Nathalie Björn

Nathalie Björn
Björn with Everton in 2021
Personal information
Full name Gun Nathalie Björn[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-04) 4 May 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Uppsala, Sweden
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender, central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 14
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 Vaksala SK
2013 IK Sirius 8
2014–2015 AIK 34 (0)
2016–2017 Eskilstuna United 39 (0)
2018–2021 Rosengård 68 (4)
2021–2024 Everton 44 (2)
2024– Chelsea 17 (2)
International career‡
2013 Sweden U17 11 (2)
2014–2015 Sweden U19 29 (5)
2016– Sweden 69 (6)
Medal record
Women's soccer
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
FIFA Women's World Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 France Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Australia/New Zealand Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 December 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 December 2024

Gun Nathalie Björn (born 4 May 1997) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Sweden national team.[2]

Club career

Early career

Björn started at Vaksala SK, a sports club in Uppsala, for which she played in the Swedish Cup at age 14. In 2013, as a 16-year-old, she played for IK Sirius in the Elitettan, the second division in Swedish football that was newly founded that year. Finishing third, the club narrowly missed promotion to the Damallsvenskan. Björn then moved to second-placed AIK and played for them in the first division the following season, where they narrowly avoided relegation as third-to-last. In the 2015 season, the club came last and was relegated again. Björn then moved to runners-up Eskilstuna United. With this she came third in 2016 and 2017 and took part in the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League, where she played over 90 minutes in the two wins against Glasgow City FC in the round of 16. In the round of 16 against VfL Wolfsburg she was substituted in after 81 minutes.[citation needed]

Rosengård

Björn playing for Rosengård against Slavia Prague, November 2018

After two seasons with Eskilstuna, Björn moved to runner-up FC Rosengård, with whom she finished third in the 2018 season. On May 18, 2018, she became cup winner with Rosengård and won her first national title. In the 2018/19 Champions League, she played the full distance in four games, but was eliminated in the round of 16 after a 3-2 home defeat and a goalless away draw against Slavia Prague. On the first matchday of the 2019 season, she scored the only goal of the game in the 90th minute against her old club Eskilstuna United, making her her first ever league goal.[3][4] Overall, she was used in 17 of 22 games in the season that ended with her team winning the championship. In the 2020 season she was used in all 22 games.[citation needed]

Everton

In 2021, after eight games in the Damallsvenskan season, Björn moved to Everton where she received a three-year contract.[5] In the final fixture of the 2021–22 season, she scored her first goal for Everton in the 1-1 draw against Brighton.[6] In the 2022–23 season, she was in the 81st percentile for tackles among center backs.[7] She was named Player of the Season for 2022–23.[8] Along with her Swedish teammate Hanna Bennison, Björn progressed the furthest in the 2023 World Cup of any Everton player.[9] After coming back from injury earlier in November, her successful penalty kick against Aston Villa gave Everton a 2-1 win in one of her last games with the club.[10][11]

Chelsea

On January 10, 2024, Björn signed for Chelsea in a three-and-a-half-year deal as the club's first signing of the year.[12] She made her debut for the club on January 14 in the 3-1 FA Cup victory against West Ham, coming on as a substitute for Jess Carter in the 59th minute.[13] She made her first start for the team the following week, playing a full 90 minutes and assisting a goal in the 3-1 win over Manchester United.[14] On March 3, she opened scoring in the 4-0 victory against Leicester City in the 38th minute, her first goal for Chelsea.[15] On May 18, she started and helped Chelsea to keep a clean sheet in a 0-6 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford on the final day of the season as the club clinched a 5th consecutive WSL title on goal difference ahead of Manchester City. It was Björn's 1st trophy as a Chelsea player.[16]

International career

Youth

Björn went through the Swedish junior national teams. She was runner-up with the U17 team in the 2013 European Championship. In the first match of the 2015 U19 European Championship, she opened scoring in the 3-0 win against Israel, and her team ultimately won a title.[17] She then took part in the first qualifying round for the 2016 U19 European Championship, which Sweden successfully completed with three wins. However, she did not play in the elite round in April 2016, in which Sweden were eliminated.[citation needed]

Senior

On October 21, 2016, she made her first appearance in the senior national team. In the 7-0 win against Iran, who were playing in Europe for the first time, she was in the starting line-up and was one of only three players not substituted.[18]  Three days later she played in her second senior international match in a goalless draw against Norway, but was only substituted on four minutes before the end of the game.[19] After several games as captain with the U-23 team in 2018, she was back in the starting line-up on October 9, 2018 in the 0-1 away defeat against Italy.[20] She came on as a substitute after an hour in the 2-0 win against England at the end of the international season. She played over 90 minutes in the 1-2 defeat against Portugal in the 2019 Algarve Cup, where she scored her first international goal.[21]

On May 16 she was nominated for the 2019 World Cup.[22] At the World Cup she was used for the first time in the group final against the USA and played over 90 minutes. Sweden lost 2-0, but moved into the round of 16 as second in the group, where she came on as a substitute against Canada in the 79th minute. In the quarterfinals, Sweden won a competitive game against Germany again after 24 years and thus qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games. Björn came on as a substitute four minutes before the end of the game. In the semi-finals they lost to European champions Netherlands after extra time, but then won the game for third place against England, in which she was back in the starting line-up and substituted after 72 minutes.[23]

She was also nominated for the 2020 Olympics, which were postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24]  During the games she was used in all of her team's games, coming on as a substitute twice in the second half. In the final penalty shootout against Canada, she was the first Swede to be successful, but Sweden won the silver medal, as in 2016.[25]

In the successful qualification for the 2023 World Cup, she was used in five games, but only came on as a substitute in stoppage time in the first game. She was unable to take part in the games in November 2021.[26]  At the Euro 2022 finals in England, which was also postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she was used in her team's five games. With a 4-0 defeat against hosts England, Sweden were eliminated in the semi-finals.[27]

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 World Cup.[28] She played in six of her team's seven games, only resting along with some other regular players in the third group game; otherwise she didn't miss a minute. Due to a 1-2 defeat in the semifinals against eventual champions Spain, she and her team missed the final.[29] She won the bronze medal with a 2-0 victory over Australia in the game for third place.[30]

Career statistics

International

As of match played 3 December 2024[31]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2016 2 0
2018 2 0
2019 13 3
2020 5 0
2021 12 1
2022 12 0
2023 15 2
2024 8 0
Total 69 6
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Björn goal.
List of international goals scored by Nathalie Björn
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 1 March 2019 Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira, Portugal  Portugal 1–0 1–2 2019 Algarve Cup [32]
2 9 April 2019 Motion invest Arena, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria  Austria 2–0 2–0 Friendly
3 8 October 2019 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Slovakia 4–0 7–0 Euro 2022 qualifying [33]
4 23 February 2021 Hibernians Stadium, Paola, Malta  Malta 3–0 3–0 Friendly
5 16 February 2023 Marbella Football Center, Marbella, Spain  China 4–1 4–1 [34]
6 11 April 2023 Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden  Norway 2–2 3–3

Honours

FC Rosengård

Chelsea

Sweden U19

Sweden U17

Personal life

Björn is in a relationship with Italian footballer Aurora Galli.[35]

References

  1. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™ List of Players – Sweden" (PDF). FIFA. 27 May 2019. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Nathalie Bjorn is a Blue!". Chelsea F.C. 10 January 2024. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Eskilstuna United vs. Rosengård - 14 April 2019 - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Björn matchvinnare för FC Rosengård – FC Rosengård" (in Swedish). 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Björn Joins Everton". www.evertonfc.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Björn Strikes As Everton End Season With Draw". www.evertonfc.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ^ "How does Chelsea Women's newest signing Nathalie Björn fit into the side?". The Pride of London. 13 January 2024. Archived from the original on 15 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Everton Award Winners Revealed". www.evertonfc.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  9. ^ Downey, Sophie (26 September 2023). "Women's Super League 2023-24 previews No 6: Everton". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Everton beat Villa to move clear of relegation zone". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Bjorn: Everton Fight Key For Success". www.evertonfc.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Chelsea sign defender Bjorn from Everton". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Chelsea Women v West Ham United Women". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 January 2024. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  14. ^ "James scores three as Chelsea beat Man Utd". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Macario scores as Chelsea beat Leicester to go top". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Chelsea wrapped up a sensational fifth successive Women's Super League title by thrashing Manchester United at Old Trafford in Emma Hayes' final game in charge". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  17. ^ UEFA.com. "Israel-Sweden | Women's Under-19 2015". UEFA.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Sverige - Iran - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 21 October 2016. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Norge - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 24 October 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Italien - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  21. ^ Informação, Sul (1 March 2019). "Portugal beats mighty Sweden at the start of the Algarve Cup". Sul Informação. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Gerhardssons VM-trupp presenterad". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 16 May 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  23. ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™: England - Sweden". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Truppen till OS i Japan". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  25. ^ "Canada wins Olympic gold over Sweden on Julia Grosso penalty in women's soccer final".
  26. ^ "Larsson ersätter Björn". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 21 November 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  27. ^ "England cruise past Sweden to reach Euro 2022 final". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Sweden veteran Seger to play at fifth World Cup". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  29. ^ "Results & fixtures". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Game for third place". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  31. ^ "Nathalie Björn - Sperlarstatistik". Svensk Fotboll (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  32. ^ "Portugal–Sverige – Matchfakta" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. March 2019. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  33. ^ "Sweden-Slovakia". UEFA. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  34. ^ "Sweden Women vs China Women". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  35. ^ L-Mag.de: Das sind die 59 lesbischen Stars der Fussball-EM 2022 (German) Archived 21 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine, July 2022