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Mathias Jørgensen
Chelsea 1 Huddersfield 1 (Mathias Jørgensen) (cropped).jpg
Jørgensen playing for Huddersfield Town in 2018
Personal information
Full name Mathias Jattah-Njie Jørgensen
Date of birth (1990-04-23) 23 April 1990 (age 35)
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)
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:31, 27 December 2024 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:26, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

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.

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

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
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

Appearances and goals by national team and year
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.
List of international goals scored by Mathias Jørgensen
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

A friendly robot In Spanish: Mathias Jørgensen para niños

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