Sander Svendsen

Molde FK

Svendsen made his first team debut on 9 May 2013, aged only 15, against Aalesund in a 4–1 win. He was brought on shortly before the final whistle by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær. He scored his first competitive goal for the side on 21 April 2014, in a 5–1 win against Sarpsborg. Aged 16 years and 259 days, he is the fifth-youngest goalscorer in Eliteserien history. Amid his breakthrough at Molde, Svendsen trialed with the Dutch giants Ajax on several occasions. At the end of 2013, however, Svendsen signed a new three-year contract with Molde. In 2014, Svendsen became the youngest player ever to win the Norwegian top flight, Eliteserien. Molde secured the championship title following a 2–1 victory against Viking on 4 October. Svendsen made 12 league appearances throughout the campaign. The same year, The Guardian rated him as one of the most promising football players in Europe born in 1997. The Danish newspaper BT also named Svendsen as one of the 20 best Scandinavian players under the age of 20. Sander Svendsen made his continental debut during the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, on 24 July 2014, in a 1–1 draw against the Slovenian club Gorica in the second qualifying round. He scored his first goal in the tournament in the third qualifying round about a week later, against Zorya Luhansk from Ukraine on away turf. The game finished 1–1 as Svendsen scored a late equalizer in the 88th minute. In 2015, Svendsen played 26 league games for Molde. He scored a brace in…

From 2012 and onwards, Svendsen has won caps for several of the Norwegian youth national teams. For example, he established himself as a prolific member of the U17's in 2014, scoring 4 goals in 7 matches throughout the year. Svendsen made his debut for the Norwegian U21s on 13 June 2015, aged 17, in a 2–0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification.

Sander Svendsen has been prized for his great ball control and vision, with fine technique and dribbling skills. His former teammate at Molde, Mattias Moström, has compared Svendsen's style of play to that of Lionel Messi. "He can shoot with both feet ... He is excellent in small spaces, gets past his opponent and then a swift finish", Moström said.

Sander Svendsen was born in Molde, and started to play football at a young age at the local club Molde FK. Both his parents, mother Ellen and father Svend Jarle, had represented the club at senior level. At age 14, Svendsen began to train regularly with Molde's senior team.