Robert Faxe Skov (; born 20 May 1996) 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 winger or wing-back for German club

Union Berlin 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as Union Berlin (), is a professional Football in Germany, German football club based in Berlin. The club's origins can be traced to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was fo ...

. Born in Spain, he plays for the Denmark national team. With 29 goals in the 2018–19 season, he broke the record set by

Ebbe Sand Ebbe Sand (; born 19 July 1972) is a former professional footballer from Denmark who played as a forward for Brøndby IF in Denmark and FC Schalke 04 in Germany. He was the Bundesliga top scorer in 2001, and won the DFB-Pokal in 2001 and 2002 w ...

for most goals scored in a single

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 ...

campaign.

Club career

Silkeborg

Skov came up through the youth academy at

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

. He came on at 16 years old, as an 81st minute substitute for

Jeppe Illum Jeppe Illum (born 25 March 1992) is a Denmark, Danish association football, footballer. Career Illum joined Vendsyssel FF, Vendsyssel in the summer 2017. On 31 January 2019, he was loaned out to Næstved Boldklub, Næstved BK in the Danish 1st ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club on 19 October 2014 in a 2–1 away defeat to FC Midtjylland. He scored in the 95th minute. Robert Skov played a key role in helping Silkeborg win the Danish 1st Division during the 2013/14 season, despite being only 17 years old. During the 2016–17 Danish Superliga season, Skov helped Silkeborg avoid relegation by becoming their leading scorer, by scoring 10 league goals from his position on the wing.

Copenhagen

In January 2018, Skov completed a move to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The deal cost FC Copenhagen around 7.5 million

Danish Krone The krone (; plural: ''kroner''; sign: kr.; code: DKK) is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common use; the former precedes ...

r. He made his league debut for the club on 10 February 2018 in a 5–1 home victory over

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 ().Odense BK Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

. He scored in the 61st minute. He scored his first club

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on 2 December 2018 in a 6–1 away victory over

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...

. He scored in the 23rd, 66th, and 90th minutes. Not only did Robert Skov finish as top scorer in the 2018–19 season, but he broke the all time Danish Superliga record by scoring 29 league goals, that was 7 more goals than the second placed scorers in the league. The record was previously held by

who scored 28 league goals in the 1998 season. Skov was also named Danish Player of the Year for 2018. By March 2019, Skov was rumoured to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and

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 ...

after putting in outstanding performances in the Superliga.

TSG Hoffenheim

In July 2019, Skov signed a contract with

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

for a transfer fee of €10 million. Skov scored his first goal for Hoffenheim in a 3–0

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 ...

win over

SC Paderborn Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the turn of the millenni ...

on 1 November 2019, opening the scoring with a fierce 25-yard free-kick inside two minutes. On 21 May 2024,

announced that he will leave the club after this season when his contract expires.

Union Berlin

On 4 September 2024, Skov signed with

International career

In July 2016, Skov was included in the Denmark squad for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He made substitute appearances in two group-stage matches, 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 ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, alongside a substitute appearance against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the quarterfinals. During the group stage, he scored the winning goal in Denmark's 1–0 win over South Africa in the 69th minute. That goal scored by Skov, was ultimately the goal that secured Denmark's advance to the quarter finals. In May 2018 he was named in Denmark's preliminary 35-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for 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 rights in l ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. However, he did not make the final 23. In March 2019 Skov was selected for the Denmark squad for the

UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2019 to November 2020 to determine the 24 UEFA member men's national teams that advanced to the UEFA Euro 2020 final tournament, intended to be playe ...

tournament. He made his debut on 10 June 2019 in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Georgia, as a starter. In June 2020, he was included in the national team's bid for

2020 UEFA Euro 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 ...

, where the team unexpectedly reached the semi-finals. He was able to represent

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

because he was born in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

but he chose to represent

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 ...

instead.

Player profile

Skov is two footed, although his left foot is his main scoring weapon. He is a skilled winger who is renowned for taking on defenders and dribbling past them. He is also well known for scoring many goals and creating numerous assists. He is especially making a name for himself as a free kick specialist, by blasting in goals on a regular basis. So much that Danish international player Christian Eriksen suggested that Skov would overtake him as being the number one free kick taker for the Danish national team.

Personal life

Skov's parents moved from Denmark to Spain in 1994 when his father took a job with a bank in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, and as a result, Skov was born in

. His family returned to Denmark when he was nine months old.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 14 October 2023. Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first.''

Honours

Silkeborg *

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 ...

: 2013–14 Copenhagen *

: 2018–19 Individual * Danish Superliga Player of the Year: 2018–19 * Danish Superliga Top Scorer: 2018–19 (29 goals) * ''

Tipsbladet ''Tipsbladet'' is a weekly sports magazine focusing on football which has been in circulation since 1948. It the oldest football magazine in Scandinavia and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. History and profile ''Tipsbladet'' was founded ...

'' Player of the Fall: 2018 * ''

'' Player of the Spring: 2019 * Copenhagen Player of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skov, Robert 1996 births Living people Footballers from Marbella Men's association football forwards Danish men's footballers Denmark men's youth international footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers for Denmark Denmark men's international footballers Silkeborg IF players F.C. Copenhagen players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players 1. FC Union Berlin players Danish Superliga players Danish 1st Division players Bundesliga players Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Footballers from Silkeborg 21st-century Danish sportsmen