The Most Famous

HANDBALL PLAYERS from Sweden

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This page contains a list of the greatest Swedish Handball Players. The pantheon dataset contains 420 Handball Players, 28 of which were born in Sweden. This makes Sweden the birth place of the 5th most number of Handball Players behind Norway, and Russia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Swedish Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swedish Handball Players.

Photo of Magnus Wislander

1. Magnus Wislander (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 50.43, Magnus Wislander is the most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Hans Einar Magnus Wislander (born 22 February 1964) is a Swedish former handball player, who has been voted Handball Player of the Century. Since his debut in the national team in 1985 he has played over 380 games and scored over 1,000 goals. He played for Redbergslids IK, Gothenburg and THW Kiel.

Photo of Staffan Olsson

2. Staffan Olsson (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 49.05, Staffan Olsson is the 2nd most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Erik Staffan Olsson (born 26 March 1964) is a Swedish handball coach and former player. Olsson, who always played with no 13, was a left-handed right backcourt player with one of the most feared shots of all the elite players. Later in his career he won praise for his great playmaking skills. From September 2022 he is the head coach of the Netherlands' men’s national team.

Photo of Ljubomir Vranjes

3. Ljubomir Vranjes (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 43.39, Ljubomir Vranjes is the 3rd most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ljubomir Vranjes (born 3 October 1973) is a Swedish handball coach and former player who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is currently the sporting director of German team SG Flensburg-Handewitt.

Photo of Tomas Svensson

4. Tomas Svensson (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 43.08, Tomas Svensson is the 4th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Tomas Runar Svensson (born 15 February 1968) is a Swedish former professional handball goalkeeper who is currently goalkeeping coach of the Swedish men's national handball team, and an assistant coach for FC Barcelona.

Photo of Andreas Palicka

5. Andreas Palicka (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 42.58, Andreas Palicka is the 5th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Andreas Miroslav Palicka (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈpalɪka]; Czech: Palička, Czech pronunciation: [ˈpalɪtʃka]; born 10 July 1986) is a Swedish professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the Swedish national team.

Photo of Magnus Andersson

6. Magnus Andersson (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 41.60, Magnus Andersson is the 6th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Per Magnus Andersson (born 17 May 1966) is a Swedish handball manager and former player who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics and in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He was voted as the best Swedish handballer on four occasions. In 1992, he was a member of the Swedish handball team that won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament, playing all seven matches and scoring 18 goals. Four years later, he was part of the Swedish team which won the silver medal again, playing six matches and scoring 16 goals. At the 2000 Games, he won his third silver medal with the Swedish team, playing all eight matches and scoring ten goals.

Photo of Ola Lindgren

7. Ola Lindgren (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 41.56, Ola Lindgren is the 7th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Per Ola Markus Lindgren (born 29 February 1964) is a Swedish former handball player and current coach. He is the head coach for IFK Kristianstad since 2012 and was head coach for Sweden from 2008 to 2016. As a player, he won two World Championships, four European Championships and participated in four Olympic Games. He also won four Swedish Championships with Drott.

Photo of Katja Nyberg

8. Katja Nyberg (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 37.70, Katja Nyberg is the 8th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg (born 24 August 1979) is a naturalized Norwegian former handball player. She played 99 games and scored 321 goals for the Norwegian national team during her career. With the Norwegian team she won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a silver medal at the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship in France, as well as two gold medals and one silver medal at the European Championships.

Photo of Jim Gottfridsson

9. Jim Gottfridsson (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 36.38, Jim Gottfridsson is the 9th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Jim Gottfridsson (born 2 September 1992) is a Swedish handball player for SG Flensburg-Handewitt and the Swedish national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he has won five titles at club level, including the EHF Champions League, league championships and cup titles. With the national team, Gottfridsson won the 2022 European Championship, finished as runner-up at the 2018 European Championship and the 2021 World Championship, and placed third at the 2024 European Championship. He was named most valuable player (MVP) of the European Championship in 2018 and 2022, and voted best centre back of the World Championship in 2021. Gottfridsson represented Sweden at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Mia Hermansson-Högdahl

10. Mia Hermansson-Högdahl (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 35.68, Mia Hermansson-Högdahl is the 10th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Mia Hermansson-Högdahl (born 6 May 1965) is a Swedish team handball player. She was voted World Handball Player of the Year 1994 by the International Handball Federation. Hermansson-Högdahl has played 222 matches for the Swedish national team, and scored 1100 times. She was voted into the World team in 1987, 1991 and 1994. As a club player she won the Women's EHF Champions League with Hypo Niederösterreich two times (1993/94, 1994/95). She is the assistant coach of the Norwegian women's handball team since 2010. Her daughter, Moa Högdahl is also a professional handballer, playing for Viborg HK and the Norwegian national handball team.

People

Pantheon has 47 people classified as Swedish handball players born between 1960 and 2000. Of these 47, 46 (97.87%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Swedish handball players include Magnus Wislander, Staffan Olsson, and Ljubomir Vranjes. The most famous deceased Swedish handball players include Jonas Larholm. As of April 2024, 19 new Swedish handball players have been added to Pantheon including Mia Hermansson-Högdahl, Nathalie Hagman, and Jamina Roberts.

Living Swedish Handball Players

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Deceased Swedish Handball Players

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Newly Added Swedish Handball Players (2024)

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