Alexander Isak

Alexander Isak ([alɛkˈsanːdɛr ˈiːsak]; born 21 September 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Real Sociedad and the Sweden national team.

Starting off his professional career with AIK in 2016, Isak represented Borussia Dortmund and Willem II before signing with Real Sociedad in 2019. A full Swedish international since 2017, he has won 30 caps for his country, and represented the side at UEFA Euro 2020. He is the youngest ever goalscorer for both AIK and the Sweden national team.

Club career

Early life

Isak was born and raised in Solna Municipality, in central Stockholm County, by Eritrean parents. He started playing for the youth team of one of the largest clubs in the area, the team he supports, AIK, at age six.

Breakthrough at AIK

Isak made his first-team debut for AIK on 28 February 2016, appearing as a substitute in the 75th minute of the Swedish Cup away match against fourth-tier side Tenhults IF. At age 16, Isak scored a goal in the 6–0 victory.

On 7 April 2016, AIK head coach Andreas Alm included Isak in the starting lineup on matchday 2 of the Allsvenskan in an away fixture against Östersunds FK, alongside fellow young striker Carlos Strandberg. He secured the victory for his side, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win, thus becoming the youngest scorer for AIK in Allsvenskan history at the age of 16 years and 199 days.

On 25 April, Isak scored his first goal at AIK's home ground, Friends Arena, opening the score in a 2–1 victory against IF Elfsborg.

On 3 May 2016, Isak signed his first professional contract through the end of the 2018 season, having impressed in his first few games, and establishing himself as a first-team regular. Between matchdays 8 and 9, head coach Alm was sacked, but Isak was confirmed in the lineup by new manager Rikard Norling.

On 21 September 2016, Isak's 17th birthday, he scored two critical goals in AIK's 3–0 derby win over arch-rivals Djurgårdens IF. He was later described by teammate Chinedu Obasi as "Sweden's new Zlatan Ibrahimović".

Borussia Dortmund

On 23 January 2017, Isak signed for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund on a long-term contract, lasting until the summer of 2022. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but reports suggested that it was set at €9 million, which would be the highest transfer fee ever paid for an Allsvenskan player. Before signing with Dortmund, Isak reportedly turned down a move to Real Madrid.

Isak made his first appearance for the club in a 3–0 cup win over Sportfreunde Lotte on 14 March 2017. Isak won his first medal with the club when Dortmund won the 2016–17 DFB-Pokal, only appearing once in the tournament, and not being in the squad for the final.

He scored his first competitive goal for Dortmund in a 2017–18 DFB-Pokal second round win against 1. FC Magdeburg on 24 October 2017, scoring the second goal in a 5–0 win.

Loan to Willem II

After making no appearances in the 2018–19 Bundesliga season for Borussia Dortmund, Isak was loaned to Dutch Eredivisie club Willem II. On 28 February 2019, he scored the equaliser and the winning penalty against AZ Alkmaar in the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup, helping Willem II reach the Dutch cup final for the first time since 2005. On 30 March 2019, he became the first player ever to score three penalties in an Eredivisie match, in a 3–2 win against Fortuna Sittard. On 14 April 2019, Isak became the first foreign-born player in the Eredivisie to score 12 goals in his first 12 league games.

Real Sociedad

2019–20 season

On 12 June 2019, Isak signed a five-year deal with Real Sociedad, worth £988,000, £19000 per week, joining the La Liga club on 1 July 2019, in which he scored his first goal in his first game. He strongly continued the pre-season, scoring four goals in five games. Isak scored his first competitive goal for Real Sociedad in a 3–1 La Liga win against RCD Espanyol on 22 September 2019. On 6 February, Isak scored two goals and made one assist in the Copa del Rey quarter-final against Real Madrid. On February 9, he scored the winning goal in the Basque derby against Athletic Bilbao.

On 3 April 2021, Isak won his first silverware with the club when he started and played in 89 minutes of the 2020 Copa del Rey Final in a 1–0 win against Athletic Bilbao, helping Real Sociedad win the 2019–20 Copa del Rey.

2020–21 season

He scored his first hat-trick for the club on 21 February 2021 in a 4–0 league win against Deportivo Alavés, becoming the first Swedish player to score a La Liga hat-trick since Henry "Garvis" Carlsson did the same for Atletico Madrid in 1949.

International career

Isak was born in Sweden to Eritrean parents. Isak was called up to the Sweden national team for the friendly matches against Ivory Coast on 8 January 2017 and Slovakia on 12 January. He made his debut against the Ivory Coast, coming on for Per Frick in the 62nd minute of a 1–2 loss. He started the second game against Slovakia, scoring the first goal in a 6–0 win in the 19th minute, becoming the youngest goalscorer ever in the history of the Sweden national team.

On 23 March 2019, Isak made his first competitive appearance for Sweden, when he replaced Robin Quaison in the 88th minute in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game against Romania, which Sweden won 2–1.

Isak scored his first competitive goal for Sweden on 7 June 2019, when Sweden beat Malta in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying game at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Isak scored the last goal in a 3–0 win.

Isak was called up for a major tournament for the first time when he was included in Sweden's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 4 November 2021

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
AIK	2016	Allsvenskan	24	10	2	3	3	0	—		29	13
Borussia Dortmund II	2016–17	Regionalliga West	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2018–19	Regionalliga West	11	5	—		—		—		11	5
	Total		12	5	—		—		—		12	5
Borussia Dortmund	2016–17	Bundesliga	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2017–18	Bundesliga	5	0	3	1	4	0	0	0	12	1
	Total		5	0	4	1	4	0	0	0	13	1
Willem II (loan)	2018–19	Eredivisie	16	13	2	1	—		—		18	14
Real Sociedad	2019–20	La Liga	37	9	8	7	—		—		45	16
	2020–21	La Liga	34	17	1	0	8	0	1	0	44	17
	2021–22	La Liga	9	3	0	0	3	2	—		12	5
	Total		80	29	9	7	11	2	1	0	101	38
Career total			137	57	17	12	18	2	1	0	173	71

International

As of match played 12 October 2021

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Sweden	2017	2	1
	2019	10	3
	2020	6	1
	2021	12	4
Total		30	9

As of match played 12 October 2021

Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 January 2017	Armed Forces Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Slovakia	1–0	6–0	Friendly
2	7 June 2019	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Malta	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
3	5 September 2019	Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands	Faroe Islands	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying
4				2–0
5	8 October 2020	VEB Arena, Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–0	2–1	Friendly
6	28 March 2021	Fadil Vokrri Stadium, Pristina, Kosovo	Kosovo	2–0	3–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	2 September 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Spain	1–1	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	9 October 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Kosovo	2–0	3–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	12 October 2021	Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden	Greece	2–0	2–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Real Sociedad

• Copa del Rey: 2019–20

Individual

• Allsvenskan Newcomer of the Year: 2016
• Allsvenskan Player of the Month: September 2016