Mathias Jørgensen facts for kids
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Jørgensen playing for Huddersfield Town in 2018
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mathias Jattah-Njie Jørgensen | ||
| Date of birth | 23 April 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Copenhagen, Denmark | ||
| Height | 1.91 m | ||
| Playing position | Centre-back, right-back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | LA Galaxy | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1994–2007 | B.93 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2007–2012 | Copenhagen | 92 | (6) |
| 2012–2014 | PSV Eindhoven | 14 | (2) |
| 2013–2014 | Jong PSV | 7 | (1) |
| 2014–2017 | Copenhagen | 93 | (4) |
| 2017–2019 | Huddersfield Town | 62 | (3) |
| 2019–2021 | Fenerbahçe | 18 | (2) |
| 2020 | → Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Copenhagen (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2021–2024 | Brentford | 40 | (2) |
| 2024–2025 | Anderlecht | 17 | (0) |
| 2025– | LA Galaxy | 0 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Denmark U16 | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Denmark U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2007 | Denmark U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2008–2012 | Denmark U21 | 15 | (1) |
| 2008–2024 | Denmark | 37 | (2) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
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Mathias Jattah-Njie Jørgensen (born 23 April 1990) is a Danish professional footballer. He is often called Zanka, which is his nickname. Mathias plays as a defender, either in the centre-back or right-back position. He currently plays for the Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.
Jørgensen started his football journey at FC Copenhagen. He played there for five seasons in the top Danish league, the Danish Superliga. In 2012, he moved to PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands. After two seasons, he returned to FC Copenhagen. In 2017, he joined the English club Huddersfield Town. He later played for Fenerbahçe in Turkey. In 2021, he came back to the Premier League to play for Brentford.
Mathias also played for Denmark's national teams at different age levels. He played for the under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-21 teams. He made his first appearance for the senior Denmark national team when he was 18 years old in 2008.
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Mathias Jørgensen's Club Career
Mathias Jørgensen was born in Denmark. His mother is Danish, and his father is Gambian. He joined FC Copenhagen from a nearby club called B.93. He even played for B.93's first team when he was only 16. On June 26, 2007, he signed a three-year contract with FC Copenhagen. Before this, he had a trial with Arsenal for a week.
Early Days at FC Copenhagen
Soon after joining FC Copenhagen, Mathias got injured. He strained a knee ligament in a reserve team match on July 21, 2007. But he was back playing by September 9. His first game for the main team was on September 26, 2007. It was a cup match against FC Fredericia. He came on as a substitute, and FC Copenhagen won 3–1. Three days later, he played his first game in the Danish Superliga.
Just eight days after his first team debut, Mathias played in a big UEFA Cup match. This was against RC Lens at Parken Stadium. He had to come on during extra time because the team captain got a red card. Mathias played in central defense and helped his team prevent more goals.
In 2008, he played his first game for the Denmark national football team. This was a friendly match against Wales. When Roland Nilsson became the manager for FC Copenhagen, Mathias became the team captain. In 2012, it was announced that Mathias would move to the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
Playing for PSV Eindhoven
Mathias joined PSV Eindhoven in July 2012. He scored his first goal for PSV in a pre-season game against S.L. Benfica. However, he found it hard to get a regular spot in the team. He only played 14 matches for PSV over two years.
Coming Back to FC Copenhagen
On July 7, 2014, Mathias Jørgensen returned to his old team, FC Copenhagen. The club paid about 600,000 Euros for him.
Time at Huddersfield Town
On July 7, 2017, Huddersfield Town signed Mathias from FC Copenhagen. They paid £3.5 million for him. He signed a three-year contract. Mathias played 65 games for Huddersfield Town. After the 2018–19 season, the team was moved down to a lower league.
Moving to Fenerbahçe
On August 10, 2019, Mathias joined Fenerbahçe in Turkey. The details of this transfer were not shared.
He later went on loan to Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany. This was until the end of the 2019–20 season. On October 5, 2020, he went back to FC Copenhagen again on loan. This loan lasted until the end of the 2020–21 season.
Playing for Brentford
On September 9, 2021, Mathias joined Brentford, another Premier League club. He signed a one-year contract. He had some injuries during the 2021–22 season. He played 10 games and scored one goal. When his contract ended in June 2022, Brentford announced he would leave. However, they allowed him to train with them to recover from an injury. This helped him find a new club. In July 2022, he joined Brentford's pre-season training camp. On August 22, 2022, he signed a new one-year contract with the club.
Joining Anderlecht
On August 15, 2024, Mathias Jørgensen joined Anderlecht. This is a club in the Belgian Pro League. He signed a one-year deal. On August 17, 2024, he played his first game for Anderlecht. He started the match and helped his team win 3-1 against KV Mechelen. He also made his first assist for the club.
Playing for LA Galaxy
On January 15, 2025, Mathias signed a two-year contract with Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.
Mathias Jørgensen's International Career
In May 2018, Mathias was chosen for Denmark's team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In a match against Croatia, he scored the first goal very early in the game. Later, he made a smart foul in the penalty area to stop Croatia from scoring. This led to a penalty kick, but the Danish goalkeeper saved it. The game ended in a 1-1 draw. It then went to a penalty shootout, which Denmark lost.
In May 2021, he was part of Denmark's team for UEFA Euro 2020. Denmark did very well and reached the semi-finals. He was also selected for UEFA Euro 2024, where Denmark reached the last 16.
Mathias Jørgensen's Personal Life
Mathias Jørgensen is married to Nanna Ottosen. They got married in April 2022 in Chelsea, London. They have a son, who was born on October 31, 2021.
Mathias cares about making football a welcoming place for everyone. In 2016, he wrote an article about making football fair for all players. In 2017, he donated a large sum of money to help start a campaign called "Fodbold for alle" (Football for all). He also visited schools to talk about making football a sport where everyone feels included and respected.
How Mathias Jørgensen Got His Nickname "Zanka"
Mathias Jørgensen got his nickname "Zanka" from the movie Cool Runnings. In the movie, there is a character named Sanka. Johan Lange gave him this nickname in 2000. At that time, both Mathias and Johan were playing for B.93. Johan Lange later became an assistant manager at FC Copenhagen when Mathias played there. He was also the technical director when Mathias returned to the club in 2014.
Career Statistics
Club Appearances and Goals
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Copenhagen | 2007–08 | Danish Superliga | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| 2008–09 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | 33 | 5 | |||
| 2010–11 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 11 | 0 | 37 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | |||
| Total | 92 | 6 | 3 | 1 | — | 34 | 0 | 129 | 7 | |||
| PSV Eindhoven | 2012–13 | Eredivisie | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | |
| 2013–14 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||
| Total | 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 7 | 1 | 24 | 4 | |||
| Jong PSV | 2013–14 | Eerste Divisie | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||
| Copenhagen | 2014–15 | Danish Superliga | 29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | 42 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | 31 | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 39 | 4 | |||
| 2016–17 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 15 | 2 | 51 | 2 | |||
| Total | 93 | 4 | 12 | 1 | — | 27 | 3 | 132 | 8 | |||
| Huddersfield Town | 2017–18 | Premier League | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 40 | 0 | |
| 2018–19 | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 3 | |||
| Total | 62 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 65 | 3 | |||
| Fenerbahçe | 2019–20 | Süper Lig | 16 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 19 | 3 | ||
| 2020–21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 18 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 21 | 3 | ||||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf (loan) | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | —!!11 | 1 | |||
| Copenhagen (loan) | 2020–21 | Danish Superliga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | —!!27 | 1 | |||
| Brentford | 2021–22 | Premier League | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | |
| 2022–23 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | |||
| Total | 40 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 48 | 2 | |||
| Anderlecht | 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League | 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 7 | 0 | 26 | 1 | |
| Career total | 378 | 21 | 31 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 75 | 5 | 490 | 32 | ||
International Appearances and Goals
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 2008 | 1 | 0 |
| 2010 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Denmark's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Jørgensen goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 July 2018 | Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia | 15 |  Croatia |
1–0 | 1–1 (2–3 p) | 2018 FIFA World Cup |
| 2 | 26 March 2019 | St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland | 22 |  Switzerland |
1–3 | 3–3 | UEFA Euro 2020 qualification |
Mathias Jørgensen's Honours and Awards
FC Copenhagen
- Danish Superliga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2016–17
- Danish Cup: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17
Individual Awards
- Players' Talent of the Year: 2008
- Arla Talent of the Year: 2008
- Arla U-19 National Team Talent of the Year: 2008
- F.C. Copenhagen Player of the Year: 2017
See also
In Spanish: Mathias Jørgensen para niños
