Samúel Friðjónsson

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Samúel.

Samúel Kári Friðjónsson (born 22 February 1996) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Stjarnan and the Iceland national team.

Samúel Friðjónsson

Personal information
Full name	Samúel Kári Friðjónsson[1]
Date of birth	(1996-02-22) 22 February 1996 (age 29)
Place of birth	Reykjanesbær, Iceland[2]
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Stjarnan
Number	10
Youth career
0000–2013	Keflavík
2013–2016	Reading
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Keflavík	2	(0)
2013–2016	Reading	0	(0)
2016–2020	Vålerenga	28	(3)
2019	→ Viking (loan)	28	(2)
2020	SC Paderborn	5	(0)
2020–2022	Viking	48	(7)
2022–2024	Atromitos	44	(3)
2025-	Stjarnan	14	(0)
International career‡
2011–2012	Iceland U17	11	(2)
2013–2014	Iceland U19	20	(3)
2015–2018	Iceland U21	12	(1)
2018–2019	Iceland	8	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14:31, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Reading

Samúel joined Reading in March 2013 to train with the club before his two-year contract with the club began on 1 July 2013.^[3] Samúel extended his contract with Reading for another year on 22 May 2015.^[4] On 9 May 2016, Reading announced that Samúel's contract would not be renewed and that he would become a free agent at the end of his contract on 30 June 2016.^[5]

Vålerenga

On 16 June 2016, Samúel signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Vålerenga, to start on 1 July 2016 when his Reading contract expired.^[6]

Samúel made his debut for Vålerenga on 2 July 2017, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Bård Finne in Vålerenga's 0–0 away draw against Brann.^[7]

Viking (loan)

On 30 January 2019, Samúel joined Viking on loan until the end of the 2019 season.^[8]

SC Paderborn

On 18 January 2020, SC Paderborn announced the signing of Samúel on a contract until 30 June 2022.^[9]

Viking

Samúel rejoined Viking in October 2020, having agreed the termination of his contract with SC Paderborn. He signed a contract until 2022.^[10]

International career

Samúel represented the Icelandic U-17 national team on 11 occasions between 2011 and 2012, scoring twice, with his debut coming on 2 August 2011, in a 3–1 win over Sweden U-17.^[11] Samúel went on to represent the U-19 team twenty times between 2013 and 2014, scoring three times, with his debut coming in a 1–1 home draw against Denmark.^[11] On 26 March 2015, Samúel made his debut for the U-21 team in their 3–0 defeat to Romania.^[11] Samúel made his debut for Iceland on 11 January 2018 in an unofficial friendly against Indonesia Selection.^[12]

Samúel was called up to Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 11 May 2018.^[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 August 2022

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Domestic Cup[a]		League Cup		Continental		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Keflavík	2012	Úrvalsdeild	0	0	0	0	1	0	–		1	0	[14]
	2013		2	0	0	0	2	0	–		4	0	[14]
	Total		2	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	5	0	–
Reading	2013–14	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	[15]
	2014–15		0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	[15]
	2015–16		0	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	[15]
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–
Vålerenga	2016	Eliteserien	0	0	0	0	–		–		0	0	[16]
	2017		11	2	2	0	–		–		13	2	[16]
	2018		17	1	3	0	–		–		20	1	[16]
	Total		28	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	33	3	–
Viking (loan)	2019	Eliteserien	28	2	5	2	–		–		33	4	[16]
SC Paderborn	2019–20	Bundesliga	5	0	0	0	–		–		5	0	[15]
Viking	2020	Eliteserien	7	1	–		–		0	0	7	1	[16]
	2021		25	5	3	1	–		–		28	6	[16]
	2022		16	1	5	1	–		6[b]	1	27	3	[16]
	Total		48	7	8	2	0	0	6	1	62	10	–
Atromitos	2022–23	Superleague Greece	28	2	3	0	–		–		31	2	[16]
	2023–24		9	1	0	0	–		–		9	1	[16]
	Total		37	3	3	0	–		–		40	3
Career total			148	15	21	4	3	0	6	1	178	20	–

1. All appearances in the Norwegian Football Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 17 November 2019^[11]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Iceland	2018	5	0
	2019	3	0
Total		8	0

Honours

Viking

• Norwegian Football Cup: 2019