A one-of-a-kind player and a charismatic talent, it’s safe to say that the football world won’t be seeing another character quite like Zlatan Ibrahimovic for some time to come now.

The Swedish striker retired from football on Sunday, June 4, and brought an end to his second spell with AC Milan in Italy.

A footballing maverick if there ever were one, Zlatan’s larger-than-life character made him a headache for some managers to manage while others enjoyed it.

He travelled the world representing a host of top clubs in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, and England.

Zlatan also enjoyed a spell in the US before returning to AC Milan for another spell which saw him help the Italian giants to a Scudetto.

At the national team level, Zlatan is the top-scorer for Sweden having netted 62 goals while representing his country.

He’s also Sweden’s top goal-scorer in the European Championship with six goals and is the only Swede to net in three consecutive UEFA Euros (2004, 2008, and 2012).

A player who aged like fine wine, he scored 30 goals in the 2019 MLS regular season for LA Galaxy, a club record. The league record for a season is Carlos Vela’s 34 for Los Angeles FC in that same 2019 season.

In Ligue 1, Zlatan netted 38 league goals for Paris Saint-Germain in 2015-16, a club record and the most in a French top-flight season since Josip Skoblar scored 44 for Marseille in 1970-71.

A true footballing journeyman, Zlatan began his career with Malmo in Sweden before moving to Ajax as a youngster.

It was at Ajax that he caught the attention of the wider football fraternity as he soon earned a move to Italy’s most successful team Juventus before switching to fellow Serie A giants Inter Milan.

After a three-year spell with Inter, Zlatan moved to Barcelona but returned to Italy with AC Milan after a brief stint with the Catalans.

Following a couple of seasons with AC Milan, Zlatan was on the move again, this time to Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1, where he spent four seasons from 2012 to 2016 and scored 156 goals in 180 games, the most of any club in his career.

After his time in Ligue 1, Zlatan joined Manchester United for a successful first season but a serious injury curtailed his time in England and led to a move to the USA where he joined LA Galaxy for whom he scored several great goals.

A scorer of great goals, Zlatan won the Puskas Award in 2013 for the best goal of the year after a scintillating bicycle kick from outside the box for Sweden against England.

Once his contract with LA Galaxy was over, the Swedish forward returned to AC Milan in January 2020. It was his last club: he won the Serie A title with them in 2021-22 and retired at the end of the 2022-23 season.

Over the course of his career, Zlatan won plenty of trophies – both individual and collective – wherever he went.

Some of the trophies he won with his various clubs include two Eredivisie titles, one KNVB Cup, five Serie A titles, three Supercoppa Italianas, one La Liga, one UEFA Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, four Ligue 1 crowns, two Coupe de France’s, three Coupe de la Ligues, one UEFA Europa League, and League Cup in England.

On the individual front, Zlatan won the Goal of the Tournament award in UEFA Euro 2004 and 2012. He also won the Golden Foot award in 2012.

With all that in mind, let’s have a look at Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stats and records for his clubs and teams.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic stats and records

Club level

Team Games Goals
Paris Saint-Germain 180 156
AC Milan 163 93
Inter Milan 117 66
Ajax 110 48
Juventus 92 26
Los Angeles Galaxy 58 53
Manchester United 53 29
Malmö 47 18
Barcelona 46 22
Overall 866 511

All competitions. AC Milan combines his two spells (2010-12 and 2020-23).

International level

Competition

Games

Goals

Assists

Friendlies

39

18

8

World Cup qualification

34

19

9

UEFA Euro qualification

31

19

7

UEFA Euro

13

6

1

FIFA World Cup

5

–

–

Overall

122

62

25

Photo credit: Alamy