Ragnar Sigurðsson (born 19 June 1986) is an Icelandic former professional footballer who played as centre-back. Beginning his career with Fylkir, he went on to represent IFK Göteborg, Copenhagen, Krasnodar, Fulham, Rubin Kazan, Rostov, and Rukh Lviv before retiring at Fylkir in 2021. A full international between 2007 and 2020, he won 97 caps for the Iceland national team and represented his country at the UEFA Euro 2016, reaching the quarter-finals, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In November 2022 Ragnar was introduced as assistant-manager of Fram Reykjavik and in July 2023 he became a caretaker-manager of the side following the departure of his predecessor Jón Þórir Sveinsson.
Club career IFK Göteborg After playing for Fylkir, Ragnar joined Swedish club IFK Göteborg in 2006. He made his Allsvenskan debut on 6 April 2007, starting the first match of the 2007 season. He would go on to play 90 minutes in all 26 of the club's league matches, forming a formidable partnership with Mattias Bjärsmyr as the team won Allsvenskan 2007. He was constantly being linked to several big clubs in Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga and the Premier League. IFK Göteborg's sports director, Håkan Mild commented that the club could get a transfer fee around €3 million for the talented defender.Sigurdsson intresserar engelska klubbar – Retrieved on 7 December 2008, sportal.nu (in Swedish) During his second season, Ragnar played 29 matchesPlayer Profile: Ragnar Sigurdsson – Retrieved on 7 December 2008, svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish) (of 30) as the team finished in 3rd place. The club also won the Supercupen and Svenska Cupen during the 2008 season.
F.C. Copenhagen On 30 May 2011, Ragnar signed a four-year contract with Danish champions F.C. Copenhagen.FC København henter islænding i Sverige – Retrieved on 30 May 2011, pol.dk (in Danish) The fee is believed to be around 5.5 million DKK.Officielt: Sigurdsson til FCK – Retrieved on 30 May 2011, sporten.dk (in Danish)
FC Krasnodar On 23 January 2014, Russian Football Premier League club FC Krasnodar announced they had signed Ragnar on a two-and-a-half-year deal with option for another year.
Fulham On 23 August 2016, Ragnar signed a two-year deal with the Championship side Fulham for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 2–0 win against Ipswich Town on 26 December 2016.
Rubin Kazan On 3 August 2017, he returned to Russia, signing a loan deal with FC Rubin Kazan for the 2017–18 season.
Rostov On 18 January 2018, he signed a deal for a permanent transfer to FC Rostov, the third Russian club of his career, where he joined his Iceland national teammates Sverrir Ingi Ingason and Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson. On 1 January 2020, his contract with Rostov was terminated by mutual consent.
Return to Copenhagen On 12 January 2020, he returned to Copenhagen, signing a contract until the summer of 2020.
Rukh Lviv On 18 January 2021, Sigurðsson moved to Ukrainian Premier League side Rukh Lviv, signing a contract until the summer of 2021, with an option to prolong the deal for another year.
International career
Ragnar was selected for the 23-man squad led by Heimir Hallgrímsson and Lars Lagerbäck for Euro 2016. He scored his first goal for Iceland on 16 November 2014 in a 1–2 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying defeat at Doosan Arena against the Czech Republic. On 27 June 2016, he scored Iceland's first goal in a 2–1 upset against England in the round of 16. His endeavours in the match resulted in him being selected as man of the match. Ragnar made a last-ditch tackle, described as "outstanding", to deny Jamie Vardy a potential equalizer in the match.
In May 2018 he was named in Iceland's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Personal life
On 5 July 2016, a rampage incident on Ragnar's home in Garðabær was notified to the police. When the police officers arrived to his house, Ragnar had left the scene but the apartment was in a bad state with ruined furniture. In a police report, Ragnar's then-wife asserted that he had threatened her. A few days later, Ragnar was brought in for questioning by the police where he denied all accusations of violence and threatening. Ragnar's neighbours, who had originally called the police, reported the incident the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ), but no action was taken. The event was publicly revealed in September 2021 when several cases of violence by Icelandic professional footballers were exposed in the Icelandic media.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsAppGoalsFylkir U232002Úrvalsdeild—10——102003—20——20Fylkir2004Úrvalsdeild3020101070200517140—70281200618110—40231Total38210010120612IFK Göteborg2007Allsvenskan260———2602008294—30—32420092944120—355201028120201033120111332000—153Total1251281501013913Copenhagen2011–12Danish Superliga2414090—3712012–1331300100—4132013–141401090—240Total69450280001024Krasnodar2013–14Russian Premier League6030——902014–1526120110—3912015–162412191—3532016–17300000—30Total5927120100864Fulham2016–17Championship17110——181Rubin Kazan (loan)2017–18Russian Premier League12010——130Rostov2017–18Russian Premier League90———90Total3292132256113043024
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsIceland2007602008402009302010302012802013100201481201590201615220178020181002019102202030Total975
Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ragnar goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Ragnar SigurðssonNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition116 November 2014Doosan Arena, Plzeň, Czech Republic421–01–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification227 June 2016Stade de Nice, Nice, France601–12–1UEFA Euro 201636 October 2016Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland633–23–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification411 June 2019Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland881–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification52–0
Honours IFK Göteborg Allsvenskan: 2007 Svenska Cupen: 2008 Svenska Supercupen: 2008
Copenhagen Danish Superliga: 2012–13 Danish Cup: 2011–12
Krasnodar Russian Premier League: Third place 2014–15
Individual Årets Ärkeängel: 2010
Notes
References
External links