Gunnar Nordahl


Nils Gunnar Nordahl was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, in which he won the scudetto twice, and also the title of pluricapocannoniere, with an unprecedented five top scorer awards, more than any other player in the history of the Italian championship.
Nordahl is Milan’s all-time record goalscorer, and he long held the record for most goals for a single club in the history of Italian league, before being surpassed by Francesco Totti in January 2012. He still holds the record for goals per appearance in Italy. He had several nicknames in Italy, whereof the most famous was Il Cannoniere. He was also known as Il Pompiere and Il Bisonte.
A full international between 1942 and 1948, he won 33 caps and scored 43 goals for the Sweden national team. He represented his country at the 1948 Summer Olympics, where he was the joint top scorer alongside Denmark's John Hansen as Sweden won gold.
Nordahl is considered to be one of the greatest Swedish players and one of the best strikers of all-time. In 2017, he was included in FourFourTwo magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of all time, at the 54th position.
He is the father of former footballer Thomas Nordahl.

Club career

Sweden

Nordahl started out at Hörnefors IF in Sweden before moving to first Degerfors IF and then IFK Norrköping. He won four Swedish championships with IFK Norrköping and once scored seven goals in one game. During his time in Swedish clubs, Nordahl scored 149 goals in 172 matches.

Italy

Nordahl transferred to AC Milan on 22 January 1949. This made him the first Swedish player to play in a foreign league. Later, he would team up with his national team strike partners, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm to form the renowned Gre-No-Li trio. Playing eight seasons with Milan, he is Serie A's multi-top-scorer a record five times. Nordahl is also Milan's all-time top-scorer, with 210 league goals.
Nordahl is the third-highest Serie A goalscorer of all time, with 225 goals in 291 matches, only behind Silvio Piola and Francesco Totti. That makes Nordahl the top goalscorer among non-Italian players, and he is also the most efficient goalscorer goals in Serie A ever with 0.77 goals/match. He was nicknamed Il Pompiere, because of his former job while he played in Sweden.
After leaving Milan, Nordahl played for Roma for two seasons. Nordahl's record for most goals scored in Serie A of 35 in 1949–50 in a season was broken by Gonzalo Higuaín in the 2015–16 season who scored 36. Nordahl, together with the mentioned Gre-No-Li is today legendary in Milan. When Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko scored his 100 goal in Serie A for Milan, it is said that some old Milanese supporters commented: "Well he can double that number, and then add another 26, then, and just then, he has passed Il Cannoniere."

International career

Nordahl was first called up to the Sweden national team in 1942. In 1948, he helped Sweden to win the Olympic football tournament, achieving top tournament scoring status. The Swedish team also included his brothers Bertil and Knut Nordahl. Nordahl's transfer to Milan forced him to retire from the national team, as the rules at the time prevented professionals from serving on the Sweden national team and unavailable to the 1950 FIFA World Cup as were Gren and Liedholm. His 33 matches in the national team resulted in scoring 43 goals.
However, both Nordahl and other Swedish professionals appeared in the euphemistic Sveriges proffslandslag during the 1950s. The latter was discontinued in 1958, when Sweden, like many other nations, lifted the professional ban for respective national team consideration.

Career statistics

International

DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef.
128 June 1942Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–03–0Friendly
24 October 1942Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–02–1Friendly
320 June 1943Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–22–3Friendly
412 September 1943Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–02–3Friendly
512 September 1943Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–12–3Friendly
67 November 1943Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary4–27–2Friendly
77 November 1943Üllői úti stadion, Budapest, Hungary5–27–2Friendly
824 June 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–12–1Friendly
91 July 1945Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–14–3Friendly
1030 September 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–14–1Friendly
1121 October 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–010–0Friendly
1221 October 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden3–010–0Friendly
1321 October 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden8–010–0Friendly
1421 October 1945Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden10–010–0Friendly
157 July 1946Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden7–27–2Friendly
166 October 1946Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden3–23–3Friendly
1715 June 1947Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark1–04–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship
1815 June 1947Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark2–04–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship
1926 June 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden4–06–1Friendly
2028 June 1947Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland1–15–1Friendly
2128 June 1947Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland2–15–1Friendly
2228 June 1947Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland3–15–1Friendly
2328 June 1947Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland4–15–1Friendly
2424 August 1947Ryavallen, Örebro, Sweden2–07–01937–47 Nordic Football Championship
2524 August 1947Ryavallen, Örebro, Sweden4–07–01937–47 Nordic Football Championship
2624 August 1947Ryavallen, Örebro, Sweden5–07–01937–47 Nordic Football Championship
2714 September 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–15–4Friendly
2814 September 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden4–25–4Friendly
295 October 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–04–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship
305 October 1947Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden3–14–11937–47 Nordic Football Championship
3119 November 1947Highbury, London, England1–22–4Friendly
322 August 1948White Hart Lane, London, England1–03–01948 Summer Olympics
332 August 1948White Hart Lane, London, England2–03–01948 Summer Olympics
345 August 1948Selhurst Park, London, England2–012–01948 Summer Olympics
355 August 1948Selhurst Park, London, England4–012–01948 Summer Olympics
365 August 1948Selhurst Park, London, England9–012–01948 Summer Olympics
375 August 1948Selhurst Park, London, England10–012–01948 Summer Olympics
3813 August 1948Wembley Stadium, London, England2–13–11948 Summer Olympics
3919 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway1–15–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship
4019 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway2–25–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship
4119 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway3–25–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship
4219 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway4–25–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship
4319 September 1948Ullevaal Stadium, Oslo, Norway5–25–31948–51 Nordic Football Championship

Honours

IFK Norrköping
AC Milan
Sweden
Individual
Records
  • Most goals scored for AC Milan: 221
  • Most Serie A Top Scorer titles: 5
  • Most consecutive Serie A Top Scorer titles: 3
  • Most braces scored in Serie A: 49
  • Most hat-tricks scored in Serie A: 17