List of Sweden national football team captains explained

The Sweden men's national football team (Swedish: Sveriges herrlandslag i fotboll) represents the nation of Sweden in international association football. The team is controlled by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) (Swedish: Svenska Fotbollförbundet) and competes as a member of the UEFA and the FIFA. The team played its first official international match on 12 July 1908 against Norway, winning 11–3.^[1] Since the match against Norway, 1,206 players have made at least one international appearance for the team.^[2] Of them, 149 have served as captain of the national team.^[3] This list contains footballers who have served as captain of the Sweden national team and is listed according to their number of matches captained.

The Sweden national team's record appearance-maker as captain is Björn Nordqvist, who led the team out 92 times during his 115-cap tenure. He is the only player to have captained Sweden at the three different major tournaments; 1970 FIFA World Cup, 1974 FIFA World Cup and 1978 FIFA World Cup. During the tournament in 1974, Bo Larsson was the first-choice captain, but Nordqvist wore the armband in the last match against Yugoslavia. Zlatan Ibrahimović is the player with second most captaincies. Original a vice captain behind Henrik Larsson, he took over the armband in the summer of 2010 and wore it until his international retirement in 2016.^[4] Midfielder Jonas Thern and defender Erik Nilsson are the most successful captains regarding medals. Thern led Sweden to a semi-final in UEFA Euro 1992 and a third place in 1994 FIFA World Cup. Nilsson led Sweden to third places in both 1950 FIFA World Cup and 1952 Summer Olympics. Birger Rosengren became the first and so far only Swedish captain to win a major international competition after leading the team in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Nils Rosén captained Sweden in their first World Cup in 1934 and Nils Liedholm led the team to their best performance in the World Cup, runners-up in 1958.

Captains

Players are initially listed by number of matches captained, followed by the chronological order of the first captaincy. Only players who started the match as captain are included here, not players that might have been given the armband due to the starting captain being injured, sent off or substituted off.

Statistics correct as of 8 June 2024.

Key

	Still active for the national team
	Captained the team at a major international tournament

+ List of Sweden national team football players who have served as captain of the team	Rank	Player	Sweden career	Caps as captain	Total caps	First to last captaincy
1			92	115
2		2001–2023	58	122	2008–2016
3		1987–1997	55	75	1989–1997
4		1978–1985	47	69	1981–1985
5		1992–2002	41	96	1995–2002
6		1951–1965	38	94	1959–1965
7		1938–1952	37	57	1947–1952
8		2000–2012	36	117	2002–2006
9		2006–2019	33	88	2016–2019
10		1915–1928	30	41	1920–1928
11		1951–1963	29	57	1953–1962
12		1981–1990	23	68	1987–1990
13		1955–1965	22	53	1956–1964
		1986–2000	22	116	1989–2000
		2016–	22	68	2021–2024
16		1999–2013	21	148	2007–2013
17		1935–1946	17	41	1941–1946
		1997–2004	17	49	1998–2004
19		1979–1987	15	58	1985–1987
20		1957–1967	14	51	1966–1967
		2008–2021	14	133	2013–2021
22		1932–1940	13	42	1935–1940
		1998–2008	13	75	2006–2008
24		1924–1932	11	31	1925–1931
25		1921–1931	10	33	1926–1931
		1928–1933	10	14	1929–1933
		1964–1978	10	70	1973–1974
28		1911–1921	9	33	1914–1921
		1945–1948	9	9	1945–1948
30		1926–1931	8	10	1926–1930
		1938–1947	8	34	1946–1947
		1976–1985	8	49	1979–1980
		1993–2009	8	106	2008–2009
34		1911–1915	7	9	1912–1915
		1908–1924	7	32	1913–1924
		1929–1932	7	11	1931–1932
		1930–1938	7	27	1935–1938
		1950–1954	7	31	1951–1954
		1997–2009	7	74	2006–2009
		2002–2016	7	133	2010–2016
41		1908–1911	6	7	1908–1911
		1909–1913	6	10	1911–1912
		1910–1920	6	8	1915–1920
		1908–1920	6	26	1917–1920
		1932–1936	6	12	1933–1936
		1925–1934	6	25	1934
		1988–1995	6	45	1992–1994
		1993–2008	6	109	2005–2007
		1999–2008	6	76	2005–2008
		2008–2021	6	90	2020–2021
51		1908–1922	5	17	1913–1919
		1915–1921	5	11	1920–1921
		1933–1937	5	11	1937
		1940–1958	5	57	1957–1958
		1947–1958	5	23	1958
		1968–1974	5	55	1972–1973
		1981–1997	5	143	1990–1995
58		1923–1932	4	43	1929–1932
		1925–1934	4	35	1933
		1924–1938	4	25	1934–1938
		1968–1980	4	77	1978–1979
		1976–1980	4	17	1979–1980
		2011–2023	4	70	2019–2023
64		1911–1916	3	6	1911–1916
		1919–1930	3	30	1925–1926
		1931–1937	3	29	1935–1937
		1930–1939	3	32	1939
		1959–1966	3	7	1963
		1972–1980	3	40	1979
		1974–1980	3	20	1979–1980
		1980–1989	3	41	1987–1988
		1991–2001	3	74	2001
		2012–2020	3	27	2018–2019
		2014–	3	89	2022
75		1908–1909	2	6	1908–1909
		1912–1919	2	4	1919
		1911–1922	2	18	1920–1922
		1921–1923	2	2	1921–1923
		1921–1923	2	6	1923
		1922–1927	2	12	1925–1927
		1932–1935	2	9	1932
		1926–1936	2	17	1935
		1935–1946	2	35	1938–1945
		1937–1947	2	7	1939–1947
		1943–1948	2	3	1946–1948
		1945–1950	2	26	1949
		1967–1973	2	40	1970
		1973–1977	2	38	1974–1975
		1986–1990	2	18	1990
		1983–1992	2	47	1991
		1984–1992	2	22	1992
		1994–2000	2	30	1997
		2001–2003	2	5	2001–2003
		1996–2004	2	36	2002–2004
		2003	2	3	2003
		2003–2013	2	50	2009
		2002–2015	2	85	2015
		2015–2016	2	3	2016
		2014–2018	2	15	2017
		2019–2022	2	19	2020–2021
		2012–	2	74	2023
102		1910–1911	1	2	1910
		1911–1918	1	8	1916
		1916	1	1	1916
		1913–1917	1	3	1917
		1909–1919	1	14	1918
		1921	1	1	1921
		1919–1923	1	7	1921
		1915–1923	1	29	1922
		1915–1924	1	14	1924
		1919–1925	1	37	1924
		1921–1924	1	2	1924
		1924–1929	1	21	1926
		1927	1	1	1927
		1928	1	1	1928
		1925–1930	1	4	1930
		1930	1	1	1930
		1923–1932	1	10	1932
		1937	1	1	1937
		1937–1949	1	16	1943
		1949	1	1	1949
		1941–1950	1	23	1950
		1951–1956	1	31	1951
		1948–1954	1	11	1954
		1954–1965	1	27	1963
		1957–1968	1	28	1967
		1965–1974	1	43	1974
		1970–1979	1	19	1979
		1976–1981	1	23	1981
		1996–1997	1	8	1997
		1990–1998	1	37	1998
		2001–2009	1	43	2001
		2000–2001	1	11	2001
		2001–2014	1	16	2003
		2002–2009	1	64	2004
		1995–2006	1	86	2005
		2007–2013	1	9	2011
		2011–2014	1	6	2014
		2013–2019	1	18	2014
		2015–2018	1	9	2018
		2014–2018	1	6	2018
		2013–	1	9	2019
		2018–	1	5	2019
		2020	1	1	2020
		2009–2021	1	32	2020
		2015–	1	75	2022
		2022–	1	13	2023
		2022–	1	4	2023
		2014–	1	33	2024

Chronology

This is a chronology list of the first-choice captains in Sweden's tournament games. Matches in FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship and Olympic Games are included here.^{[5] [6]}

Key

	Champions
	Runners-up
	Third place
	Fourth place

FIFA World Cup

Year	Incumbent
1934
1938
1950
1958
1970
1974
1978
1990
1994
2002
2006
2018

UEFA European Championship

Year	Incumbent
1992
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020

Olympic Games

Year	Incumbent
1908
1912
1920
1924
1936
1948
1952

External links

• Sweden at EU Fotball

Notes and References

1. Web site: 90 år sedan första landskampen. April 1998. 7 July 2016. Bolletinen. PDF. Swedish.
2. Web site: Sveriges landslagsmän. 7 July 2016. SvFF. Swedish.
3. Book: Alsiö . Martin . Frantz . Alf . Lindahl . Jimmy . Persson . Gunnar . 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904–2004, del 2: statistiken . Stroemberg Media Group . 2004 . Vällingby . Swedish . 91-86184-59-8.
4. Web site: Zlatan blir lagkapten. 16 July 2010. 8 July 2016. Aftonbladet. Swedish.
5. Web site: Sweden at EU Football. 13 July 2016. EU Football. Swedish.
6. Web site: Kontaktuppgifter och tävlingar. 13 July 2016. Svenskfotboll. Swedish.