Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish former professional association footballer who represented Sweden at international level from 2001 to 2023. As well as Sweden, he was eligible to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Croatia. He made his debut for Sweden in a 0–0 draw against the Faroe Islands on 31 January 2001, scoring his first international goal later that year against Azerbaijan. He briefly retired in October 2009 when Sweden failed to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but returned to the international team as joint-captain the following August. During his international career, he scored 62 goals in 122 international appearances, making him Sweden's all-time top scorer, surpassing Sven Rydell's record with two goals against Estonia at the Friends Arena during a friendly in September 2014. On 21 June 2016, Ibrahimović announced his retirement from international football after UEFA Euro 2016, playing his last match for Sweden against Belgium the following day. However, he would reverse this decision more than four years later, being recalled to the national team in March 2021 at the age of 39.

Ibrahimović recorded his first international hat-trick on 4 September 2004, when he scored four goals against Malta, also the team against which he scored the most times, with six. He scored four international hat-tricks; in addition to the one against Malta; he scored three goals in a game against Finland during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying competition, four in a friendly against England in 2012, and three in a friendly against Norway in 2013. More than half of Ibrahimović's goals came at home, having scored twenty at the Friends Arena, eleven at the Råsunda Stadium, five at Ullevi, two at the Swedbank Stadion and one at Gamla Ullevi.

The majority of Ibrahimović's goals came in qualifying matches. He scored nineteen in European Championship qualifiers, including eleven during the 2016 qualifying round, where he finished as the second-highest scorer, two behind Poland's Robert Lewandowski. Ibrahimović also scored nineteen times in World Cup qualifiers. He never scored a goal in the World Cup finals but scored six in European Championship finals. The remainder of Ibrahimović's goals, eighteen, were scored in friendlies.

International goals

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first. + Key Indicates goal was scored from a penalty kick + List of international goals scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović Cap Date VenueOpponent Score Result Competition Ref.147 October 2001Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden3–03–02002 FIFA World Cup qualification21321 August 2002Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow, Russia1–11–1Friendly31512 October 2002Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–11–1UEFA Euro 2004 qualification41630 April 2003 Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–11–2Friendly5176 September 2003Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden3–05–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualification65–072031 March 2004Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden1–01–0Friendly82414 June 2004Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal4–05–0UEFA Euro 200492518 June 2004Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal1–11–1UEFA Euro 2004102818 August 2004Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–22–2Friendly11294 September 2004National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta1–07–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification122–0133–0145–015334 June 2005Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden4–06–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification16343 September 2005Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden3–03–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification17357 September 2005Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest, Hungary1–01–02006 FIFA World Cup qualification183612 October 2005Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–13–12006 FIFA World Cup qualification195110 June 2008Wals-Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg, Austria1–02–0UEFA Euro 2008205214 June 2008Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria1–11–2UEFA Euro 2008215810 June 2009Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden3–04–02010 FIFA World Cup qualification22595 September 2009Ferenc Puskás Stadium, Budapest, Hungary2–12–12010 FIFA World Cup qualification236311 August 2010Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden1–03–0Friendly24657 September 2010Swedbank Stadion, Malmö, Sweden1–06–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification 255–026697 June 2011Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–05–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification273–0284–0297529 February 2012Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia1–03–1Friendly307630 May 2012Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden1–03–2Friendly31775 June 2012Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden2–12–1Friendly327811 June 2012Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine1–01–2UEFA Euro 2012 338019 June 2012Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine1–02–0UEFA Euro 2012348312 October 2012Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands2–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification358416 October 2012Olympiastadion, Berlin, Germany1–44–42014 FIFA World Cup qualification368514 November 2012Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–04–2Friendly372–2383–2394–2409011 June 2013Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification412–0429114 August 2013Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–04–2Friendly432–2443–2459310 September 2013Astana Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan1–01–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification469411 October 2013Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden2–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification479619 November 2013Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–12–32014 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs482–149994 September 2014Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–02–0Friendly502–05110115 November 2014Podgorica City Stadium, Podgorica, Montenegro1–01–1 UEFA Euro 2016 qualification5210227 March 2015Zimbru Stadium, Chișinău, Moldova1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification532–05410331 March 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–03–1Friendly5510514 June 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden2–03–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification563–0571078 September 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–41–4UEFA Euro 2016 qualification581089 October 2015Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein2–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification5910912 October 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden1–02–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification6011014 November 2015Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden2–02–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification play-offs6111117 November 2015Telia Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark1–02–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification play-offs622–0

Hat-tricks

OpponentGoalsScoreVenueCompetitionDate 1 4 – (1–0', 2–0', 3–0', 5–0') 7–0 National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification 4 September 2004 2 4 – (1–0', 2–2', 3–2', 4–2') 4–2 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden Friendly 14 November 2012 3 3 – (1–0', 2–2', 3–2') 4–2 14 August 2013

Statistics

+ Goals by yearYearAppsGoals2001512002102200343200412820055420066020077020087220096220104320118320121111201311920145320151011201650201700201800201900202000202140202210202310Total12262

+ Goals by competitionCompetitionGoalsFIFA World Cup qualification 19UEFA European Championship qualification 19Friendlies 186Total62

+ Goals by opponent Opponent Goals 6 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Total 62

See also List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals List of top international men's football goal scorers by country Sweden national football team records and statistics

References