Magdalena Eriksson

Magdalena Eriksson
Eriksson after a match with Chelsea in 2019
Personal information
Full name Magdalena Lilly Eriksson
Date of birth 8 September 1993
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Centre-back, left-back
Team information
Current team
 Bayern Munich
Number 5
Youth career
Enskede IK
2009–2010 Hammarby IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011 Hammarby IF 19 (0)
2012 Djurgårdens IF 19 (1)
2013–2017 Linköpings FC 88 (5)
2017–2023 Chelsea 104 (8)
2023– Bayern Munich 7 (2)
International career‡
2008 Sweden U15 2 (0)
2009 Sweden U16 8 (1)
2009–2010 Sweden U17 18 (3)
2011–2012 Sweden U19 24 (0)
2013 Sweden U23 4 (0)
2014– Sweden 107 (12)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
FIFA Women's World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 France
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Australia/New Zealand
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
Winner 2012 Turkey
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 December 2023

Magdalena Lilly Eriksson (also Ericsson, born 8 September 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays for Frauen-Bundesliga side Bayern Munich and the Sweden national team. Primarily a centre-back, she can also play as a left-back.

At the beginning of her professional career, Eriksson played for the Stockholm clubs Hammarby IF and Djurgårdens IF until she moved to Linköpings FC in 2013, where she won two cup titles and the league title in 2016 during her five years at the club.

In 2017, Eriksson moved to England and signed for Chelsea in the Women's Super League (WSL). There, she established herself as one of the best central defenders in the league and was named team captain in 2019. With Chelsea, she won five WSL titles, and also reached the final of the UEFA Women's Champions League in the 2020–21 season. In 2020, she was named Swedish Footballer of the Year.

Eriksson, like her partner Pernille Harder, is also known for her LGBTQ+ advocacy and LGBTQ+ rights in sport.

Club career

Eriksson began her football career with local team Enskede IK, but was encouraged by her father to join Hammarby IF in order to improve her game. Aged 17, she broke into Hammarby's first team in the 2011 Damallsvenskan season and made her debut against Umeå IK.

In November 2011, Eriksson left relegated Hammarby for their Stockholm rivals Djurgårdens IF. After scoring one goal in 19 appearances in the 2012 Damallsvenskan, she left Djurgården, who were facing relegation, and joined Linköpings FC.

Eriksson (blue) with Chelsea in 2021

In July 2017, after almost five years with Linköpings FC, Eriksson signed a two-year contract with Women's Super League team Chelsea Ladies. In August 2018, she extended her contract until 2021, and eventually became the team's captain in 2019. She extended her contract once again in November 2020, this time until 2023. On 9 December 2020, Eriksson made her 100th appearance for Chelsea in a 5–0 Champions League win over Benfica.

For her performance over the years, and especially after Chelsea's WSL title-winning 2020–21 season, Eriksson was hailed as one of the best defenders in Europe. After six years with Chelsea, for whom she made over 180 appearances and won over 10 trophies, Eriksson left the club at the end of the 2022–23 season along with her partner Pernille Harder.

On 1 June 2023, Eriksson and Harder were unveiled as a new players of Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, signing three-year contracts.

International career

As a Swedish under-19 international, Eriksson was part of the victorious squad at the 2012 U-19 European Championship. In November 2013, national team coach Pia Sundhage called her to a senior squad training camp at Bosön. Eriksson made her debut for the senior Sweden team in a 3–0 friendly defeat by France in Amiens on 8 February 2014. She was part of the Swedish squad that won silver at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Eriksson has since represented Sweden at every major tournament, namely UEFA Women's Euro 2017, 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2020 Summer Olympics, UEFA Women's Euro 2022, and 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. At the 2020 Olympics, she won the silver medal after Sweden lost to Canada in the final on penalties.

Personal life

Eriksson's mother is of Finnish descent. She is openly lesbian and, since 2014, in a relationship with Danish international Pernille Harder. She and Harder work with the charity Common Goal and pledged 1% of their salaries to help tackle social issues throughout football. The couple also both push for equality and LGBTQ+ rights in sport.

During her upbringing, she assumed her last name was spelled with a C because that was how her father spelled it. When she was 17 and looked in her passport she realised it was actually spelled with a K. As such, her last name is often misspelled as "Ericsson" rather than the correct "Eriksson".

Eriksson has a bachelor's degree in political science and took a course in feminist theory and intersectional power analysis.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 May 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Leagues National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Hammarby IF 2011 Damallsvenskan 19 0 2 0 — — — 21 0
Djurgårdens IF 2012 Damallsvenskan 19 1 2 0 — — — 21 1
Linköpings FC 2013 Damallsvenskan 19 2 5 0 — — — 24 2
2014 16 0 4 0 — — — 20 0
2015 22 1 5 0 — 6 1 1 0 34 2
2016 21 2 5 2 — — 1 0 27 4
2017 10 0 0 0 — — — 10 0
Total 88 5 19 2 0 0 6 1 2 0 115 8
Chelsea 2017–18 Women's Super League 15 2 5 0 3 0 8 0 — 31 2
2018–19 19 2 4 0 5 0 7 0 — 35 2
2019–20 14 1 2 0 7 2 — — 23 3
2020–21 20 1 4 0 5 1 6 0 1 0 36 2
2021–22 16 1 2 1 0 0 6 0 — 24 2
2022–23 20 1 5 0 2 0 9 0 — 36 1
Total 104 8 22 1 22 3 36 0 1 0 185 12
Career total 230 14 45 3 22 3 42 1 3 0 342 21
  1. Includes Svenska Cupen Damer and Women's FA Cup
  2. Includes FA Women's League Cup
  3. Includes UEFA Women's Champions League
  4. Appearance(s) in Svenska Supercupen
  5. Appearance(s) in Women's FA Community Shield

International

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Eriksson goal.
List of international goals scored by Magdalena Eriksson
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 26 January 2016 Prioritet Serneke Arena, Gothenburg, Sweden Scotland

2–0

6–0

Friendly
2 21 October 2016 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Iran

2–0

7–0

Friendly
3

4–0

4

7–0

5 30 August 2018 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Ukraine

2–0

3–0

2019 FIFA World Cup qualification
6 4 October 2019 Diósgyőri Stadion, Miskolc, Hungary Hungary

1–0

5–0

UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying
7 17 September 2020 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Hungary

4–0

8–0

UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying
8 22 October 2020 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Latvia

4–0

7–0

UEFA Euro 2022 qualifying
9 30 July 2021 Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama, Japan Japan

1–0

3–1

2020 Olympics
10 21 September 2021 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Georgia

2–0

4–0

2023 FIFA World Cup qualification
11 22 September 2023 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Spain

1–0

2–3

2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
12 27 October 2023 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden Switzerland

1–0

1–0

2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League

Honours

Linköpings FC

Chelsea

Sweden U19

Sweden

Individual