Football in Sweden

"Swedish football" redirects here. For the 19th century code of football, see Swedish football (code).

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Football in Sweden

Country| Sweden
Governing body| SvFF
National team(s)| Sweden
First played| 1870; 155 years ago (1870)

National competitions

* FIFA World Cup
* UEFA European Championship
* UEFA Nations League

Club competitions

List

*     * League:
Allsvenskan
Damallsvenskan
Superettan
Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
Division 4
Division 5
Division 6
Division 7
Division 8
* Cups:
Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen (women)

International competitions

* FIFA Club World Cup
* UEFA Champions League
* UEFA Women's Champions League
* UEFA Europa League
* UEFA Conference League
* UEFA Super Cup

Strawberry Arena in Solna

Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240,000 licensed players (approximately 56,000 women and 184,000 men) with another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which are playing on the 7,900 pitches available in the country. Football was first played in Sweden in the 1870s, the first championship was decided in 1896 and the Swedish Football Association was founded in 1904. Despite being a relatively small country population-wise, both the men's and women's national teams and the club teams have gained rather large success from time to time.

## History

[edit]

The first Swedish national team in 1908.

Football, along with other organised sports, came to Sweden in the 1870s and was mainly exercised by gymnastics clubs which exercised most of the sports of the time. England and Scotland were the main sources of inspiration and it is thus not strange that football gained popularity fast, with the first agreement of rules made in 1885 by the clubs active in Gothenburg, Stockholm and Visby. The first international club match was played in 1890 and the first match with modern rules was played two years later in 1892.

The first association to administer a Swedish national football tournament was Svenska Idrottsförbundet, founded 1895 in Gothenburg, the dominating football town in Sweden, at the time. The association arranged Svenska Mästerskapet in 1896 which Örgryte IS won. The tournament was played until 1925 when the first national league, Allsvenskan, was started. In the late 1890s, the IFK associations began playing football, and by 1901, the first Kamratmästerskap (IFK championship) in football was arranged.

Football has grown since and there is currently around 3,300 clubs with 32,700 teams and with one million members, whereof about half a million are active players, altogether.

## League system

[edit]

Main article: Swedish football league system

The current national league system administered by the football association is organised as 1-1-2-6-12, where Allsvenskan is the highest Swedish level and Superettan the second highest, followed by two third level (Division 1), six fourth level (Division 2) and twelve fifth level leagues (Division 3).[1] Below Division 3 are several lower leagues, in some areas going all the way down to the ninth level, (Division 7), or in the case of Upplands FF, the tenth level (Division 8), overseen by regional football associations.

## Cup system

[edit]

Main article: Svenska Cupen

The national cup Svenska Cupen is played by all 32 teams from Allsvenskan and Superettan and 64 teams from the lower divisions. Which 64 teams from the lower divisions that get to play is decided by the number of licensed players in the football districts.

## International titles

[edit]

See also: Sweden men's national football team and Sweden women's national football team

The Sweden men's national football team played its first international football match in 1908 against Norway. The team has been fairly successful with one 2nd place in the 1958 World Cup, two third places (1950 and 1994) and a victory in the 1948 Summer Olympics. The Sweden women's national football team was once leading in the development of women's football and won the unofficial European Championships in 1984, a success the team has not managed to repeat, however, it won a silver in the 2003 World Cup.[2]

Swedish clubs have appeared in European club competition finals 10 times. In men's football, IFK Göteborg won the UEFA Cup twice, 1982 and 1987, and Malmö FF lost the European Cup final in 1979. In the women's game, Umeå IK won the UEFA Women's Cup twice, in 2003 and 2004, and lost in the final in 2001, 2007 and 2008; Djurgårdens IF Dam (then known as Djurgården/Älvsjö) lost in the final in 2005; and Tyresö FF lost in the final of the renamed UEFA Women's Champions League in 2014.

## Seasons

[edit]

Main article: Seasons in Swedish football

Swedish football began to have regular seasons from 1924 on, when Allsvenskan started. Before that, tournaments were played irregularly. Svenska Mästerskapet for example, the decider of the Swedish Champions in the early years, was played spring-autumn, while Svenska Serien, the national league, was played autumn-spring. Some years, it was played spring-autumn-spring due to various reasons, and other years it was not played at all due to economical trouble. In 1959, Swedish football changed from autumn-spring to spring-autumn seasons. Allsvenskan has not been suspended any season since its start.

The last five seasons:

* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018

## Swedish champions

[edit]

Main article: List of Swedish football champions

The current Swedish Champions title is held by the winners of Allsvenskan. The title has existed since 1896, although no club was given the title between 1926 and 1930. The 117 championships have been won by 19 different football clubs so far, with the top four title holders being Malmö FF (20 titles), IFK Göteborg (18 titles), IFK Norrköping (13 titles) and Örgryte IS (12). Clubs from the three largest cities in Sweden, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö have held the title the majority of the seasons, 78 in total, but there is also an example of a very small municipality being able to field a club capable of winning the title, as Åtvidabergs FF from Åtvidaberg held the title twice, in 1972 and 1973.

The last five holders of the title:

* 2014 – Malmö FF
* 2015 – IFK Norrköping
* 2016 – Malmö FF
* 2017 – Malmö FF
* 2018 – AIK
* 2019 – Djurgårdens IF
* 2020 – Malmö FF

## Women's football

[edit]

Main article: Women's football in Sweden

## Competition records

[edit]

### European Cup

[edit]

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the European Cup.

* Runner-up: Malmö FF (1978–79)
* Semi-finals: IFK Göteborg (1985–86)
* Quarter-finals: Djurgården (1955–56), IFK Malmö (1960–61), Åtvidabergs FF (1974–75), IFK Göteborg (1984–85, 1988–89)

### UEFA Champions League

[edit]

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Champions League.

* Quarter-finals: IFK Göteborg (1994–95)
* Group Stage: IFK Göteborg (1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98), AIK (1999–2000), Helsingborgs IF (2000–01), Malmö FF (2014–15, 2015–16, 2021-2021)

### UEFA Cup

[edit]

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Cup.

* Champions: IFK Göteborg (1981–82, 1986–87)
* Round of 32: Helsingborgs IF (2007–08)

### UEFA Europa League

[edit]

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Europa League.

* Round of 32: Östersund (2017–18), Malmö FF (2018–19, 2019–20)

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup

* Quarter-finals: Malmö FF (1974-1975, 1986-1987), IFK Göteborg (1979-1980), AIK (1996-1997), Åtvidabergs FF (1971-1972), [3]

### UEFA Women's Champions League

[edit]

The following teams have advanced to elimination rounds in the UEFA Women's Champions League or its predecessor, the UEFA Women's Cup.

Club names are current, not necessarily those used when a club competed in a given season.

* Champions: Umeå IK (2003, 2004)
* Runner-up:
* Umeå IK (2002, 2007, 2008)
* Djurgårdens IF Dam (2005)
* Tyresö FF (2014)
* Semi-finals:
* FC Rosengård (2004)
* Umeå IK (2010)
* Quarter-finals:
* Umeå IK (2005, 2009)
* Djurgårdens IF Dam (2006)
* Linköpings FC (2011, 2015)
* Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC (2012, 2013)
* FC Rosengård (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016)
* Round of 16:
* Linköpings FC (2010)
* FC Rosengård (2014)
* KIF Örebro DFF (2016)

## Largest football stadiums in Sweden

[edit]

Football stadiums with a capacity of at least 20,000 are included.

Overall Rank  | Image  | Stadium  | Capacity  | Club  | Division  | Rank in Respective Divisions  | Ref

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1 |  | Strawberry Arena | 50,653 | Sweden men's national football team | National stadium | N/A | [4]
AIK | Allsvenskan | 1
2 |  | Tele2 Arena | 30,000 | Djurgårdens IF | Allsvenskan | 2 | [5]
Hammarby | Allsvenskan | 2
3 |  | Stadion | 21,000 | Malmö FF | Allsvenskan | 3 | [6]

## See also

[edit]

* Football in Stockholm
* List of football stadiums in Sweden

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Swedish football: A beginner's guide to the Allsvenskan - The Local". Thelocal.se. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
2. ^ Tony Leighton (2009-05-19). "Seven deadly sins of football: England's shoot-out jinx begins - England, 1984 | Football". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
3. ^ "Europacuperna - resultat genom åren". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-12-18.
4. ^ "This is Friends Arena". Friends Arena. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
5. ^ "Välkommen till Tele2 Arena" (in Swedish). Tele2 Arena. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
6. ^ Malmö FF The Swedish FA. Accessed 30 March 2012

## References

[edit]

Print

* Alsiö, Martin; Frantz, Alf; Lindahl, Jimmy; et al., eds. (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904-2004, del 2: statistiken. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8.
* Andersson, Torbjörn (2002). Kung fotboll: den svenska fotbollens kulturhistoria från 1800-talets slut till 1950. Eslöv: Brutus Östlings bokförlag Symposion. ISBN 91-7139-565-2.
* Glanell, Tomas; Havik, Göran; Lindberg, Thomas; Persson, Gunnar; Ågren, Bengt, eds. (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904-2004, del 1. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8.
* Jönsson, Åke (2006). Fotboll: hur världens största sport växte fram. Lund: Historiska media. ISBN 91-85377-48-1.
* Nylin, Lars (2004). Den nödvändiga boken om Allsvenskan: svensk fotboll från 1896 till idag, statistik, höjdpunkter lag för lag, klassiska bilder. Sundbyberg: Semic. ISBN 91-552-3168-3.
* Persson, Lennart K. (2006). "Fotbollens uppkomst och tidiga utveckling i Sverige och Göteborg". Idrottsarvet: årets bok (2002): 31–69\. ISSN 0283-1791.

Online

* Repinski, Marek (2006). "Allsvenskan Just Nu". Archived from the original on 2006-05-19. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
* "SFS-Bolletinen". Sveriges Fotbollshistoriker och Statistiker. 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-15.
* "svenskfotboll.se". Swedish Football Association. 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-15.

## External links

[edit]

* association football portal
* Sweden portal

* Swedish Football Association

* v
* t
* e

Football in Sweden

* Swedish Football Association
* District Football Associations
* Swedish Professional Football Leagues
* Elite Football Women

National teams|

* Men's
* U21
* U19
* U17
* Futsal
* Beach
* Women's
* U23 [sv; de; it; pt]
* U19
* U17
* Futsal

League system|

| Men|

* Allsvenskan
* Superettan
* Ettan
* Division 2
* Division 3
* Division 4
* Division 5
* Division 6
* Division 7
* Division 8

|

Women|

* Damallsvenskan
* Elitettan
* Division 1
* Division 2
* Division 3
* Division 4
* Division 5
* Division 6

Cup competitions|

* Svenska Cupen
* men
* women
* ~~Defunct~~
* Svenska Supercupen

Lists of clubs|

* Men's clubs
* A
* Å
* Ä
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* Ö
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* Y
* Z
* Women's clubs

* Champions
* men's
* women's
* youth
* List of Svenska Cupen finals
* List of venues
* Records and statistics
* Derbies
* Europe
* men
* women
* List of competitions
* defunct

* v
* t
* e

Allsvenskan

2025 teams|

* AIK
* BK Häcken
* Degerfors IF
* Djurgårdens IF
* GAIS
* Halmstads BK
* Hammarby IF
* IF Brommapojkarna
* IF Elfsborg
* IFK Göteborg
* IFK Norrköping
* IFK Värnamo
* IK Sirius
* Malmö FF
* Mjällby AIF
* Östers IF

Former teams|

* AFC Eskilstuna
* Assyriska FF
* Billingsfors IK
* BK Derby
* Brynäs IF
* Dalkurd FF
* Enköpings SK
* Eskilstuna City
* Falkenbergs FF
* Gefle IF
* GIF Sundsvall
* Gårda BK
* Hallstahammars SK
* Helsingborgs IF
* Högadals IS
* IF Saab
* IFK Eskilstuna
* IFK Holmsund
* IFK Luleå
* IFK Malmö
* IFK Sundsvall
* IFK Uddevalla
* IK Brage
* IK Oddevold
* IK Sleipner
* IS Halmia
* Jönköpings Södra IF
* Kalmar FF
* Landskrona BoIS
* Ljungskile SK
* Ludvika FfI
* Motala AIF
* Norrby IF
* Redbergslids IK
* Reymersholms IK
* Råå IF
* Sandvikens AIK
* Sandvikens IF
* Stattena IF
* Syrianska FC
* Trelleborgs FF
* Umeå FC
* Varbergs BoIS
* Västerås IK
* Västerås SK
* Västra Frölunda IF
* Westermalms IF
* Åtvidabergs FF
* Örebro SK
* Örgryte IS
* Östersunds FK

Competition|

* Teams
* Players
* foreign players
* notable families
* Stadia

Statistics|

* All-time table
* Top scorers
* Hat-tricks

* v
* t
* e

Superettan

2024 teams|

* Degerfors IF
* Gefle IF
* GIF Sundsvall
* Helsingborgs IF
* IK Brage
* IK Oddevold
* Landskrona BoIS
* Sandvikens IF
* Skövde AIK
* Trelleborgs FF
* Utsiktens BK
* Varbergs BoIS
* Örebro SK
* Örgryte IS
* Östers IF
* Östersunds FK

Former teams|

* AFC Eskilstuna
* AIK
* Akropolis IF
* Assyriska FF
* BK Forward
* BK Häcken
* Bodens BK
* Bunkeflo IF
* Dalkurd FF
* Djurgårdens IF
* Enköpings SK
* FC Café Opera United/AFC United
* Falkenbergs FF
* FC Trollhättan
* Friska Viljor FC
* GAIS
* Gunnilse IS
* Halmstads BK
* Hammarby IF
* Husqvarna FF
* IF Brommapojkarna
* IFK Norrköping
* IFK Malmö
* IFK Värnamo
* IF Limhamn Bunkeflo
* IF Sylvia
* IK Frej
* Jönköpings Södra IF
* Kalmar FF
* Ljungskile SK
* Malmö FF
* Mjällby AIF
* Motala AIF
* Norrby IF
* Qviding FIF
* Syrianska FC
* Umeå FC
* Vasalunds IF
* Västerås SK
* Västra Frölunda IF
* Åtvidabergs FF
* Ängelholms FF

Players|

* Foreign players

* v
* t
* e

Ettan Fotboll

2025 Ettan Norra|

* AFC Eskilstuna
* Arlanda
* Assyriska
* Enköping
* Gefle
* Haninge
* Hammarby Talang
* Karlberg
* IF Karlstad
* Nordic United
* Sollentuna
* Stockholm Internazionale
* Stocksund
* Team Thoren
* Vasalund
* Örebro Syrianska

2025 Ettan Södra|

* Ariana
* Eskilsminne
* Jönköpings Södra
* Husqvarna
* Hässleholm
* Ljungskile
* Lund
* Norrby
* Olympic
* Oskarshamn
* Rosengård
* Skövde AIK
* IFK Skövde
* Torslanda
* Trollhättan
* Ängelholm

* v
* t
* e

Damallsvenskan

2022 teams|

* AIK
* BK Häcken
* Djurgårdens IF
* Eskilstuna United DFF
* FC Rosengård
* Hammarby IF
* IF Brommapojkarna
* IFK Kalmar
* KIF Örebro
* Kristianstads DFF
* Linköpings FC
* Piteå IF
* Umeå IK
* Vittsjö GIK

Former teams|

* Alviks IK
* Älvsjö AIK
* Bälinge IF
* BK Astrio
* Dalhem IF
* Dalsjöfors GoIF
* Falköpings KIK
* GAIS
* Gideonsbergs IF
* Holmalunds IF
* IF Limhamn Bunkeflo
* IF Trion
* IFK Lidingö
* IK Brage
* IK Uppsala
* Jitex BK
* Kungsbacka DFF
* Kvarnsvedens IK
* Lindsdals IF
* Lotorps IF
* Mallbackens IF
* Mariestad BoIS
* Ornäs BK
* Östers IF
* Öxabäck/Mark IF
* QBIK
* Själevads IK
* Stattena IF
* Strömsbro IF
* Sundbybergs IK
* Sundsvalls DFF
* Sunnanå SK
* Trollhättans IF
* Tyresö FF
* Umeå Södra FF
* Västerås BK30
* Växjö DFF

Statistics|

* All-time table
* List of clubs

Players|

* Players
* Foreign players
* Top scorers

* v
* t
* e

Seasons in Swedish football

| 2015| 2016| 2017| 2018| 2019| 2020| 2021| 2022| 2023| 2024| 2025

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* v
* t
* e

Football in Europe

Sovereign states|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Armenia
* Austria
* Azerbaijan
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Cyprus
* Czech Republic
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Georgia
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* England
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
* Wales
* Vatican City

States with limited
recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Kosovo
* Northern Cyprus
* South Ossetia
* Transnistria

Dependencies and
other entities|

* Åland
* Faroe Islands
* Gibraltar
* Guernsey
* Isle of Man
* Jersey
* Svalbard

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