HANDBALL PLAYERS from Sweden

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Swedish Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Swedish Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Swedish Handball Players.

1. Magnus Wislander (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 56.94, Magnus Wislander is the most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Hans Einar Magnus Wislander (born 22 February 1964) is a Swedish former handball player, who has been voted Handball Player of the Century and is widely regarded as one of the best players ever. Since his debut in the national team in 1985 he has played over 384 games and scored over 1,185 goals, which is the record for both most matches and most goals on the Sweden national team. He played for Redbergslids IK, Gothenburg and THW Kiel. In 1990 he was named IHF World Player of the Year. He was included in the European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023. He played primarily as a centre back, but in his latter years he transitioned to be a pivot. He has earned the nickname 'Slangen' (The hose).

2. Staffan Olsson (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 53.93, Staffan Olsson is the 2nd most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Erik Staffan Olsson (born 26 March 1964) is a Swedish handball coach and former player. Olsson, who always played with no 13, was a left-handed right backcourt player with one of the most feared shots of all the elite players. Later in his career he won praise for his great playmaking skills. He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024. From September 2022 he is the head coach of the Netherlands' men’s national team.

3. Ljubomir Vranjes (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 51.32, Ljubomir Vranjes is the 3rd most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Ljubomir Vranjes (born 3 October 1973) is a Swedish handball coach and former player who competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is currently the sporting director of German team SG Flensburg-Handewitt. He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

4. Tomas Svensson (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 50.93, Tomas Svensson is the 4th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Tomas Runar Svensson (born 15 February 1968) is a Swedish former professional handball goalkeeper who is currently goalkeeping coach of the Swedish men's national handball team, and an assistant coach for FC Barcelona.

5. Magnus Andersson (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 49.60, Magnus Andersson is the 5th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Per Magnus Andersson (born 17 May 1966) is a Swedish handball manager and former player who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics and in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He was voted as the best Swedish handballer on four occasions. In 1992, he was a member of the Swedish handball team that won the silver medal in the Olympic tournament, playing all seven matches and scoring 18 goals. Four years later, he was part of the Swedish team which won the silver medal again, playing six matches and scoring 16 goals. At the 2000 Games, he won his third silver medal with the Swedish team, playing all eight matches and scoring ten goals.

6. Ola Lindgren (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 49.56, Ola Lindgren is the 6th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Per Ola Markus Lindgren (born 29 February 1964) is a Swedish former handball player and current coach. He has been the head coach for IFK Kristianstad since 2012 and was the head coach for Sweden from 2008 to 2016. As a player, he won two World Championships, four European Championships and participated in four Olympic Games. He also won four Swedish Championships with Drott. He was included in the European Handball Federation Hall of Fame in 2023.

7. Mia Hermansson-Högdahl (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 46.87, Mia Hermansson-Högdahl is the 7th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Mia Hermansson-Högdahl (born 6 May 1965) is a Swedish team handball player and handball coach. She was voted World Handball Player of the Year 1994 by the International Handball Federation. She is seen as one of the best Swedish players of all time. Hermansson-Högdahl has played 222 matches for the Swedish national team, and scored 1100 times. This makes her the single most scoring player ever on the Swedish national tea. She was voted into the World team in 1987, 1991 and 1994. As a club player she won the Women's EHF Champions League with Hypo Niederösterreich two times (1993/94, 1994/95). She was named Swedish handballer of the year three times, in 1984/85, 1986/87 and 1993/94. She was the player who had won the award single most time until Isabelle Gulldén tied her in 2018. She was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024.

8. Andreas Palicka (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 46.41, Andreas Palicka is the 8th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Andreas Miroslav Palicka (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈpalɪka]; Czech: Palička, Czech pronunciation: [ˈpalɪtʃka]; born 10 July 1986) is a Swedish professional handball player for Kolstad Håndball and the Swedish national team.

9. Katja Nyberg (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 46.16, Katja Nyberg is the 9th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Katja Johanna Alice Nyberg (born 24 August 1979) is a naturalized Norwegian former handball player. She played 99 games and scored 321 goals for the Norwegian national team during her career. With the Norwegian team she won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a silver medal at the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship in France, as well as two gold medals and one silver medal at the European Championships.

10. Per Carlén (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 43.73, Per Carlén is the 10th most famous Swedish Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Per Carlén (born 19 November 1960) is a Swedish former handball player and current coach. He is the father of Swedish national handball player Oscar Carlén and Swedish national football player Hilda Carlén. His most recent coaching job was with the defending German champion HSV Hamburg, who sacked him on 29 December 2011.