Andreas Granqvist Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Andreas Granqvist
Personal information
Granqvist with Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Date of birth	(1985-04-16) 16 April 1985 (age 40)
Place of birth	Påarp, Sweden
Height	1.96 m
Playing position	Centre-back
Youth career
0000–1999	Påarps GIF
1999–2003	Helsingborgs IF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2004–2007	Helsingborgs IF	72	(1)
2007	→ Wigan Athletic (loan)	0	(0)
2007–2008	Wigan Athletic	14	(0)
2008	→ Helsingborgs IF (loan)	11	(1)
2008–2011	Groningen	96	(21)
2011–2013	Genoa	63	(2)
2013–2018	Krasnodar	134	(3)
2018–2021	Helsingborgs IF	43	(2)
Total		433	(30)
National team
2004–2006	Sweden U21	26	(0)
2006–2019	Sweden	88	(9)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Andreas Granqvist (Swedish pronunciation: [anˈdrêːas ˈgrɑ̂ːnkvɪst]; born 16 April 1985) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Starting his career with Helsingborgs IF in the mid-2000s, he went on to play for clubs in England, the Netherlands, Italy, and Russia before retiring at Helsingborg in 2021.

A full international between 2006 and 2021, he won 88 caps for the Sweden national team and represented his country at four UEFA European Championships as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He captained the national team between 2016 and 2021. However, due to injuries, he played his last international match in 2019.

He was awarded Guldbollen (the Golden Ball), given to the Swedish player of the year, in 2017.

Club career
International career
Personal life
Career statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Club career

Born in Påarp, Granqvist started his career with his local club, Påarps GIF. He later transferred to Helsingborgs IF and he made his debut in Allsvenskan, 2004. Two years later he was team captain, when the club won its third Swedish Cup title, beating Gefle IF with 2–0. The victorious Helsingborg side also contained Swedish internationals Henrik Larsson and Andreas Jakobsson as well as former Hibernian goalkeeper Daniel Andersson.

In January 2007, he completed a loan move to Wigan Athletic with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. On 19 June 2007, he signed a two-year deal with Wigan, for a fee reported to be around £750,000. On 12 March 2008, he returned to Helsingborg on a loan deal until the end of the English season in June.

On 9 July 2008, Granqvist signed a four-year contract with Dutch club, Groningen, with Wigan receiving a fee of around £600,000. On 13 September 2008, he scored after a 65-metre solo run, a remarkable feat, which he again managed to accomplish in the last match of the regular season on 10 May 2009.

On 15 June 2011, Groningen sold Granqvist to Genoa for €2 million. The Swedish international has signed a four-year contract with the Italian club.

Granqvist lining up for Krasnodar in 2014

On 16 August 2013, Granqvist moved from Genoa to Russian Premier League side Krasnodar.

On 28 January 2018, it was announced that Granqvist would return to Helsingborgs IF after the World Cup. He would join the club on a 3.5-year player contract that would be followed by a three-year term as the director of sports for the club. He officially played his farewell game for Krasnodar on 13 May 2018.

Granqvist officially retired on 17 July 2021, having played in 6 leagues; Allsvenskan, Premier League, Eredivisie, Serie A, Russian Premier League and Superettan, never playing for 2 clubs in one country. He said that he wanted to continue, but his body wasn't feeling it. He continued working at Helsingborg IF as the director of sports.

International career

Granqvist played for the Swedish national team, and, in May 2008, he was included in Sweden's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2008. He was an unused substitute in all three of Sweden's games. In 2011, he played in the finals of the Cyprus International Football Tournament, but Sweden lost to Ukraine. On 6 July 2016 Granqvist was appointed captain of Sweden by the new manager Janne Andersson. Granqvist succeeded Zlatan Ibrahimović after the latter's retirement from the national team following UEFA Euro 2016.

In May 2018 he was named in the 23-man Sweden squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He captained the team for their opening World Cup fixture against South Korea on 18 June 2018. Over the course of the match he provided several long balls over the top which posed a threat to the South Korean defenders. In the 65th minute he scored the only goal of the game, calmly slotting home from the penalty spot. He was given the Player of the match award. Nine days later he scored another penalty, the second goal in a 3–0 win over Mexico which meant Sweden qualified for the next round and topped the group. Overall, Granqvist played a full 90 minutes in all games as Sweden were eliminated by England in the quarter final.

In May 2021, Granqvist was somewhat controversially included in Sweden's 26-man squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020, since he had not made an appearance for the national team for nearly two years due to ongoing injury problems.

Personal life

Granqvist goes by the nickname "Granen" (Swedish for 'the spruce'; IPA: [ˈɡrɑ̌ːnɛn]), originating from his last name which means "spruce twig".

Granqvist became a father for a second time after his wife Sofie gave birth in Helsingborg on 6 July 2018, while he was with the Sweden team at the World Cup in Russia.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Helsingborgs IF	2005	Allsvenskan	26	1	0	0	—		—		26	1
	2006	Allsvenskan	25	0	1	0	—		—		25	0
	Total		51	1	1	0	—		—		52	1
Wigan Athletic (loan)	2006–07	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		1	0
Wigan Athletic	2007–08	Premier League	14	0	1	0	1	0	—		16	0
Helsingborgs IF (loan)	2008	Allsvenskan	11	1	0	0	—		—		11	1
Groningen	2008–09	Eredivisie	36	4	3	1	—		—		39	5
	2009–10	Eredivisie	34	6	3	1	—		—		37	7
	2010–11	Eredivisie	36	11	4	1	—		—		40	12
	Total		106	21	10	3	—		—		116	24
Genoa	2011–12	Serie A	28	1	2	0	—		—		30	1
	2012–13	Serie A	35	1	1	0	—		—		36	1
	Total		63	2	3	0	—		—		66	2
Krasnodar	2013–14	Russian Premier League	20	1	3	0	—		—		23	1
	2014–15	Russian Premier League	27	0	2	0	—		9	1	38	1
	2015–16	Russian Premier League	29	1	3	1	—		12	1	44	3
	2016–17	Russian Premier League	29	0	2	2	—		12	0	43	2
	2017–18	Russian Premier League	29	1	0	0	—		4	1	33	2
	Total		134	3	10	3	—		37	3	181	10
Helsingborgs IF	2018	Superettan	15	2	0	0	—		—		15	2
	2019	Allsvenskan	22	0	0	0	—		—		22	0
	2020	Allsvenskan	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2021	Superettan	5	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
	Total		43	2	0	0	—		—		43	2
Career total			422	30	26	6	1	0	37	3	486	39

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden
	2006	1	0
	2007	1	0
	2008	2	0
	2009	1	0
	2010	4	2
	2011	6	0
	2012	12	0
	2013	5	0
	2014	8	0
	2015	8	0
	2016	12	1
	2017	9	3
	2018	12	3
	2019	7	0
Total		88	9

Sweden's score is listed first, and the score column indicates the score after each Granqvist goal.

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 September 2010	Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden	7	San Marino	4–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
2	12 October 2010	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands	8	Netherlands	1–4	1–4	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
3	24 March 2016	Antalya Stadium, Antalya, Turkey	49	Turkey	1–1	1–2	Friendly
4	3 September 2017	Borisov Arena, Barysaw, Belarus	65	Belarus	4–0	4–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	7 October 2017	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	66	Luxembourg	1–0	8–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	7 October 2017	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	66	Luxembourg	6–0	8–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	18 June 2018	Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia	73	South Korea	1–0	1–0	2018 FIFA World Cup
8	27 June 2018	Central Stadium, Yekaterinburg, Russia	75	Mexico	2–0	3–0	2018 FIFA World Cup
9	17 November 2018	Konya Büyükşehir Stadium, Konya, Turkey	80	Turkey	1–0	1–0	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B