Alfreð Finnbogason facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is a patronymic, not a family name; this person is properly referred to by the given name "Alfreð".

Quick facts for kids
Alfreð Finnbogason
Personal information
Finnbogason playing for Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Full name	Alfreð Finnbogason
Date of birth	(1989-02-01) 1 February 1989 (age 36)
Place of birth	Grindavík, Iceland
Height	1.85 m
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
1995–1999	Grindavík
1999–2001	Hutchison Vale
2002–2005	Fjölnir
2005–2007	Breiðablik
2006–2007	→ Torres (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2007–2010	Breiðablik	43	(28)
2007	→ Augnablik (loan)	2	(2)
2011–2012	Lokeren	22	(4)
2012	→ Helsingborg (loan)	17	(12)
2012–2014	Heerenveen	65	(53)
2014–2016	Real Sociedad	23	(2)
2015–2016	→ Olympiacos (loan)	7	(1)
2016	→ FC Augsburg (loan)	14	(7)
2016–2022	FC Augsburg	101	(30)
2022–2023	Lyngby	17	(5)
2023–2024	Eupen	29	(1)
Total		340	(145)
National team^‡
2009–2011	Iceland U21	11	(5)
2010–2024	Iceland	73	(18)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 March 2024. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2023

Alfreð Finnbogason (born February 1, 1989) is a former professional footballer from Iceland. He was known for playing as a striker, which means he was a forward player whose main job was to score goals.

Alfreð had a very successful career. He was the top scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie league during the 2013–14 season. He scored 29 goals for his team, Heerenveen. Only a few famous players like Luis Suárez and Cristiano Ronaldo scored more goals in Europe's top leagues that year!

He also played for the Iceland national team. He made his first appearance in 2010. Alfreð played in big tournaments like UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. At the 2018 World Cup, he made history by scoring Iceland's first-ever goal in a World Cup match!

Alfreð's Football Journey
Playing for Iceland
Interesting Facts
Career Statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Alfreð's Football Journey

Alfreð was born in Grindavík, Iceland. When he was a child, he lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, for two years. While there, he played for a boys' club called Hutchison Vale. He even became a fan of the Scottish team Hibernian!

Starting Strong with Breiðablik

Finnbogason training with Breiðablik

In 2005, Alfreð joined Breiðablik, a football club in Iceland. He was part of a very talented youth team. Many players from that team, like Gylfi Sigurðsson, later became international stars.

He started playing for Breiðablik's senior team in 2008. In the 2009 season, he scored 13 goals in 18 games. His fellow players voted him the Young Player of the Year. That year, Breiðablik also won their first-ever trophy, the Icelandic Cup.

In 2010, Alfreð was the top goal scorer in the league with 14 goals. He was also voted Player of the Year by other players. Breiðablik won their first league title that year! This meant they got to play in the UEFA Europa League for the first time.

Moving to Lokeren in Belgium

In November 2010, Alfreð moved to Belgium to play for Lokeren. He signed a contract to play for them for two and a half years.

Loan to Helsingborgs IF

In March 2012, Alfreð went on loan to Helsingborgs IF, a Swedish team. He played there for six months.

He scored a goal and helped with five assists in a big win against Polish champions Śląsk Wrocław in a UEFA Champions League qualifying match. By the end of his loan, Alfreð was Helsingborg's top scorer for 2012, with 12 goals in 17 matches.

Shining at Heerenveen

In August 2012, Alfreð signed a three-year contract with Heerenveen, a Dutch club. He started very well, scoring two goals in his first home game against Ajax, one of the top teams. He even scored all four goals in a cup match against Kozakken Boys!

He finished the season as the third-highest goal scorer in the Eredivisie, scoring 24 of Heerenveen's 50 league goals.

Playing for Real Sociedad in Spain

On July 2, 2014, Alfreð moved to Real Sociedad, a club in Spain's top league, La Liga. He made his first appearance for them later that month in a UEFA Europa League game.

Loan to Olympiacos in Greece

In July 2015, Alfreð went on loan to Olympiacos, the champions of Greece. He scored his first goal for them in a friendly game.

His first important goal for Olympiacos was against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League match in September 2015. He scored the winning goal, helping Olympiacos get their first-ever win on English soil!

Time at FC Augsburg in Germany

Alfreð was loaned to FC Augsburg in Germany on February 1, 2016. He scored his first goal for them in his third game. He scored seven goals in fourteen games during his loan. Because he played so well, Augsburg decided to sign him permanently in July 2016.

He had some amazing games for Augsburg. In September 2017, he scored three goals (a hat-trick) in a 3–0 win against FC Köln. He scored another hat-trick in December 2017 in a 3–3 draw against SC Freiburg.

Later Career: Lyngby and Eupen

In September 2022, Alfreð signed a one-year contract with Lyngby, a club in Denmark. He made his debut a few days later.

In August 2023, Alfreð moved to Eupen, a Belgian club. He scored his first goal for them in September. After Eupen was moved to a lower league, Alfreð decided to end his contract early. He then announced his retirement from football on November 21, 2024.

Playing for Iceland

Alfreð played for Iceland's under-21 team, scoring five goals in 11 games.

He made his debut for the main Iceland national team in 2010 in a friendly match against the Faroe Islands. He scored his first goal for Iceland in his first full start against Israel.

Alfreð was chosen to play for Iceland in UEFA Euro 2016. In May 2018, he was part of Iceland's team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In their first match, Alfreð scored the goal that tied the game 1–1 against Argentina!

In August 2024, Alfreð decided to stop playing for the national team.

Interesting Facts

In 2007, Alfreð spent five months in Sardinia, Italy, as an exchange student. He played for a team called Sassari Torres and even scored a goal against Italy's under-17 national team!
On April 19, 2013, Alfreð set a new record. He scored 24 goals in a season, which was the most goals ever scored by an Icelandic footballer playing in a top league in any country. The previous record was 23 goals.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Augnablik (loan)	2007	3. deild	2	2	—		—		—		2	2
Breiðablik	2008	Úrvalsdeild	4	1	1	0	3	0	—		8	1
	2009	Úrvalsdeild	18	13	4	2	4	0	—		26	15
	2010	Úrvalsdeild	21	14	1	0	6	5	2	0	30	19
	Total		43	28	6	2	13	5	2	0	64	35
Lokeren	2010–11	Belgian Pro League	15	3	—		—		—		15	3
	2011–12	Belgian Pro League	7	1	3	2	—		—		10	3
	Total		22	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	25	6
Helsingborgs IF	2012	Allsvenskan	17	12	1	0	—		4	1	22	13
Heerenveen	2012–13	Eredivisie	33	24	2	4	—		—		35	28
	2013–14	Eredivisie	32	29	3	2	—		—		35	31
	Total		65	53	5	6	0	0	0	0	70	59
Real Sociedad	2014–15	La Liga	23	2	2	2	—		2	0	27	4
Olympiacos	2015–16	Super League Greece	7	1	3	0	—		3	1	13	2
FC Augsburg (loan)	2015–16	Bundesliga	14	7	0	0	—		—		14	7
FC Augsburg	2016–17	Bundesliga	13	3	1	0	—		—		14	3
	2017–18	Bundesliga	22	12	1	0	—		—		23	12
	2018–19	Bundesliga	18	10	2	1	—		—		20	11
	2019–20	Bundesliga	21	3	0	0	—		—		21	3
	2020–21	Bundesliga	17	0	1	1	—		—		18	1
	2021–22	Bundesliga	10	2	2	0	—		—		12	2
	Total		115	37	7	2	0	0	0	0	122	39
Lyngby	2022–23	Danish Superliga	17	5	0	0	—		—		17	5
Career total			311	143	27	14	13	5	11	2	362	164

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Iceland	2010	2	1
	2011	4	0
	2012	6	2
	2013	8	1
	2014	3	1
	2015	7	2
	2016	10	4
	2017	5	0
	2018	7	4
	2019	5	0
	2020	4	0
	2021	0	0
	2022	2	0
	2023	10	3
Total		73	18

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Alfreð goal.

List of international goals scored by Alfreð Finnbogason
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 November 2010	Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel	2	Israel	1–3	2–3	Friendly
2	29 February 2012	Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro	7	Montenegro	1–1	1–2	Friendly
3	7 September 2012	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	9	Norway	2–0	2–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	7 June 2013	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	15	Slovenia	2–1	2–4	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	12 November 2014	King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium	23	Belgium	1–1	1–3	Friendly
6	13 November 2015	National Stadium, Warsaw, Poland	29	Poland	2–2	2–4	Friendly
7	17 November 2015	Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	30	Slovakia	1–0	1–3	Friendly
8	6 June 2016	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	34	Liechtenstein	3–0	4–0	Friendly
9	5 September 2016	Olimpiyskyi National Sports Complex, Kyiv, Ukraine	38	Ukraine	1–0	1–1	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
10	6 October 2016	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	39	Finland	2–2	3–2	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
11	9 October 2016	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	40	Turkey	2–0	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
12	2 June 2018	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	46	Norway	1–1	2–3	Friendly
13	7 June 2018	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	47	Ghana	2–0	2–2	Friendly
14	16 June 2018	Otkritie Arena, Moscow, Russia	48	Argentina	1–1	1–1	2018 FIFA World Cup
15	15 October 2018	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	52	Switzerland	1–2	1–2	2018–19 UEFA Nations League A
16	17 June 2023	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	66	Slovakia	1–1	1–2	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
17	11 September 2023	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	69	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
18	16 October 2023	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	71	Liechtenstein	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualification