Fredrik Aursnes

Fredrik Aursnes

Aursnes with Molde in 2018
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-12-10) 10 December 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth	Hareid, Norway
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder, full-back, winger
Team information
Current team	Benfica
Number	8
Youth career
2008–2012	Hareid
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2016	Hødd	106	(11)
2016–2021	Molde	149	(17)
2021–2022	Feyenoord	35	(1)
2022–	Benfica	66	(5)
International career‡
2013	Norway U18	2	(0)
2014–2016	Norway U21	14	(1)
2021–2023	Norway	20	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:48, 28 September 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2023

Fredrik Aursnes (born 10 December 1995) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays primarily as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica. He is renowned for his high work rate and has also been successfully deployed as a winger and a full-back on both flanks.

Club career

Early career

Aursnes played youth football for Hareid, before joining Hødd before the 2012 season. He made his senior league debut in April 2012 in a 2–1 win against Bodø/Glimt. Aged 16 years and 350 days, he became the all-time youngest winner and youngest finalist of the Norwegian Cup after Hødd's win against Tromsø IL in the final.

Molde

In December 2015, Aursnes joined Molde on a four-year deal. ^[2] He debuted on 18 February 2016 against Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, first leg. On 22 April 2019, Aursnes got his 100th first-team appearance for the club in their 2–0 away win against Lillestrøm. On 30 April 2019, Aursnes signed a two-year contract extension that ties him to Molde until the end of the 2021 season. ^[3] On 11 July 2019, he scored Molde's second goal in the club's UEFA competitions record 7–1 win over KR in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. ^[4]

Feyenoord

On 8 August 2021, following their 5–4 victory over Haugesund, Molde announced that Aursnes had been sold to Feyenoord. ^[5] On 10 August 2021, Aursnes signed a three-year contract at the club. ^[6] He scored his first goal for Feyenoord against SC Cambuur, in a 3–2 victory on 24 October 2021. ^[7]

Benfica

On 24 August 2022, Aursnes signed a five-year contract with Primeira Liga side Benfica, for a reported fee of €13 million plus €2 million in add-ons. ^[8] He made his debut for the club on 27 August, replacing Enzo Fernández in the 90th minute in a 3–0 away win over Boavista in the Primeira Liga. ^[9]

International career

Aursnes made his debut for Norway national team on 6 June 2021 in a friendly against Greece. He substituted Patrick Berg in the 69th minute. ^[10]

On 12 March 2024 national team manager Ståle Solbakken announced that Aursnes had decided to retire internationally. ^[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 November 2024 ^{[12] [13]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hødd	2012	1. divisjon	25	0	5	1	—		—		—		30	1
	2013	1. divisjon	27	2	2	0	—		2 [c]	0	—		31	2
	2014	1. divisjon	27	6	1	0	—		—		—		28	6
	2015	1. divisjon	27	3	4	0	—		—		—		31	3
	Total		106	11	12	1	—		2	0	—		120	12
Molde	2016	Tippeligaen	23	3	2	0	—		2 [c]	0	—		27	3
	2017	Eliteserien	27	1	3	0	—		—		—		30	1
	2018	Eliteserien	29	8	1	0	—		7 [c]	2	—		37	10
	2019	Eliteserien	30	1	1	0	—		8 [c]	1	0	0	39	2
	2020	Eliteserien	27	3	0	0	—		11 [d]	0	0	0	38	3
	2021	Eliteserien	13	1	1	0	—		7 [e]	0	0	0	21	1
	Total		149	17	8	0	—		35	3	0	0	192	20
Feyenoord	2021–22	Eredivisie	33	1	1	0	—		13 [f]	0	—		47	1
	2022–23	Eredivisie	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
	Total		35	1	1	0	—		13	0	—		49	1
Benfica	2022–23	Primeira Liga	28	2	3	0	1	0	10 [g]	1	—		42	3
	2023–24	Primeira Liga	33	2	6	2	3	0	12 [h]	0	1 [i]	0	55	4
	2024–25	Primeira Liga	8	1	1	0	1	0	4 [g]	0	0	0	14	1
	Total		69	5	10	2	5	0	26	1	1	0	111	8
Career total			359	34	31	3	5	0	76	4	1	0	472	41

1. Includes Norwegian Cup, KNVB Cup, Taça de Portugal
2. Includes Taça da Liga
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Four appearances in UEFA Europa League, three appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
8. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
9. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira

International

As of match played 19 November 2023 ^[14]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Norway	2021	4	0
	2022	6	0
	2023	10	1
Total		20	1

Norway score listed first, score column indicates score after each Aursnes goal. ^[14]

List of international goals scored by Fredrik Aursnes

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1.	12 October 2023	AEK Arena, Larnaca, Cyprus	17	Cyprus	4–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying	[15]

Honours

Hødd

• Norwegian Cup: 2012

Molde

• Eliteserien: 2019

Feyenoord

• UEFA Europa Conference League runner-up: 2021–22 ^[16]

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 2022–23 ^[17]
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2023 ^[18]

Individual

• Eredivisie Team of the Month: January 2022 ^[19]

References

1. "Fredrik Aursnes". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
2. "Aursnes til Molde" [Aursnes to Molde]. www.nrk.no. NRK. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
3. "Hestad og Aursnes forlenger". www.moldefk.no (in Norwegian). Molde FK. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
4. "Molde 7-1 KR". www.soccerway.com. Soccerway. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
5. "FREDRIK AURSNES ER KLAR FOR FEYENOORD!". moldefk.no/ (in Norwegian). Molde FK. 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
6. "Feyenoord contracteert middenvelder Fredrik Aursnes". moldefk.no/ (in Dutch). Feyenoord. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
7. "Feyenoord laat Cambuur spartelen en zegeviert met minimaal verschil: 3-2". nos.nl (in Dutch). 24 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
8. "OFICIAL: AURSNES É REFORÇO DAS ÁGUIAS (OS PORMENORES DO NEGÓCIO)" (in Portuguese). A Bola. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
9. "Schmidt promoveu três estreias no Bessa". A Bola. 27 August 2022.
10. "Norway v Greece game report". ESPN. 6 June 2021.
11. "Aursnes gir seg på landslaget". Norges fotballforbund. 12 March 2024.
12. "Fredrik Aursnes". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
13. "Fredrik Aursnes". nifs.no (in Norwegian). norsk internasjonal fotballstatistikk. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
14. "Fredrik Aursnes" (in Norwegian).
15. "Cyprus 0-4 Norway". UEFA. 12 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
16. Honeyman, Sam (25 May 2022). "Roma 1–0 Feyenoord: Zaniolo strike wins the first Europa Conference League final". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
17. Kundert, Tom (27 May 2023). "Benfica crowned champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
18. Vaza, Marco (9 August 2023). "Benfica soube mudar para ganhar a Supertaça". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 9 August 2023.
19. "AZ breaks through the Ajax stronghold in the Eredivisie team of the month". eredivisie.eu. 28 January 2022.

External links

• Profile at the S.L. Benfica website