Aron Gunnarsson

Early career

Born in Akureyri, Aron began playing football in his native Iceland on gravel pitches. During the winter months, snow and ice left football pitches unplayable and Aron instead played handball, making three appearances in the Icelandic handball League at the age of fifteen. He began his football career with local side Þór Akureyri in 2005 and, after investment in indoor pitches by the Icelandic government, began to train all year round. At the age of seventeen, Aron moved to the Netherlands, joining the youth academy at AZ. After initially struggling with homesickness, he settled in the country and made his debut for the club during the 2007–08 season.

Coventry City

Aron signed for English Championship team Coventry City on 17 June 2008, signing a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on the opening day of the Championship season against Norwich City, where Coventry won 2–0. He scored his first career goal on 14 February 2009 in an FA Cup match against Premier League side Blackburn Rovers. During his time at Coventry, Aron attracted Premier League interest leading Coventry City to offer him an improved deal on 12 March. His first league goal came against Crystal Palace. At the end of his first season in England, Aron was voted the Coventry City Supporter's Player of the Year as well as the club's Community Award. The following season, Aron changed his shirt number from 12 to 17, to mirror the squad number of his brother,…

Club

As of 2 August 2024

International

As of match played 9 June 2026

Scores and results list Iceland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Aron goal.

Aron made his international debut for Iceland on 2 February 2008. Aron was called up to the 2011 European Under-21 Championship Iceland squad, which took place in Denmark. In the first match, Iceland beat hosts Denmark 3–1. This was followed with a 2–0 loss to Belarus, where Aron was sent off. The two losses saw Iceland go out of the tournament via a tie breaker. Aron has been a regular player in the senior side since debuting despite helping the U-21 side when they qualified for the UEFA Under-21 Championship. Aron was named as the permanent captain of the national team before a friendly match against the Faroe Islands in August 2012 at the young age of 23, ahead of his 29th cap. Under his captaincy, Iceland qualified for the play-off round of FIFA World Cup qualification for the first time, where they lost 2–0 on aggregate to Croatia. On 10 October 2014, Aron scored his first senior international goal in Iceland's 3–0 away win against Latvia in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying. He scored again in a 2–1 defeat of the Czech Republic on 12 June 2015. On 6 September, he was sent off in the last minute of a goalless draw at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík against Kazakhstan, a result which put Iceland into their first major international tournament. Aron captained Iceland at their first major international tournament, UEFA Euro 2016 in France. After their first match, a shock 1–1 draw with Portugal in Saint-Étienne, opposing skipper Cristiano Ronaldo accepted to trade shirts with him in…

His older brother Arnór Þór Gunnarsson plays handball for the Icelandic national team.