Henrik Larsson

Early career

Larsson began playing at lower-league Högaborg at age six. This smaller club was known to provide a good education for young players, and since Larsson left he has stressed how important this was not only for his football but also for his adult life in general. He went on to start his professional career playing for their senior team at age 17 while still at school. When he was 18, he had a trial at Benfica, at the time being managed by Larsson's compatriot Sven-Göran Eriksson. On leaving school at 18, Larsson combined a semi-pro football career at Högaborg with work as a fruit packer. In four years playing at senior level with Högaborg, Larsson scored 23 goals in 74 matches. In 1992, second-division side Helsingborg (the main club of his home city) signed Larsson.

Helsingborg

In his first year as a full-time professional, Larsson scored 34 goals for Helsingborg and his partnership up front with veteran striker Mats Magnusson helped the side win promotion to the top Swedish division, the Allsvenskan, the club's return to the top tier after 24 seasons in the lower divisions. His star continued to rise the following year, as he netted 16 goals to help Helsingborg to a mid-table finish. The Södra was split into Spring and Autumn leagues, Henrik scored 15 goals in 14 games in the former and 17 goals in 13 games in the latter. After then failing to score in the three placement qualifier matches, he scored twice in a 9–1 aggregate play-off win…

Larsson scored 37 goals in 106 matches for the Sweden national team. He scored his first international goal in his debut on 13 October 1993, during the FIFA World Cup qualifications stage, in a 3–2 win against Finland.

1994 FIFA World Cup

Sweden manager Tommy Svensson selected Larsson for his 22-man squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup squad, alongside established forwards such as Tomas Brolin, Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin. Larsson began Sweden's first game of the tournament, against Cameroon, on the bench, but came on as a substitute with Sweden trailing 1–2. Larsson struck a fierce, long-range shot against the crossbar, with Dahlin reacting quickly to score the rebound to give their country a 2–2 draw. He again came on as a late substitute in the following game against Russia, and then played from the start in the final game of the group against Brazil. He was not used in the last 16 game against Saudi Arabia, but came on a substitute in the quarter-final tie against Romania. The match finished 2–2 after extra time, with Sweden winning on penalties, one of which was scored by Larsson. Larsson did not feature in Sweden's 1–0 defeat against Brazil in the semi-final, but did play in the third-place play-off against Bulgaria which Sweden won 4–0, including Larsson's first World Cup goal, latching onto a through-ball from Brolin before rounding Bulgarian goalkeeper Borislav Mihaylov and wrong-footing defender Trifon Ivanov. That win secured third-place at the 1994…

Larsson made clear his intentions to take up coaching once his playing career came to an end, having also expressed an interest in returning to Celtic in a coaching capacity.

Landskrona BoIS

On 14 December 2009 Larsson was appointed manager at Landskrona BoIS, a Swedish second division football club, on a one-year contract. The news that Larsson would take over Landskrona was received with mixed feelings, as his former club Helsingborg traditionally were their main rivals. The 2010 Superettan, the first season for Larsson as a manager, started off positively for Landskrona. With an aggressively attacking 4–3–3 formation Larsson's club lined up victories and fought for the top positions and promotion to Allsvenskan, until the very end of the season. They finished in fifth place. The Landskrona BoIS board was satisfied with the results, and both Larsson and his assistant manager Hans Eklund renewed their contracts for another year. On 23 March 2011, Landskrona BoIS announced the recruitment of the Sweden national team qualified midfielder Marcus Lantz from Helsingborg, a solicitation that was largely thanks to Larsson. With the recruitment of Lantz, Henrik Larsson announced a major effort to make the club win Superettan and be promoted to Allsvenskan, from which they were relegated in 2005. Before the 2011 Superettan season, the managers of the other Superettan clubs had tipped Landskrona as the likely champion. But the season was about to become the club's worst in…

Edward Henrik Larsson was born on 20 September 1971 in Helsingborg, Scania. His father, Francisco da Rocha (died 2025), was from Cape Verde, and his mother, Eva Larsson, is Swedish. His parents, who never married and split up when he was 12, decided that he should take his mother's surname because they felt it would make it easier for their son to be accepted in Sweden. He credits his father for his love of football: his father gave him a football when he was 16 months old and as a child, he was able to practice with brothers and friends on a large field near his home on the Närlunda estate in Helsingborg. He has said of his school years, "I experienced some racism, because back then it was unusual to have a dark kid at school, I was one of the few." He watched English football on television and his parents gave him a video of Pelé's life story, both of which inspired him.