Jan Niklas Skoog (born 15 June 1974) 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, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He was the Allsvenskan top scorer in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

with

Västra Frölunda IF Västra Frölunda Idrottsförening () is a Swedish football club based in Gothenburg. Founded on 2 January 1930, the club has spent a total of ten seasons in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. As of the 2025 season, Västra Frölund ...

and in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

with

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

. A full international between 2002 and 2004, he appeared nine times for the Sweden national team, scoring four goals.

Club career

Skoog was the Allsvenskan top scorer for

Västra Frölunda Västra Frölunda, sometimes referred to as just Frölunda, is one of 21 boroughs in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. It is located in the south western part of the city, and is the smallest of the boroughs with a population of 12,855 (2004) on 3.7 ...

and for

. 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 ...

, Skoog was part of the Malmö FF side that won

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 ...

. In the final game, he had a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

saved that teammate

Jon Inge Høiland Jon Inge Høiland (born 20 September 1977) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He has been capped 25 times while playing for Norway. Høiland played for Bryne and Kongsvinger in Norway, before he moved to th ...

scored the rebound of to seal a 1-0 win against

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 spent ...

that ultimately secured the title. He initially ended his career for Malmö FF in March 2009. In January 2010, he announced that he would restart his playing career in Swedish lower league club BK Näset.

International career

Having scored 10 goals in 14 games for the Sweden U21 team, Skoog made his full international debut for

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 ...

on 20 November 2002 in a

friendly game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against the

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

. On 16 February 2003, he scored his first goal for Sweden in a friendly against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. Skoog made his first and only competitive appearance for Sweden on 6 September 2003 in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

, replacing

Mattias Jonson Olof Mattias Jonsson (; born 16 January 1974) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a winger. Starting off his career with Örebro SK in the early 1990s, he went on to represent Helsingborgs IF, Brøndby IF, and Norwich City ...

as a forward in the 73rd minute. He made his last international appearance for Sweden in a friendly against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 29 April 2004, replacing

Marcus Allbäck Marcus Christian Allbäck (; born 5 July 1973) is a Swedish former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He was known for his sharp finishing ability and represented clubs in Sweden ...

at half time in a 2–2 draw.

Career statistics

International

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

Honours

Malmö FF *

Individual * Allsvenskan top scorer:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoog, Niklas 1974 births Living people Footballers from Gothenburg Men's association football forwards Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's international footballers Sweden men's under-21 international footballers MSV Duisburg players 1. FC Nürnberg players Örebro SK players Malmö FF players Allsvenskan players Bundesliga players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany