Isaac Kiese Thelin

Isaac Kiese Thelin

Kiese Thelin with Bayer Leverkusen in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Isaac Kiese Thelin [1]
Date of birth	(1992-06-24) 24 June 1992 (age 33)
Place of birth	Örebro, Sweden [2]
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) [3]
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Urawa Red Diamonds
Number	99
Youth career
1997–2009	Karlslunds IF
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Karlslunds IF	44	(18)
2011–2014	IFK Norrköping	48	(6)
2014	Malmö FF	14	(5)
2015–2017	Bordeaux	29	(3)
2017	→ Anderlecht (loan)	16	(1)
2017–2021	Anderlecht	17	(1)
2017–2018	→ Waasland-Beveren (loan)	33	(19)
2018–2019	→ Bayer Leverkusen (loan)	6	(0)
2020	→ Malmö FF (loan)	25	(14)
2021	→ Kasımpaşa (loan)	21	(9)
2021–2022	Baniyas	17	(6)
2022–2025	Malmö FF	93	(46)
2025–	Urawa Red Diamonds	0	(0)
International career‡
2009	Sweden U17	3	(1)
2014–2015	Sweden U21	11	(7)
2014–	Sweden	33	(5)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Sweden UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 2015
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 29 July 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:31, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

Isaac Kiese Thelin (born 24 June 1992) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Urawa Red Diamonds. A full international since 2014, he has won more than 30 caps for Sweden and represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Early career

Kiese Thelin began his career at Karlslunds IF from Örebro, a club he had been playing football for since the age of five. ^[4] He played from the club as they played in Sweden's Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3. In 2011, he transferred to newly promoted Allsvenskan side IFK Norrköping. Kiese Thelin made his breakthrough in the 2012 season when he appeared in eleven matches for the club and scored twice. For the 2013 season he increased his appearances to 25 and scored another four goals. After having appeared regularly during the beginning of the 2014 season, it was announced on 4 June 2014 that Kiese Thelin had signed a four-year contract with fellow Allsvenskan club and reigning champions Malmö FF. ^[5]

Malmö FF

On 4 June 2014, it was announced that Kiese Thelin would transfer to Malmö FF. It was announced that Malmö FF were in negotiations with IFK Norrköping to complete the transfer in summer of 2014 instead of completing the transfer after the season when Kiese Thelin's contract ended. ^[6] On 5 July 2014 it was confirmed by Malmö FF that Kiese Thelin would join the club on 15 July 2014. ^[7] He made his debut for the club in the first leg of the second qualifying round to the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League against FK Ventspils on 16 July 2014. ^[8] Kiese Thelin would prove to play a crucial part of the team that defended the Allsvenskan league title and qualified for the group stage of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. In his 14 league appearances for the club he scored five goals, the first against Kalmar FF in the away fixture on 19 July 2014. ^[9] He also scored two important goals for the club in the UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign, the first in the away game against FK Ventspils on 23 July 2014 and the second in the away game against Sparta Prague on 29 July 2014. ^{[10] [11]} Overall Kiese Thelin participated in all of the club's 12 matches in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League. After the season, he was nominated for newcomer of the year at Svenska idrottsgalan. ^[12] On 20 January 2015 Malmö FF announced that they had reached a verbal agreement with Ligue 1 side Bordeaux for the transfer of Kiese Thelin. ^[13]

Bordeaux

On 22 January 2015, Ligue 1 club Bordeaux confirmed the transfer of Kiese Thelin. He signed a contract lasting until 2019. ^[14] He made his debut two days later in a goalless draw against SC Bastia, appearing in the whole match.

Loan to RSC Anderlecht

On 5 January 2017, the Swedish striker joined Belgian Jupiler Pro League giant Anderlecht on loan. He was resent to Anderlecht on 24 May for the following season. ^[15]

Anderlecht

On 31 August 2017, RSC Anderlecht bought his rights from Bordeaux and loaned him to Waasland-Beveren.

Loan to Bayer Leverkusen

On 7 August 2018, Bayer 04 Leverkusen announced the signing on Kiese Thelin on a season-long loan, until 30 June 2019. ^[16]

Loan to Malmö FF

On 9 January 2020, Kiese Thelin returned to former club Malmö FF on a season-long loan. ^[17] On 8 November 2020 he scored his 13th Allsvenskan goal of the season in a 4–0 win against IK Sirius to help Malmö FF become Swedish Champions for the 21st time. ^[18]

Loan to Kasımpaşa

Kiese Thelin signed for Turkish Süper Lig side Kasımpaşa on loan in January 2021. ^[19]

Baniyas

In September 2021, Kiese Thelin signed with Baniyas. ^[20]

Return to Malmö FF

Kiese Thelin spent 2021 in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates at Kasımpaşa and Baniyas respectively. Ahead of the 2022 Allsvenskan season, he then returned to Malmö FF on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract with the club. ^[21] He went on to become top scorer of the 2023 Allsvenskan with 16 goals.

International career

Youth

Kiese Thelin was selected for Sweden U17 in 2009, and won a total of three caps and scored once. Thelin was selected for Sweden U21 in 2014 and scored two goals in his first two appearances. ^[22] In 2015, he played in all five games as Sweden won the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. ^[22]

Senior

Kiese Thelin made his full international debut on 15 November 2014 against Montenegro, replacing Erkan Zengin in the 86th minute of a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying game that ended 1–1. ^[23] He scored his first international goal on 15 November 2016, in a friendly 2–0 win against Hungary. ^[24] In May 2018, he was named in the Sweden national team's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. ^[25] He came on as a substitute in four of the games as Sweden reached the quarter-finals in a FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1994. ^[22]

Personal life

Kiese Thelin was born to a Swedish mother and a Congolese father. ^[26] He is a Christian. ^[27]

Career statistics

Kiese Thelin playing for IFK Norrköping in 2013

Kiese Thelin playing for Malmö FF in 2022

Kiese Thelin playing for Malmö FF in 2023

Club

As of match played 15 July 2025 ^{[28] [29]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Karlslunds IF	2009	Division 1 Norra	6	0	—		—		—		6	0
	2010	Division 2 Södra Svealand	21	10	—		—		—		21	10
	2011	Division 3 Västra Svealand	17	8	1	0	—		—		18	8
	Total		44	18	1	0	0	0	0	0	45	18
IFK Norrköping	2011	Allsvenskan	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2012	Allsvenskan	11	2	1	0	—		—		12	2
	2013	Allsvenskan	25	4	4	0	—		—		29	4
	2014	Allsvenskan	12	0	2	0	—		—		14	0
	Total		48	6	7	0	0	0	0	0	55	6
Malmö FF	2014	Allsvenskan	14	5	0	0	12 [b]	2	1 [c]	1	26	7
	Total		14	5	0	0	12	2	1	1	26	7
Bordeaux	2014–15	Ligue 1	15	1	—		—		—		15	1
	2015–16	Ligue 1	7	0	0	0	5 [d]	1	—		12	1
	2016–17	Ligue 1	7	2	0	0	—		2 [e]	0	9	2
	Total		29	3	0	0	5	1	2	0	36	4
Anderlecht (loan)	2016–17	First Division A	16	1	0	0	6 [d]	1	10 [f]	1	32	3
Anderlecht	2017–18	First Division A	2	0	0	0	0	0	1 [g]	0	3	0
	2019–20	First Division A	10	0	2	1	—		—		12	1
	Total		28	1	2	1	6	1	11	1	47	4
Waasland-Beveren (loan)	2017–18	First Division A	25	16	3	0	—		8 [f]	3	36	19
Bayer Leverkusen (loan)	2018–19	Bundesliga	6	0	2	0	6 [d]	1	—		14	1
Malmö FF (loan)	2020	Allsvenskan	25	14	4	0	4 [d]	3	—		33	17
Kasımpaşa (loan)	2020–21	Süper Lig	21	9	1	0	–		–		22	9
Baniyas Club	2021–22	UAE Pro League	17	6	4	0	–		–		21	6
Malmö FF	2022	Allsvenskan	23	12	3	2	13 [h]	3	–		39	17
	2023	Allsvenskan	28	16	5	4	–		–		33	20
	2024	Allsvenskan	26	15	7	0	11 [i]	0	–		44	15
	2025	Allsvenskan	16	3	0	0	1 [j]	0	–		17	3
	Total		93	46	15	6	25	3	—		133	55
Career total			350	124	39	7	58	11	22	5	469	147

1. Includes Svenska Cupen, Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal, Turkish Cup, UAE President's Cup
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance in Svenska Supercupen
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in Coupe de la Ligue
6. Appearances in First Division A play-offs
7. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
8. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances in Europa League
9. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in Europa League
10. One appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in Europa League

International

As of 12 January 2024 ^[29]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2014	2	0
	2015	5	0
	2016	3	1
	2017	7	1
	2018	12	1
	2019	0	0
	2020	0	0
	2021	3	1
	2022	0	0
	2023	0	0
	2024	1	1
Total		33	5

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kiese Thelin goal ^[30]

List of international goals scored by Isaac Kiese Thelin

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	15 November 2016	Ferencváros Stadion, Budapest, Hungary	Hungary	2–0	2–0	Friendly	[31]
2	25 March 2017	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Belarus	4–0	4–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification	[32]
3	10 September 2018	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Turkey	1–0	2–3	2018–19 UEFA Nations League B	[33]
4	5 September 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Uzbekistan	2–0	2–1	Friendly	[34]
5	12 January 2024	Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, Paphos, Cyprus	Estonia	2–1	2–1	Friendly	[35]

Honours

Karlslunds IF

• Division 3 Västra Svealand: 2011 ^[36]

Malmö FF

• Allsvenskan: 2014, 2020, 2023 , 2024
• Svenska Cupen: 2021–22, 2023–24
• Svenska Supercupen: 2014

Anderlecht

• Belgian First Division: 2016–17 ^[37]
• Belgian Super Cup: 2017

Sweden U21

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2015

Individual

• Allsvenskan top scorer: 2023 ^[38]

• Allsvenskan Forward of the Year: 2023 ^[39]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Sweden" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
2. Balkander, Mattias (11 November 2014). "Debutanten Kiese Thelin är inte nervös". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
3. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 4 June 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
4. "Isaac Kiese Thelin på plats i Malmö FF". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
5. "Isaac Kiese Thelin". Svenskfotboll. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
6. "Isaac Kiese Thelin klar för MFF". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
7. "Isaac Kiese Thelin är spelklar för MFF per den 15 juli". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
8. "Malmö and Ventspils play out goalless draw". UEFA . UEFA. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
9. "Kalmar FF 1–1 Malmö FF". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). The Swedish Football Association. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
10. "Ventspils' dream dashed by Malmö". UEFA . UEFA. 23 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
11. "Lafata treble puts Sparta in charge against Malmö". UEFA . UEFA. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
12. "Här är de nominerade till Idrottsgalan". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
13. "MFF muntligen överrens om Kiese Thelin-övergång". mff.se (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
14. "Transfert - Isaac Kiese Thelin est bordelais !". girondins.com (in French). FC Girondins de Bordeaux. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
15. "Isaac Kiese Thelin retournera à Anderlecht" (in French). L'Équipe. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
16. "WM-Joker Thelin: Leih-Deal perfekt" (in German). kicker. 7 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
17. Larsson, Mattias (9 January 2020). "Kiese Thelin klar för Malmö FF - så ser hans kontrakt ut" (in Swedish). Kvällsposten . Retrieved 9 January 2020.
18. "Malmö klar seriesegrare efter seger - FotbollDirekt". Malmö klar seriesegrare efter seger - FotbollDirekt. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
19. "Officiellt: Kasimpasa lånar Isaac Kiese Thelin". fotbolltransfers.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
20. "Efter flyttkaoset: Här är Isaac Kiese Thelins nya klubb". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). 11 September 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
21. "Välkommen hem Isaac Kiese Thelin" (in Swedish). Malmö FF. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
22. "Isaac Thelin - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
23. "Montenegro - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 15 November 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
24. "Ungern - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
25. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists - Goal.com".
26. "Kiese Thelin om DR Kongos landslag: "Aldrig aktuellt"". fotbollskanalen (in Swedish). Retrieved 4 January 2021.
27. Zetterman, Jacob (5 May 2022). "Isaac Kiese Thelin: "Nu ska jag hitta en kyrka"". Dagen (in Swedish). Retrieved 20 April 2025.
28. "Isaac Thelin » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
29. "Isaac Kiese Thelin". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
30. "Thelin, Isaac". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
31. "Ungern - Sverige - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 September 2021.
32. "Sverige - Vitryssland, Herr A VM-kval". www.svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
33. "Sweden - Turkey, Herrar UEFA Nations League Grupp B2". www.svenskfotboll.se. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
34. "Sverige - Uzbekistan, Landskamp Herr". www.svenskfotboll.se. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
35. "Sverige - Estland, Landskamp Herr". www.svenskfotboll.se. Archived from the original on 12 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
36. "Sweden 2011 Fifth Level". 12 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
37. Isaac Kiese Thelin at Soccerway . Retrieved 27 May 2017.
38. "Isaac Kiese Thelin vinner allsvenska skytteligan: "En rolig vecka"". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). 14 November 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
39. "Spelare från Malmö FF och IF Elfsborg dominerade på Allsvenskans Stora Pris". allsvenskan.se (in Swedish). Allsvenskan. 14 November 2023. Archived from the original on 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.

External links

• Bordeaux profile
• Isaac Kiese Thelin at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish)