Zlatan Ibrahimović scored his first Allsvenskan goal for Malmö FF on 30 October 1999, against Västra Frölunda, in the season in which he broke into the senior team. Born in Malmö on 3 October 1981, the Swedish centre-forward went on to play for Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy, and retired at Milan in June 2023. For Sweden he won 122 caps and scored 62 goals between 2001 and 2023.
Malmö and the move to Ajax
He came through the youth ranks in his home city and was promoted to the Malmö FF first team for the 1999 season. The club were relegated that year, and in Superettan in 2000 Ibrahimović scored twelve goals as they returned to the top flight. Across his three seasons at Malmö he made 40 league appearances and scored 16 goals. In March 2001 Ajax announced his signing, completed that July for around 80 million Swedish kronor (€8.7 million). In Amsterdam he won the Eredivisie in 2001–02 and 2003–04.
Juventus and Inter
In August 2004 he joined Juventus. In his two seasons in Turin the team finished top of Serie A both times, but both titles were stripped following the Calciopoli scandal, which also sent the club down to Serie B. In August 2006 he moved to Inter, where he won three consecutive Serie A titles, in 2007, 2008 and 2009. In 2008–09 he was the league’s top scorer, the capocannoniere, with 25 goals.
Barcelona and the return to Italy
Barcelona signed him in July 2009 in a deal the Catalan club’s records valued at almost €70 million. In his only season at the Camp Nou he won the Supercopa de España, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009, and the Spanish league title in 2010. In August 2010 he joined AC Milan on loan, a move later made permanent, and in 2011 he won the Scudetto and the Supercoppa Italiana with the Rossoneri.
Paris Saint-Germain
In July 2012 he moved to Paris Saint-Germain. In his first season he scored 30 league goals and won Ligue 1, the club’s first league title since 1994. Further championships followed in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and he was the Ligue 1 top scorer in 2012–13, 2013–14 and 2015–16. On 4 October 2015 he became the club’s all-time leading scorer, reaching 110 goals in all competitions.
Manchester United and LA Galaxy
He joined Manchester United as a free agent on 1 July 2016 and scored the winner in a 2–1 victory over Leicester City in the Community Shield. In the 2016–17 season United also won the EFL Cup and the UEFA Europa League. On 20 April 2017 he suffered serious ligament damage to his right knee in the Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht at Old Trafford. In March 2018 he moved to LA Galaxy and on 31 March scored twice on his debut, a 4–3 win over Los Angeles FC. He finished his two seasons in Major League Soccer with 52 goals in 56 appearances.
Second spell at Milan
Ibrahimović returned to AC Milan in January 2020. Over three and a half seasons he made 58 appearances and scored 26 goals in all competitions, and in 2022 he won Serie A, the fifth Italian league title of his career. He announced his retirement on 4 June 2023, after Milan’s final league match of the 2022–23 season.
Sweden national team
He made his Sweden debut on 31 January 2001 in a goalless friendly against the Faroe Islands. He played at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and at the European Championships of 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. At Euro 2012 he scored with a volley in a 2–0 group-stage win over France. On 14 November 2012, in the first match played at the Friends Arena, he scored all four Swedish goals against England; one of them, a bicycle kick from around 35 yards, earned him the FIFA Puskás Award in 2013. He announced his international retirement on 21 June 2016, effective after Euro 2016, and was recalled to the squad on 15 March 2021. He finished with 62 goals in 122 matches, a Swedish record, and won the Guldbollen, the award for the country’s best footballer, 12 times, including ten in a row from 2007 to 2016.
