Sven Rydell

Sven Åke Albert Rydell (14 January 1905 – 4 April 1975) was a Swedish footballer who played as a forward. He represented Holmens IS, Örgryte IS, and Redbergslids IK during a club career that spanned between 1920 and 1934. A full international between 1923 and 1932, he won 43 caps and scored 49 goals for the Sweden national team. He scored five goals at the 1924 Summer Olympics where Sweden finished third. He was the all-time leading scorer for the Sweden national team for more than 80 years before his record was overtaken by Zlatan Ibrahimović in September 2014.

Sven Rydell

Rydell in 1923
Personal information
Full name	Sven Åke Albert Rydell
Date of birth	(1905-01-14)14 January 1905
Place of birth	Gothenburg, Sweden
Date of death	4 April 1975(1975-04-04) (aged 70)
Place of death	Gothenburg, Sweden
Position(s)	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1920–1924	Holmens IS	37	(38)
1924–1930	Örgryte IS	179	(122)
1930–1931	Redbergslids IK	20	(10)
1931–1934	Örgryte IS	24	(20)
Total		260	(190)
International career
1929	Sweden B	1	(1)
1923–1932	Sweden	43	(49)
Managerial career
1934–1935	Örgryte IS
Medal record Representing  Sweden Olympic Games 1924 Paris Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

At club level, Rydell played for Örgryte IS, Redbergslids IK, and Holmens IS.^[1] Rydell had scored a record of nine hat-tricks for Sweden.^[2]

International career

Rydell played in the 1920s and 30s, and scored 49 goals in only 43 matches for the Sweden national team.^[3] His 49 goals stood as the national record for over 80 years. Because his career spanned the nascent years of international football, he never got a chance to play in the World Cup; his only appearance at the world stage came in the 1924 Summer Olympics,^[4] at which Sweden won a bronze medal.^[5] He was the all-time leading scorer for the Sweden national team until 4 September 2014, when Zlatan Ibrahimović overtook him by scoring his 50th international goal. However, he holds the record of scoring nine hat-tricks for Sweden.

Rydell was awarded the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1931 after an impressive performance in an international game against Denmark in 1931.^[6]

Personal life

Rydell's daughter Eva represented Sweden as a gymnast in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics.^[7] Rydell died on 4 April 1975. He is buried at Östra kyrkogården in Gothenburg.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[8]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	1923	2	2
	1924	9	18
	1925	4	7
	1926	4	2
	1927	7	8
	1928	3	1
	1929	4	4
	1930	1	0
	1931	5	4
	1932	4	3
Total		43	49

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rydell goal.

List of international goals scored by Sven Rydell^[8]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	20 June 1923	Strömvallen, Gävle, Sweden	Finland	1–0	5–4	Friendly	[9]
2	16 September 1923	Gressbanen, Oslo, Norway	Norway	3–2	3–2	Friendly	[10]
3	18 May 1924	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Poland	1–0	5–1	Friendly	[11]
4				3–1
5				5–1
6	29 May 1924	Stade de Colombes, Paris, France	Belgium	2–0	8–1	1924 Summer Olympics	[12]
7				6–0
8				8–1
9	1 June 1924	Stade Pershing, Paris, France	Egypt	4–0	5–0	1924 Summer Olympics	[13]
10	9 June 1924	Stade de Colombes, Paris, France	Netherlands	1–0	3–1	1924 Summer Olympics	[14]
11				3–1
12	15 June 1924	Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	2–2	3–2	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[15]
13				3–2
14	29 June 1924	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Egypt	2–0	5–0	Friendly	[16]
15				3–0
16				4–0
17				5–0
18	21 September 1924	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Norway	4–1	6–1	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[17]
19				5–1
20				6–1
21	5 July 1925	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Austria	1–4	2–4	Friendly	[18]
22	12 July 1925	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Hungary	2–0	6–2	Friendly	[19]
23				5–2
24	23 August 1925	Gräsbanen, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	7–3	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[20]
25				3–2
26				4–2
27				5–2
28	9 June 1926	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Norway	2–2	3–2	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[21]
29				3–2
30	3 April 1927	Duden Park, Brussels, Belgium	Belgium	1–1	1–2	Friendly	[22]
31	29 May 1927	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Latvia	2–0	12–0	Friendly	[23]
32				8–0
33				12–0
34	26 June 1927	Gressbanen, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–1	5–3	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[24]
35				2–1
36				4–1
37	6 November 1927	Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland	Switzerland	1–1	2–2	Friendly	[25]
38	7 October 1928	Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark	Denmark	1–3	1–3	1924–28 Nordic Football Championship	[26]
39	9 June 1929	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Netherlands	2–0	6–2	Friendly	[27]
40				3–0
41				5–1
42	28 July 1929	Malmö IP, Malmö, Sweden	Latvia	2–0	10–0	Friendly	[28]
43	28 June 1931	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Denmark	2–1	3–1	1929–32 Nordic Football Championship	[29]
44				3–1
45	26 July 1931	Arosvallen, Västerås, Sweden	Latvia	4–0	6–0	Friendly	[30]
46	8 November 1931	Üllöi utca, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	1–1	1–3	Friendly	[31]
47	16 May 1932	Stockholm Olympic Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden	Finland	1–1	7–1	Friendly	[32]
48				2–1
49				6–1

Honours

Sweden

• Summer Olympics bronze medal: 1924

Individual

• Nordic Football Championship top scorer: 1924–1928
• Swedish Football Hall of Fame inductee: 2003

Records

• Most hat-tricks for the Sweden national team: nine^[33]

See also

• List of footballers who achieved hat-trick records