials "OEL", Ekman-Larsson was selected sixth overall by the ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) is Ilestedt's cousin. Their grandfather is ice hockey player Kenneth Ekman and their first cousins, twice removed are professional cyclists the Fåglum brothers.Kenneth Ekman
.

Swedish Olympic Committee The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC; (, SOK) is the Swedish National Olympic Committee (NOC). The Swedish Olympic Committee organize the Swedish participation in the Olympics, choose the participants and run a support program for swedish elite a ...

Her great uncle is ice hockey player

Sven Tumba Sven Tumba (born Sven Olof Gunnar Johansson; 28 August 1931 – 1 October 2011) was one of the most prominent Swedish ice hockey players of the 1950s and 1960s. He also represented Sweden in Association football, football as well as golf and bec ...

. On 13 March 2024, Ilestedt announced her first pregnancy with her German boyfriend Rainer Müller. On 30 August 2024, she gave birth to a baby girl, Mila.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

; LdB FC Malmö / Rosengård *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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 ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

; FC Bayern Munich *

Frauen-Bundesliga The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany. I ...

: 2020–21 ; Paris Saint-Germain * Coupe de France féminine: 2021–22 Arsenal *

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

: 2024–25 ;Sweden U19 *

UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...

; Sweden *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Silver Medal:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

; Individual * FIFA Women's World Cup Bronze Ball:

* IFFHS Women's World Team of the Year: 2023

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilestedt, Amanda 1993 births Living people People from Sölvesborg Municipality Women's association football defenders Swedish women's footballers Sweden women's international footballers Damallsvenskan players Frauen-Bundesliga players Première Ligue players FC Rosengård players 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam players FC Bayern Munich (women) players Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players Arsenal W.F.C. players Swedish expatriate women's footballers Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swedish expatriate sportspeople in France Swedish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in Germany Expatriate women's footballers in France Expatriate women's footballers in England 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Sweden Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Sweden UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century Swedish sportswomen Women's Super League players