Jonas Thern

Swedish footballer and manager

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Jonas ThernPersonal information

Full name|  Jonas Magnus Thern
Date of birth|  (1967-03-20) 20 March 1967 (age 57)
Place of birth|  Falköping, Sweden
Height|  1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)|  Midfielder, sweeper
Youth career
1982–1985|  IFK Värnamo
Senior career*
Years|  Team|  Apps|  (Gls)
1985–1987|  Malmö FF|  41|  (6)
1987|  FC Zürich|  5|  (0)
1988–1989|  Malmö FF|  35|  (5)
1989–1992|  Benfica|  100|  (10)
1992–1994|  Napoli|  48|  (1)
1994–1997|  Roma|  59|  (3)
1997–1999|  Rangers|  23|  (5)
Total|  |  308|  (31)
International career
1984–1985|  Sweden U19|  10|  (2)
1986–1988|  Sweden U21/O|  15|  (3)
1987–1997|  Sweden|  75|  (6)
Managerial career
2000–2001|  IFK Värnamo
2002–2003|  Halmstads BK
2010|  IFK Värnamo
2017|  Landskrona BoIS (assistant)
2019–2024|  IFK Värnamo

Medal record

Sweden
FIFA World Cup
| 1994 |

*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jonas Magnus Thern (born 20 March 1967) is a Swedish football manager who manages Allsvenskan club IFK Värnamo. He is also a former professional player who played as a midfielder. Starting off his career with Malmö FF in 1985, he went on to represent FC Zürich, Benfica, Napoli, Roma, and Rangers before retiring in 1999. A full international between 1987 and 1997, he won 75 caps for the Sweden national team and captained the Sweden side that finished third at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his country at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1990 FIFA World Cup, as well as UEFA Euro 1992. He was the recipient of the 1989 Guldbollen as Sweden's best footballer of the year.

## Club career

[edit]

Born in Falköping and raised in Värnamo, Thern started his professional career in 1985 when he joined Malmö FF, where he stayed for four years, winning two Allsvenskan titles in 1986 and 1988.

In 1989, Thern won the Guldbollen as Sweden's Footballer of the Year. That same year, he left for Benfica as part of a successful group of Scandinavian players that played there at the same time. It consisted of Danish international Michael Manniche (1983–1987), as well as the Swedish "armada" of Mats Magnusson (1987–1992), Thern (1989–1992), Glenn Strömberg (1982–84) and Stefan Schwarz (1990–94). Benfica were also coached by a Swede, Sven-Göran Eriksson (1982–1984 and 1989–1992).

Thern then played in Italy for Napoli and Roma. In 1997, he joined Rangers in Scotland, a move that lasted merely two years but nonetheless accompanied by silverware, a league title in 1999 – his final year in professional football – as frequent injuries forced him to retire early.

## International career

[edit]

For Sweden, he played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1992,[1] and then won the bronze medal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.[2] Thern also competed for Sweden at the 1988 Summer Olympics.[3] Thern was the Sweden captain for seven years, between 1990 and 1997.

## Coaching career

[edit]

After he retired as a player he became head coach for IFK Värnamo between 2000 and 2001 and Halmstads BK 2001–2003.

In 2021, he led IFK Värnamo to promotion to Allsvenskan for the first time ever in the club's history.[4]

## Personal life

[edit]

Jonas has a son, Simon, who is also a footballer. His daughter, Alicia, is an equestrian.

## Career statistics

[edit]

### International

[edit]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team | Season | Apps | Goals

|
|
|

Sweden
1987 | 2 | 0
1988 | 10 | 3
1989 | 8 | 1
1990 | 4 | 1
1991 | 6 | 1
1992 | 9 | 0
1993 | 4 | 0
1994 | 11 | 0
1995 | 6 | 0
1996 | 8 | 0
1997 | 7 | 0
Total | 75 | 6

International goals

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition

|
|
|
|
|
|

1. | 12 January 1988 | Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain |  East Germany | 2–1 | 4–1 | Friendly
2. | 4–1
3. | 15 January 1988 | Estadio Municipal de Maspalomas, Maspalomas, Spain |  Finland | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly
4. | 16 August 1989 | Malmö Stadion, Malmö, Sweden |  France | 1–0 | 2–4 | Friendly
5. | 27 May 1990 | Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden |  Finland | 6–0 | 6–0 | Friendly
6. | 4 September 1991 | Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden |  Yugoslavia | 4–2 | 4–3 | Friendly

## Honours

[edit]

### Club

[edit]

Malmö

* Swedish Champion: 1986, 1988
* Allsvenskan: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989
* Svenska Cupen: 1985–86, 1987–88]

Benfica

* Primeira Divisão: 1990–91
* Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 1989
* European Cup runner-up: 1989–90

Rangers

* Scottish Premier League: 1998–99

### International

[edit]

* FIFA World Cup third place: 1994

### Individual

[edit]

* Guldbollen: 1989

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hughes, Rob (10 June 1992). "Confidence and flair: Dutch favored in Euro 92". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
2. ^ Ridley, Ian (17 July 1994). "Sweden are the third men". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
3. ^ "Jonas Thern Biography and Statistics". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
4. ^ "Thern firade – med champagne och cigarr: "Inte hänt sedan 1996"". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 November 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Jonas Thern at Soccerbase

* v
* t
* e

Guldbollen

* 1946: Gren
* 1947: G. Nordahl
* 1948: B. Nordahl
* 1949: K. Nordahl
* 1950: E. Nilsson
* 1951: Åhlund
* 1952: K. Svensson
* 1953: Gustavsson
* 1954: S. Svensson
* 1955: Löfgren
* 1956: Sandberg
* 1957: Johansson
* 1958: Bergmark
* 1959: Simonsson
* 1960: Jonsson
* 1961: Nyholm
* 1962: Öberg
* 1963: Bild
* 1964: Mild
* 1965: B. Larsson
* 1966: Kindvall
* 1967: Svahn
* 1968: Nordqvist
* 1969: T. Svensson
* 1970: Olsson
* 1971: Hellström
* 1972: Edström
* 1973: B. Larsson
* 1974: Edström
* 1975: Karlsson
* 1976: Linderoth
* 1977: R. Andersson
* 1978: Hellström
* 1979: Möller
* 1980: Zetterlund
* 1981: Ravelli
* 1982: T. Nilsson
* 1983: Hysén
* 1984: Dahlkvist
* 1985: Strömberg
* 1986: Prytz
* 1987: P. Larsson
* 1988: Hysén
* 1989: Thern
* 1990: Brolin
* 1991: Limpar
* 1992: Eriksson
* 1993: Dahlin
* 1994: Brolin
* 1995: P. Andersson
* 1996: R. Nilsson
* 1997: Zetterberg
* 1998: H. Larsson
* 1999: Schwarz
* 2000: Hedman
* 2001: P. Andersson
* 2002: Ljungberg
* 2003: Mellberg
* 2004: H. Larsson
* 2005: Ibrahimović
* 2006: Ljungberg
* 2007: Ibrahimović
* 2008: Ibrahimović
* 2009: Ibrahimović
* 2010: Ibrahimović
* 2011: Ibrahimović
* 2012: Ibrahimović
* 2013: Ibrahimović
* 2014: Ibrahimović
* 2015: Ibrahimović
* 2016: Ibrahimović
* 2017: Granqvist
* 2018: Lindelöf
* 2019: Lindelöf
* 2020: Ibrahimović
* 2021: Forsberg
* 2022: Kulusevski
* 2023: Kulusevski

* v
* t
* e

Swedish Football Hall of Fame inductees

2003|

* Bergmark
* Edström
* Gustafsson
* Johanson
* Jonasson
* Kock
* E. Nilsson
* T. Nilsson
* G. Nordahl
* Rydell
* Sundhage

2004|

* Börjesson
* Gren
* Lindberg
* Nordqvist
* Persson

2005|

* F. Johansson
* Larsson
* Liedholm
* K. Svensson

2006|

* Börjesson
* Hamrin
* Raynor
* Skoglund

2007|

* Ekroth
* Hysén
* L. Johansson

2008|

* Carlson
* Kindvall
* Simonsson

2009|

* G. Andersson
* Carrick
* Jeppson

2010|

* Brolin
* Friberg
* B. Nordahl
* Rosengren

2011|

* Bernmar
* Hellström
* Videkull

2012|

* Carlsson
* Magnusson
* Ravelli

2013|

* Lundahl
* Selmosson
* T. Svensson

2014|

* Å. Johansson
* Pettersson
* Thern

2015|

* P. Andersson
* Axelsson
* Halldén
* Leidinge
* Linde

2016|

* S. Andersson
* Dahlin
* Kornerup

2017|

* Eriksson
* Holmberg
* Jansson
* Prytz

2018|

* K. Andersson
* K. Nordahl
* S. Svensson

2019|

* Alfredsson
* Moström
* Parling
* Strömberg

2020|

* Hammarbäck
* Larsson
* Ljungberg
* Schwarz
* Torstensson

2021|

* Arnesson
* Gustavsson
* Keller
* Paijkull

2022|

* Gelbord
* Ljungberg
* Rosén
* Sandell
* Svenjeby

2023|

* E. Andersson
* Friberg
* Lindberg
* Lyfors

Sweden squads

* v
* t
* e

Sweden football squad – 1988 Summer Olympics

* 1 S. Andersson
* 2 Vaattovaara
* 3 Lönn
* 4 Arnberg (c)
* 5 R. Nilsson
* 6 Thern
* 7 Engqvist
* 8 M. Andersson
* 9 J. Nilsson
* 10 Limpar
* 11 Lindman
* 12 B. Nilsson
* 13 Dahlin
* 14 Eskilsson
* 15 Hellström
* 16 Ljung
* 17 Eriksson
* 18 Svensson
* 19 Palmér
* 20 Rehn
* Coach: Lennartsson

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Andersson
* 2 J. Eriksson
* 3 Hysén (c)
* 4 Larsson
* 5 Ljung
* 6 R. Nilsson
* 7 Nyhlén
* 8 Schwarz
* 9 Engqvist
* 10 Ingesson
* 11 Jansson
* 12 L. Eriksson
* 13 Limpar
* 14 J. Nilsson
* 15 Strömberg
* 16 Thern
* 17 Brolin
* 18 Ekström
* 19 Gren
* 20 Magnusson
* 21 Pettersson
* 22 Ravelli
* Coach: Nordin

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – UEFA Euro 1992 semi-finalists

* 1 Ravelli
* 2 R. Nilsson
* 3 J. Eriksson
* 4 P. Andersson
* 5 Björklund
* 6 Schwarz
* 7 Ingesson
* 8 Rehn
* 9 Thern (c)
* 10 Limpar
* 11 Brolin
* 12 L. Eriksson
* 13 M. Nilsson
* 14 Erlingmark
* 15 Jansson
* 16 K. Andersson
* 17 Dahlin
* 18 Ljung
* 19 J. Nilsson
* 20 Ekström
* Coach: Svensson

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup third place

* 1 Ravelli
* 2 R. Nilsson
* 3 P. Andersson
* 4 Björklund
* 5 Ljung
* 6 Schwarz
* 7 Larsson
* 8 Ingesson
* 9 Thern (c)
* 10 Dahlin
* 11 Brolin
* 12 Eriksson
* 13 M. Nilsson
* 14 Kåmark
* 15 Lučić
* 16 Limpar
* 17 Rehn
* 18 Mild
* 19 K. Andersson
* 20 Erlingmark
* 21 Blomqvist
* 22 Hedman
* Coach: Svensson

* v
* t
* e

Halmstads BK – managers

* Helgesson (1928)
* Olsson (1933–35)
* Magnusson (1936)
* F. Bengtsson (1936)
* Bruce (1937–39)
* Magnusson (1940)
* Wiberg (1941)
* Bercowics (1942–43)
* Nilsson (1944)
* Molnar (1945–46)
* Wiberg (1947)
* Simon (1948)
* Persson (1949)
* Eriksson & Svensson (1949–50)
* Ericsson (1951–53)
* Persson (1953–54)
* Ahlström (1954–55)
* Ericsson (1956–58)
* Firics (1958)
* Wampetits (1959)
* Peterson (1960–62)
* Ludvigsson & Vaide (1963)
* Ståhl (1963)
* Johansson & Ericsson (1964–65)
* Kalmár (1966)
* S. Bengtsson & Hallgren (1967)
* G. Andersson (1968–70)
* Holmberg (1971)
* S. Bengtsson (1971)
* B. Andersson (1972)
* Larsson (1973–75)
* Hodgson (1976–80)
* R. Andersson (1980)
* Mak (1981–84)
* Lundin (1984–86)
* Rosén (1986–87)
* Baxter (1988–91)
* Jingblad (1992–95)
* Prahl (1996–2001)
* Thern (2002–03)
* J. Andersson (2004–09)
* Jacobsson (2010)
* Clotet (2011)
* Gustafsson (2011–14)
* Jönsson (2015–17)
* Krulj (2017–19)
* Haglund (2019–)

*[Apps]: League appearances
*[Gls]: League goals
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Carrick]: Robert Carrick
*[Halldén]: Carl-Elis Halldén