Hjalmar Ekdal

Hjalmar Ekdal (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjǎlmar ˈêːkdɑːl]; born 21 October 1998) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Burnley and the Sweden national team.

Hjalmar Ekdal

Ekdal playing for Sirius in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Hjalmar Ekdal[1]
Date of birth	(1998-10-21) 21 October 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth	Stockholm, Sweden[2]
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Burnley
Number	18
Youth career
0000–2017	IF Brommapojkarna
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017	UNC Wilmington Seahawks	20	(2)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2019	IK Frej	30	(3)
2018	→ Assyriska FF (loan)	1	(0)
2019–2020	Hammarby IF	0	(0)
2019	→ IK Frej (loan)	15	(0)
2020	→ IK Sirius (loan)	26	(0)
2021–2023	Djurgårdens IF	50	(7)
2023–	Burnley	17	(1)
2025	→ Groningen (loan)	14	(0)
International career‡
2018	Sweden U19	2	(0)
2020	Sweden U21	1	(0)
2022–	Sweden	9	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14:57, 19 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 13:54, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Beginning his professional career with IK Frej in 2018, Ekdal briefly represented Assyriska FF, Hammarby IF, and IK Sirius before signing with Djurgårdens IF in 2021.

Club career

Early career

Ekdal was born in Stockholm and started to play football with IF Brommapojkarna as a youngster.^[4] In 2017, he left to club to study in the United States and play college soccer for UNC Wilmington Seahawks.^[5] While in the US, he played in 20 games and scored two goals as the Seahawks reached the final of the 2017 CAA Men's Soccer Tournament before losing 4–2 to William & Mary Tribe.^[6]

IK Frej

In May 2018, Ekdal returned to his native country and signed a two-year deal with IK Frej in Superettan, Sweden's second tier.^[7] He played 15 league games throughout the year, scoring once, as the club finished 9th in the table.^[8] Ekdal also made one appearance out on loan with Assyriska FF in Division 1, the third tier.^[9]

In 2019, Ekdal had a major breakthrough and established himself in the starting eleven at IK Frej.^[10] He played all 30 league games in Superettan during the season, scoring twice, but was unable to save the club from relegation.^[8]

Hammarby IF

On 19 July 2019, Ekdal transferred to Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, signing a two-year deal.^[11] It was also announced that he would remain eligible for affiliated club IK Frej for the rest of the season.^[10] On 3 March 2020, Ekdal was sent on loan to fellow Allsvenskan club IK Sirius for the remainder of the season.^[12]

Djurgårdens IF

On 4 January 2021, Ekdal joined Djurgårdens IF on a four-year contract.^[13] He was named the Allsvenskan player of the month for the month of September 2021.^[14]

Burnley

On 21 January 2023, Ekdal joined Championship leaders Burnley on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.^[15] He earned his debut appearance for the Clarets on 4 February in a 3–0 away win against Norwich City in the EFL Championship, in which he scored his first Burnley goal in the 60th minute.^[16]

On 23 January 2025, Ekdal joined Eredivisie club Groningen on loan until the end of the season.^[17]

International career

Youth

Ekdal was called up to the Sweden under-19 national team in October 2018,^[18] and featured in two friendlies against Denmark (3–1 win) and Russia (1–1 draw) the same month.^[19] He was called up to the Sweden U21 team for the first time on 26 August 2020.^[20]

Senior

Ekdal was called up to the Sweden national team for the first time on 1 December 2021, for two friendlies against Finland in January 2022.^[21] However, the friendlies were cancelled two weeks later because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[22] Ekdal was once again called up to the national team on 18 May 2022, for Sweden's 2022–23 UEFA Nations League games against Slovenia, Norway, and Serbia in June 2022.^[23]

He made his full international debut for Sweden on 9 June 2022 in the UEFA Nations League game against Serbia, playing the full 90 minutes at centre back in a 1–0 loss.^[24]

Personal life

He is the son of journalist Lennart Ekdal and the brother of fellow footballer Albin Ekdal, who's played for Allsvenskan, Serie A and Bundesliga clubs and the Sweden national team.^[2][4]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 18 May 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
IF Brommapojkarna	2017[25]	Superettan	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
IK Frej	2018[25]	Superettan	15	1	4	2	—		—		—		19	3
	2019[25]	Superettan	30	2	—		—		—		2[c]	0	32	2
	Total		45	3	4	2	—		—		2	0	51	5
Assyriska FF (loan)	2018[25]	Ettan Fotboll	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
Hammarby IF	2019[25]	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
IK Sirius (loan)	2020[25]	Allsvenskan	26	0	1	0	—		—		—		27	0
Djurgården IF	2021[25]	Allsvenskan	26	4	6	2	—		—		—		32	6
	2022[25]	Allsvenskan	24	3	6	0	—		11[d]	1	—		41	4
	Total		50	7	12	2	—		11	1	0	0	73	10
Burnley	2022–23[25]	Championship	9	1	0	0	—		—		—		9	1
	2023–24[25]	Premier League	8	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		9	0
	2024–25[25]	Championship	0	0	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	Total		17	1	1	0	1	0	—		—		19	1
Groningen (loan)	2024–25[25]	Eredivisie	14	0	—		—		—		—		14	0
Career total			153	11	18	4	1	0	11	1	2	0	185	16

1. Includes Svenska Cupen, FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in Superettan promotion play-offs
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 10 June 2025^[26]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2022	2	0
	2023	4	0
	2024	1	0
	2025	2	0
Total		9	0

Honours

Individual

• Colonial Athletic Association's Men's Soccer – Rookie of the Year: 2017^[27][28]
• Colonial Athletic Association's Men's Soccer – All-Rookie Team: 2017^[28]
• All-Colonial Athletic Association – First Team: 2017^[28]
• NCCSIA University Division All-State Men's Soccer – First Team: 2017^[29]
• Colonial Athletic Association Men's Soccer – Player of the Week: 28 August–3 September 2017^[30]
• Allsvenskan Player of the month: September 2021^[14]
• Allsvenskan Defender of the year: 2021^[31]