Viktor Claesson - Wikiwand

Viktor Johan Anton Claesson (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈvɪ̌kːtɔr ˈklɑ̌ːsɔn]; born 2 January 1992) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a left winger for the Danish Superliga club Copenhagen and the Sweden national team. He is known for his passing and set piece abilities.^[2]^[3]

Quick Facts Personal information, Full name ...

Viktor Claesson
Personal information
Claesson playing for Sweden in 2019
Full name	Viktor Johan Anton Claesson^[1]
Date of birth	(1992-01-02) 2 January 1992 (age 33)
Place of birth	Värnamo, Sweden
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Left winger
Team information
Current team	Copenhagen
Number	7
Youth career
–2008	IFK Värnamo
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2011	IFK Värnamo	71	(29)
2012–2016	IF Elfsborg	134	(32)
2017–2022	Krasnodar	114	(32)
2022–	Copenhagen	86	(24)
International career^‡
2008	Sweden U17	2	(0)
2009–2010	Sweden U19	9	(3)
2011–2015	Sweden U21	20	(1)
2012–	Sweden	74	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 March 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:49, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Summarize

Perspective

Early career

Claesson started his career with local club IFK Värnamo. After progressing through the youth ranks, he made his senior debut in 2009 in a Division 1 Södra match. After a breakthrough campaign during the 2011 Superettan season, Claesson join IF Elfsborg in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football.

Krasnodar

On 25 January 2017, Claesson signed a 3.5-year contract with Russian Premier League team FC Krasnodar.^[4] He scored on his debut on 16 February 2017 in a 1–0 Europa League Round of 32 win against Turkish Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe, scoring a header on his first touch in any competitive Krasnodar game in the 4th minute. He was selected by UEFA as "Man of the Match".^[5] He continued his form with two goals in a Russian Cup game against FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast on 28 February 2017^[6] and a goal against Celta de Vigo in the first leg of Europa League Round of 16 on 9 March 2017.^[7]

Claesson missed all of the 2019–20 season with a serious knee injury.^[8]

2020–21 season

Out of action for over 14 months, Claesson returned from injury on 18 August 2020, playing the last 15 minutes of Krasnodar's 2–0 home win over Arsenal Tula in the Russian Premier League.^[8] On 18 September, he scored his first two goals since his return from injury in a 7–2 thrashing of Khimki.^[9] Four days later, Claesson scored from the penalty spot in the club's first-leg play-off round match against PAOK for qualification to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.^[10] Krasnodar would win the second leg against PAOK by the same scoreline and secure progression to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.^[11]

2021–22 season

On 3 March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Krasnodar announced that his contract was suspended and he would not train with the team, but the contract was not terminated and remained valid.^[12] On 5 March 2022, his contract was terminated and he was released from the club.^[13]

Copenhagen

On 30 March 2022, Claesson signed with Copenhagen in Denmark until the end of the season.^[14] On 3 April, he scored the winning goal in his debut match for the club after coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute.

On 16 June 2022, Claesson signed an extension with Copenhagen until 2026.^[15]

International career

In May 2018, Claesson was named in Sweden’s 23 man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.^[16] He was one of Sweden's main men for the duration of the tournament, in which the Blågult reached the quarterfinals.

In a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier against Spain on 10 June 2019, Claesson suffered a serious knee injury, rupturing the cruciate knee ligaments, after a clash with Jordi Alba.^[8]

He was named in Sweden's UEFA Euro 2020 squad, and appeared in all four games as Sweden was eliminated in the round of 16 by Ukraine.^[17] He scored the winning goal in a 3–2 win against Poland in the group stage.^[17] On 19 November 2023, Claesson registered one goal and one assist against Estonia in their 2-0 win in their European Qualifiers game.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 16 March 2025^[18]

More information Club, Season ...

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
IFK Värnamo	2009	Division 1 Södra	16	5	–		–		–		16	5
	2010	Division 1 Södra	25	11	1	0	–		2	0	28	11
	2011	Superettan	29	13	1	0	–		–		30	13
	Total		70	29	2	0	–		2	0	74	29
IF Elfsborg	2012	Allsvenskan	27	5	0	0	6^[b]	2	–		33	7
	2013	Allsvenskan	23	3	3	0	8^[c]	3	–		34	6
	2014	Allsvenskan	26	5	7	2	6^[b]	0	–		39	7
	2015	Allsvenskan	29	11	5	3	6^[b]	1	–		40	15
	2016	Allsvenskan	29	8	3	2	–		–		32	10
	Total		134	32	18	7	26	6	0	0	178	45
Krasnodar	2016–17	Russian Premier League	13	1	1	2	4^[b]	2	–		18	5
	2017–18	Russian Premier League	30	10	0	0	4^[b]	2	–		34	12
	2018–19	Russian Premier League	29	12	4	1	9^[b]	2	–		42	15
	2019–20	Russian Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0
	2020–21	Russian Premier League	24	6	1	0	8^[d]	2	–		33	8
	2021–22	Russian Premier League	18	3	2	0	–		–		20	3
	Total		114	32	8	3	25	8	0	0	147	43
Copenhagen	2021–22	Danish Superliga	10	1	–		–		–		10	1
	2022–23	Danish Superliga	30	13	7	3	8^[e]	1	–		45	17
	2023–24	Danish Superliga	26	5	4	0	11^[e]	2	–		41	7
	2024–25	Danish Superliga	20	5	3	1	11^[f]	1	–		34	7
	Total		86	24	14	4	30	4	–		130	32
Career total			404	117	42	14	81	18	2	0	529	149

Includes Svenska Cupen, Russian Cup, Danish Cup
Appearances in UEFA Europa League
Two appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
Six appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
Appearances in UEFA Champions League
Appearances in UEFA Conference League

Thumb — Claesson playing for Krasnodar in 2017.

International

As of match played 19 November 2023^[19]

More information National team, Year ...

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2012	2	1
	2013	2	0
	2014	0	0
	2015	0	0
	2016	3	0
	2017	12	2
	2018	14	1
	2019	4	3
	2020	5	1
	2021	15	3
	2022	8	2
	2023	9	2
Total		74	15

As of match played 19 November 2023.^[20]

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Claesson goal.

More information No., Date ...

List of international goals scored by Viktor Claesson
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	23 January 2012	Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar	Qatar	2–0	5–0	Friendly	^[21]
2	28 March 2017	Estádio do Marítimo, Funchal, Portugal	Portugal	1–2	3–2	Friendly	^[22]
3	28 March 2017	Estádio do Marítimo, Funchal, Portugal	Portugal	2–2	3–2	Friendly	^[22]
4	10 September 2018	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Turkey	2–0	2–3	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B	^[23]
5	23 March 2019	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Romania	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	^[24]
6	26 March 2019	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–2	3–3	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	^[25]
7	7 June 2019	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Malta	2–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying	^[26]
8	17 November 2020	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	France	1–0	2–4	2020–21 UEFA Nations League A	^[27]
9	25 March 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Georgia	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	^[28]
10	23 June 2021	Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg, Russia	Poland	3–2	3–2	UEFA Euro 2020	^[29]
11	2 September 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Spain	2–1	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification	^[30]
12	24 September 2022	Rajko Mitić Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia	Serbia	1–0	1–4	2022–23 UEFA Nations League B	^[31]
13	19 November 2022	Stadion, Malmö, Malmö, Sweden	Algeria	2–0	2–0	Friendly	^[32]
14	9 September 2023	Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	5–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	^[33]
15	19 November 2023	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Estonia	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	^[34]