Nilla Fischer
Swedish footballer (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Åsa Nilla Maria Fischer (born 2 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer and police officer. She played for FC Rosengård, Linköping FC and VfL Wolfsburg at club level and for the Sweden national team between 2001 and 2022.[7]
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Fischer in 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Åsa Nilla Maria Fischer[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 2 August 1984[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kristianstad, Sweden[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verums GoIF | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Vittsjö GIK | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2003 | Kristianstad/Wä DFF | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2011 | LdB FC Malmö | 136 | (24) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Linköping FC | 33 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2019 | VfL Wolfsburg | 125 | (11) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Linköping | 49 | (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Sweden U17 | 12[4] | (3[4]) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Sweden U20 | 24[4] | (4[4]) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2022 | Sweden | 189[a] | (23[4]) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
Fischer won most of her caps for Sweden as a defensive midfielder after her debut versus Norway in January 2001.[8] She was converted to a centre back by coach Pia Sundhage in 2013.[9]
The change in position coincided with an upturn in goalscoring form for Fischer, who scored three times for hosts Sweden at UEFA Women's Euro 2013.[10] Her performances in Sweden's run to the semi-finals prompted a contract offer from European Champions VfL Wolfsburg and Fischer agreed to move to Germany from 1 January 2014.[11] In August 2013, the clubs reached a deal for "grateful" Fischer's immediate transfer.[12] Fischer played the first competitive game for her new side in the Bundesliga 2013–14 season opener against Bayern Munich in front of a home crowd of 8,249 fans on 7 September 2013.
On 28 March 2022 Fischer announced through her Instagram that she wouldn't take part in the forthcoming Team Sweden campaign in UEFA Women's Euro 2022 on grounds that she didn't want to spend most of the summer away from her family.[13][unreliable source?] During the championship she appeared as a studio expert in the broadcasts from Swedish public service channel SVT.
On 27 September 2022, Fischer announced her retirement from Team Sweden.[14] On 12 December the same year, she announced her retirement from soccer, and that she would instead educate herself to become a police officer.[15]
On 27 December 2022, she decided to retire from playing. She graduated from the Swedish police academy in July 2025, and started working full-time as a police officer.[16]
Matches and goals scored at World Cup and Olympic tournaments
Nilla Fischer has represented Sweden in four World Cups (China 2007, Germany 2011, Canada 2015, France 2019) and three Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016.) Her squad finished in third place in two of those World Cups (2011 and 2019), and won a silver medal in Rio.
Twice during Olympic play she scored her team's only goal of the match, securing wins against Argentina in 2008 and South Africa in 2016.
Her 35th-minute goal against the USA on the final day of group play in the 2011 World Cup would prove to be the match winner. That result put Sweden atop their group, and is the only time the Americans have suffered defeat in the group stage of a World Cup.[17]
Gender equality and LGBT rights
In regards to women's football, Fischer was described in 2017 as "one of the sport’s most important voices in support of gender equality and LGBT rights".[18]
Personal life
Career statistics
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- Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fischer goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 February 2007 | Larnaca, Cyprus |  Scotland |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 3 | 5 March 2008 | Lagos, Portugal |  Finland |
2–0 | 3–1 | 2008 Algarve Cup |
| 4 | 3 May 2008 | Székesfehérvár, Hungary |  Hungary |
4–0 | 6–0 | Euro 2009 qualifying |
| 7 | 6 March 2009 | Lagos, Portugal | Finland |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2009 Algarve Cup |
| 8 | 9 March 2009 | Faro, Portugal |  Germany |
1–0 | 3–2 | 2009 Algarve Cup |
| 9 | 3 March 2010 | Albufeira, Portugal |  China |
2–0 | 2–0 | 2010 Algarve Cup |
| 10 | 31 March 2010 | Broughton, Flintshire, Wales |  Wales |
1–0 | 4–0 | 2011 World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 6 July 2001 | Wolfsburg, Germany |  United States |
2–0 | 2–1 | 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup |
| 12 | 17 January 2012 | La Manga, Spain |  Norway |
1–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 13 | 25 July 2012 | Coventry, Great Britain |  South Africa |
1–0 | 4–1 | Olympics 2012 |
| 19 | 12 February 2015 | Uusimaa, Finland | Finland |
3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 21 | 3 August 2016 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | South Africa |
1–0 | 1–0 | Olympics 2016 |
| 22 | 8 March 2017 | Albufeira, Portugal |  Russia |
2–0 | 4–0 | 2017 Algarve Cup |
| 23 | 24 October 2017 | Borås, Sweden | Hungary |
2–0 | 5–0 | 2019 World Cup qualification |
| Key (expand for notes on "world cup and olympic goals") | |
|---|---|
| Location | Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred |
| Lineup | Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time |
| Min | The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal. |
| Assist/pass | The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information. |
| penalty or pk | Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.) |
| Score | The match score after the goal was scored. |
| Result | The final score. W – match was won |
| aet | The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation |
| pso | Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time |
| Pink background color – Olympic women's football tournament | |
| Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament | |
Honours
LdB FC Malmö
- Damallsvenskan: 2010, 2011
- Svenska Supercupen: 2011
VfL Wolfsburg
- UEFA Women's Champions League: 2013–14
- Bundesliga: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
- DFB-Pokal: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
Sweden
- FIFA Women's World Cup third place: 2011, 2019
- Summer Olympics runner-up: 2016
- Algarve Cup: 2009
Sweden U19
- Nordic Cup runner-up: 2004[20]
Sweden U17
- Nordic Cup: 2000; runner-up 2001[21]
Individual
- UEFA Women's Championship Silver Boot: 2013
- UEFA Women's Championship All Star Team: 2013
- Fotbollsgalan Best female defense in Sweden: 2013, 2014
- UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award third place: 2014
- FIFA FIFPro World XI: 2016[22]
- IFFHS World's Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020[23]
- IFFHS UEFA Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020[24]
