Zlatan Ibrahimović is a professional Swedish football player who plays the role of a proficient striker for the Serie A club, AC Milan. Though he is in the twilight of his career, he is still one of the best. The best quality of Zlatan is his fitness. Although he is in his 40s, he looks as if he is in his 30s. However, the credit completely goes to the strictness he follows toward his fitness. Even at this stage, he is still a threat up front. In addition, he still has the valour and capabilities to tremble defenders and goalkeepers. To know more about his achievements, stats, and records, keep reading below about various insights and stages of his career.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Age
Zlatan’s birthday is on 3rd October 1981, which makes him 41 years age.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Height
Ibrahimović is considered one of the tallest footballers in football history. He is 1.95m or 6 ft. 5 inches tall. Therefore, as a sports person, he is pretty tall.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Religion
Zlatan Ibrahimović considers himself a devout Catholic Christian. However,his father, Šefik Ibrahimović, was a Muslim Bosniak, and his mother, Jurka Gravić was a Catholic Croat.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Wife
The name of Zlatan’s wife’s name is Helena Seger. She has a business of her own and her parents’ names are Margareta Seger and Ingemar Seger. In addition, her birthday is on 25th August 1970 and she was born in Lindesberg. Helena studied Pattern Design and Fabric Embroidery. Moreover, she also holds a degree in Economics.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Career
He started his career in a Swedish club, Malmö FF. Hence, that was his career’s first contract signing for any club. It was in the year 1996. Meanwhile, his performance in his initial club was well-noted by one of the top managers of that time, Arsene Wenger. But there was another club from Amsterdam who was quite interested in signing him from Malmö FF. It was Ajax.
Thus it was in the year 2001 that a deal was made between the 2 clubs, Ajax and Malmö FF. Initially, Ibra did not get enough playtime to improve and prove his actual worth. Subsequently, right after their manager’s sack, Ronald Koeman was appointed as the new head coach. He put Zlatan right into the starting line-up as Ajax ended up winning the Eredivisie title in the year 2001-02. Moreover, his UEFA Champions League debut didn’t wait long enough. Thus, in the very next season with Ajax, in his debut UCL match against Lyon, he doubled his scoring. Although Ajax did not end up victorious against Milan in the quarter-finals, his performance was well noted by everyone as he ended up scoring 5 goals for his team in the UCL.
Thus, it was not very late when he made a move to Juventus for a record-breaking 16 million euros. Additionally, he helped the Serie A side finish at the group’s top, scoring 16 goals that season. However, the bitter luck of Juventus in the Champions League continued as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals. However, his career did not stop there as he tried various clubs after that such as Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, PSG, Manchester United, and LA Galaxy, and finally returned back to AC Milan.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Stats
Zlatan Ibrahimović has featured in various clubs across several countries. Hence, his goals and appearances are not just some numbers. Thus, more precisely speaking, he has his numbers in Italy, Spain, Sweden, England, Netherlands, etc. to summarize, you can get more detailed statistics about his career below.
| League | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Red Cards |
| Seria A | 279 | 155 | 70 | 42 | 4 |
| Champions League | 124 | 48 | 28 | 19 | 2 |
| Ligue 1 | 122 | 113 | 44 | 20 | 1 |
| Eredivisie | 74 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 0 |
| MLS | 56 | 52 | 14 | 12 | 1 |
| Premier League | 33 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| La Liga | 29 | 16 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Europa League | 16 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
Zlatan Ibrahimović Country
Zlatan started his career as an under-18s and under-21s scoring many goals before finally making his debut in the Swedish National senior team. However, he also had options such as Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. But Zlatan decided to choose Sweden as his national team. His debut was against the Faroe Islands in 2001. Hence, it marked a sensational career head start for Zlatan from there. Soon he made his World Cup debut as well. He played World Cup qualifier matches against Azerbaijan. That was his first international goal. Thus, he scored his debut goal in such an important game. Hence, after that, he was a crucial part of his national team for the Fifa World Cups in 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014.
Additionally, he was also a huge part of Sweden in the Euros of 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. He has been a dedicated football player towards his club and country for all these years, scoring in most games and helping his team. Zlatan Ibrahimović retired from international football in the year 2016. However, he did come back after almost 5 years of his initial retirement. Just after his return, he was put into the Swedish side by the coach to play in the 2022 World Cup qualifier games. However, he suffered a severe injury on his knee just before the World Cup was about to begin which kept him out of the World Cup knockout games.
Zlatan Ibrahimović World Cup
Although Zlatan simply belongs in the list of most iconic football players of the last decade, his world cup run didn’t go that well. He made his debut in the 2002 Korea / Japan FIFA World cup. He chose Sweden among the three national teams (Sweden, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina) he was eligible of representing. In total he played only two world cups in the years 2002 and 2006. Ultimately since Sweden failed to qualify the other World Cups, he has to settle for two.
FIFA World cup 2002
Zlatan made his first appearance in the 2002 Japan and Korea FIFA World Cup. He appeared for the first time in the group stage against Argentina, and Sweden had a tie. His second appearance came in the round of 16 against Senegal, where Sweden lost (1-2). Ultimately this loss against Senegal sent them out of the World Cup. Although, the 2002 World Cup didn’t see the best of his game, Ibrahimovic made his first international goal in the World Cup Qualifier against Azerbaijan.
FIFA World Cup 2006
Zlatan Ibrahimović’s second World Cup appearance was in 2006 Germany FIFA World Cup. In the qualifier matches he managed to scored a staggering number of four goals in a 7-0 victory against Malta. In fact, after scoring a total of eight goals in the qualifier he ranked joint-third best among the UEFA teams. However, he failed to score any goals during the World Cup and Sweden was again eliminated from the round of 16 by Germany.
Following FIFA World Cups
In the following 2010 and 2014 World Cups Sweden failed to qualify. Therefore, Zlatan Ibrahimović in total played five World Cup games in total.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Retirement
Zlatan is currently 41 years old, so naturally for the last few years there have been speculations over his retirement. Currently, he plays for AC Milan in the Serie A League. Recently, he had a serious knee injury and therefore won’t be able to resume his game for around a year. He had to undergo surgery to fix his ligament injury, and such a severe injury at this stage of his career could have landed a blow to his career.
However, for Zlatan it’s a different story. In an interview with CNN, he assured that retirement is the last thing in his mind. And honestly, why should he? In the second spell with AC Milan, he scored 36 goals in 74 games and is currently holding the title of Sweden’s top goal scorer. In another interview he said “I am coming back and I won’t give up” he will stop only when he is no longer contributing to the team.
Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ronaldo
Immediately before the FIFA World Cup 2022 Christiano Ronaldo did an interview with Piers Morgan. The interview took the internet by storm. Subsequently Ronaldo’s contract with Manchester United terminated untimely by mutual consent. This caused a huge social media uproar; people criticized Ronaldo for supposedly bad-mouthing his former team Manchester United.
Zlatan Ibrahimović being a former Manchester united player shared his thoughts regarding the situation. He said “we will never know the true story” about the various rumours floating around the feud. Moreover, he added that in such situations we will always try to defend ourselves and therefore there will be different versions of the story. About Ronaldo’s world cup exit he commented, “everybody wants to win the World Cup; not everybody gets to win the World Cup”.
Often like the Messi Vs Ronaldo debate, there is an uproar about who is better Christiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimović. Well, both are football giants and have respectfully curved their way up to b legends. Therefore, it will be a futile attempt to compare both of them, so it’s better to just let it be.
Zlatan Ibrahimović UCL
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a monster when it comes to goals and trophies in league football. In addition, he has played for some of the biggest clubs of the European continent. AC Milan, Inter Milan, PSG, Juventus, Manchester United, Barcelona, Ajax are the European clubs he has played.
Coming to the UCL, Zlatan Ibrahimović is the 11th highest goal scorer in its history. Moreover, he is planning to continue his game and proving his mettle every season even at the age of 41. However, even after being a football giant, it’s hard to believe, he has never won the UCL. In the club level he has garnered 30 trophies, scored 507 goals in 846 games. Unfortunately, the closest he ever came to the title was in the 2015-2016 quarter finals with PSG (Paris Saint-Germain).
Zlatan Ibrahimović Injury
Soon after winning the Serie A title with AC Milan, Zlatan had a planned operation on his left knee. Particularly, he underwent surgery on his left knee to repair damage and instability at the age of 40. To begin with, this injury was caused by a previous anterior cruciate ligament injury, and therefore had to be surgically fixed.
The injury was quite severe and it seems that his recovery period is keeping him from returning to the game. Subsequently, after his surgery he wrote on social media that prior to his surgery he played without an ACL in his left knee for six months. In addition, he took 20 injections, barely slept, took pain killers every day, just to win the Serie A title.
In this case his health made people assume he was about to quit his 24-year career. However, he ruled out any such possibilities. Currently, he is recovering and is set to return in the summer of 23. Accordingly, he will assume an ambassadorial role with AC Milan.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Instagram
Ibrahimovic is pretty active on Instagram. In fact, he has 935 posts and a monstrous 58.1 million followers. Accordingly, his Instagram ID is iamzlatanibrahimovic.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Tattoo
Zlatan Ibrahimović is undeniably a tattoo person. All in all, he has nine tattoos on his entire body and each tattoo conveyed a special meaning.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Net Worth
Zlatan Ibrahimović is considered among of the living legends of football right now. Besides, he has played for some of the best clubs in Europe and broke numerous records. Subsequently, we can assume that his assets are as great as his career. Undeniably, as of now his net worth is a whopping 190 million. Moreover, he is expected to have a monthly income of 2 million and a yearly income of 15 million. Meanwhile, the number can vary from time to time.
FAQs
What are the dates on Zlatan’s wrist?
The tattooed dates on Zlatan’s right wrist are the date of births of all the males in his family. In addition, he calls them the “Ibrahimovic code”. They represent his father Sefik, his late brother Sapko and his other brother Aleksander.
How many clubs has zlatan played for?
Zlatan has played for some of the best clubs in Europe and has successfully left a mark in each one of them. He has played for AC Milan, Ajax, Barcelona, Inter Milan, LA Galaxy, Manchester United, Malmo and PSG. Therefore, in total he has played for eight clubs.
How many golden ball does Zlatan have?
As of now Zlatan Ibrahimović has won Swedish football’s golden ball for a record breaking 12 times.
Why has Zlatan not won Ballon d’Or?
Zlatan claims he does not fit the “Perfect” image and therefore has been overlooked time and again from the Ballon d’Or award.
How many red cards Zlatan have?
In Champions League history, Zlatan Ibrahimović has four red cards equalling with Sergio Ramos and Edgar Davis.
