Kolbeinn Sigþórsson


Kolbeinn Sigþórsson is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swedish club AIK and the Iceland national team.
Before being signed by Ajax for a fee of €4.5 million in the summer of 2011, Kolbeinn came through Víkingur Reykjavik's youth program. He then had a brief spell with HK Kópavogur in his home country and moved on to AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.
Before making his debut for the Icelandic national team, Kolbeinn played at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. With 26 goals, he is their joint top goalscorer of all-time.

Club career

Víkingur

Kolbeinn began his career in Iceland with Víkingur, where he came through the academy, before deciding to move over to HK's youth team for a brief spell in March 2006 three days before he turned 16. He made his senior debut in the 2006 season. He would go on to play 5 league matches for the club, scoring one goal. He soon attracted the interest from top European clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal, having two trials with the London-based club, before finally deciding to move to AZ.

AZ

After joining AZ in March 2007, he initially played in various youth teams before finally joining the first team squad in July 2010, after struggling with injuries. He made his professional debut for AZ on 5 August 2010 in a UEFA Europa League qualification match against IFK Göteborg. He scored his first goal for the club on 29 August 2010 in a match against Excelsior. On 29 January 2011 he scored a hat-trick in the first half in a match against VVV-Venlo, going on to score 5 goals in the match. As he kept scoring goals in subsequent matches, AZ tried to extend the player's contract, but the player was not interested. After courting interest from Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United, Dutch giants Ajax moved in for the player with a 2 million euros bid. The player soon agreed on personal terms with Ajax, but the clubs could not agree on a fee for several weeks.

Ajax

On 4 July 2011 it was announced that the clubs had agreed a fee of €4.5 million and the player signed a contract with the AFC Ajax. In an interview, Kolbeinn stated that it was a dream come true to work with Dennis Bergkamp and Frank de Boer. He scored his first goal for the club in a pre-season friendly against Brøndby IF, scoring with a header in the 38th minute. On 30 July 2011 he made his first appearance in a competitive match for Ajax, as the team lost the Johan Cruyff Shield 1–2 to Twente. On 14 August 2011, Kolbeinn scored his first league goal for Ajax in a 5–1 victory over Heerenveen at the Amsterdam Arena. He scored another goal against VVV Venlo the following week, and two more goals against Vitesse, taking his tally to 4 goals in 4 league matches.
In October 2011, Kolbeinn fractured his ankle and was ruled out for the rest of the season. However, on 12 March 2012, he trained for the first time in about 5 months without complications. He made his return to the Ajax side on 1 April 2012, coming of the bench to score the last goal in a 6–0 win over Heracles Almelo. That season, he also suffered a dislocated shoulder.

Nantes

On 2 July 2015 it was announced that Kolbeinn had signed a five-year contract with French Ligue 1 side FC Nantes, with Ajax receiving a €3.5 million transfer fee in the deal. He was presented by his new club the same day, and given the number 9 shirt for the 2015–16 Ligue 1 season.

Galatasaray (loan)

On 30 August 2016, Kolbeinn joined Galatasaray on season-long loan deal, with a €3.8 million clause to buy him on a permanent basis. On 29 December 2016, Galatasaray cancelled his loan.

Return to Nantes

Kolbeinn declined a move to IFK Gothenburg in the 2018 January transfer window over fears the artificial pitches in Sweden could cause more impact damage to his knee.
He made his playing comeback for the FC Nantes reserves in March 2018.
FC Nantes announced on March 8th 2019 that Kolbeinn's contract had been terminated.

AIK

On 31 March 2019 Kolbeinn joined Swedish club AIK, signing a contract valid until 31 December 2021.

International career

After representing Iceland on various youth levels, Kolbeinn made his debut for the Icelandic national team in a friendly against the Faroe Islands on 21 March 2010 scoring the second goal in the 37th minute of the 2–0 home win. His first appearance in a competitive match for Iceland came on 7 September 2010 in a Euro 2012 qualification match against Denmark losing to the opposition in a 1–0 away match. His first goal in a competitive match came on 6 September 2011 in a Euro 2012 qualification match against Cyprus, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute for the only goal in the 1–0 home win. On 27 May, he scored the second goal giving Iceland a 0–2 advantage over France but Iceland went on to lose the match 3–2. Kolbeinn captained the side on 6 February 2013 in a friendly against Russia, held in Marbella, Spain, where Iceland lost with 2 goals to 0. After the match national coach Lars Lagerbäck said Kolbeinn would likely be named as vice-captain to Aron Gunnarsson. That held true when Kolbeinn captained the side after Aron was carried off injured in a World Cup qualifying match against Slovenia in June 2013.

UEFA Euro 2016

Kolbeinn scored in Iceland's opening UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match, a 3–0 victory over Turkey in Reykjavík. On 12 June 2015, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 win over the Czech Republic to give Iceland a two-point lead at the top of Group A.
He was called up for the 23-man squad managed by Heimir Hallgrímsson and Lars Lagerbäck for Euro 2016. On 27 June 2016, Kolbeinn scored Iceland's second goal against England in the round of 16 at the Stade de Nice, which proved to be the decisive goal as Iceland upset England with a 2–1 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. Kolbeinn also scored from a Gylfi Sigurðsson cross in the second half of Iceland's quarter-final against France on 3 July, however it was to no avail as Iceland eventually lost 5–2.

World Cup 2018

In May 2018 he was named on the standby list for Iceland’s 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Personal life

His brother Andri Sigþórsson was also a professional footballer who now acts as his agent.

Career statistics

Club

1 Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.
2 Includes Johan Cruyff Shield and Coupe de la Ligue matches.

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
121 March 2010Kórinn, Kópavogur, Iceland12–02–0Friendly
229 May 2010Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland34–04–0Friendly
317 November 2010Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel52–32–3Friendly
46 September 2011Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland81–01–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
527 May 2012Stade du Hainaut, Valenciennes, France92–02–3Friendly
630 May 2012Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden101–22–3Friendly
715 August 2012Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland111–02–0Friendly
815 August 2012Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland112–02–0Friendly
914 August 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland151–01–0Friendly
106 September 2013Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland162–44–42014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1110 September 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland172–12–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1211 October 2013Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland181–02–02014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1315 October 2013Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway191–01–12014 FIFA World Cup qualification
1430 May 2014Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria221–11–1Friendly
154 June 2014Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland231–01–0Friendly
169 September 2014Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland243–03–0UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1712 June 2015Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland292–12–1UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1810 October 2015Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland321–02–2UEFA Euro 2016 qualification
1929 March 2016Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece373–23–2Friendly
206 June 2016Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland391–04–0Friendly
2127 June 2016Stade de Nice, Nice, France432–12–1UEFA Euro 2016
223 July 2016Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France441–42–5UEFA Euro 2016
2319 November 2018Kehrwegstadion, Eupen, Belgium482–12–2Friendly
247 September 2019Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland511–03–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2510 September 2019Elbasan Arena, Elbasan, Albania522–22–4UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2614 October 2019Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland542–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Ajax