kids encyclopedia robot

Andreas Granqvist facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Andreas Granqvist
SWE-SWI (13) (cropped) 2.jpg
Granqvist with Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Date of birth (1985-04-16) 16 April 1985 (age 39)
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

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.

Krasnodar-CSKA (4)
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
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 6–0
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

Honours

Helsingborgs IF

Individual

  • Guldbollen: 2017
  • Fotbollsgalan Best Defender: 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
  • FIFA World Cup Fantasy Team: 2018

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Andreas Granqvist para niños

kids search engine
Andreas Granqvist Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.