Mikael Ishak

Early life and career

Ishak's parents were Assyrian migrants from Syria. He was born in Södertälje, Sweden and started his professional career at Assyriska FF, where he was included in the first team in 2010.

1. FC Köln

In December 2011, Ishak was signed by German Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln after a successful trial. He made his debut for the side on 21 January 2012 in a 1–0 away defeat at VfL Wolfsburg, where he came on as a substitute in the 85th minute for Martin Lanig. After being used mostly as a substitute during his first month in Köln, Ishak made his first start for the club on 18 March following a suspension for regular striker Lukas Podolski, playing the entire match in a 4–1 away loss at Hannover 96. Ishak would make 11 appearances for 1. FC Köln during his first season.

Loan to FC St. Gallen

In February 2013, Ishak signed a six-month loan deal with Swiss club FC St. Gallen, who had recently been promoted to the Swiss Super League, in order to play more. He became a regular starter for the club, before suffering a mandibular fracture in a match for the Sweden under-21 team. Ishak made his return in late-April as a substitute in a match against FC Zürich, before becoming a full-time starter again the following week. He made a total of 13 league appearances for St. Gallen, in which he scored three goals.

Parma

Ishak joined Italian Serie A club Parma on a four-year contract on 5 August 2013.

Loan to Crotone

He was…

Youth

Ishak represented the Sweden U21 team at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and played in four games as Sweden won the entire tournament. He was also a part of the Sweden Olympic team that competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and scored in a group stage game against Colombia before Sweden was knocked after only three games.

Senior

Ishak made his full international debut for the Sweden national team on 15 January 2015 in a friendly 2–0 win against the Ivory Coast, coming on as a substitute for Isaac Kiese Thelin in the 82nd minute. He scored his first international goal for Sweden on 6 January 2016, in a 1–1 tie with Estonia. Ishak made his competitive international debut for Sweden on 24 September 2022, in a 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B game against Serbia, coming on as a substitute for Dejan Kulusevski in the 85th minute of a 1–4 loss.

Club

As of match played 14 August 2026

International

As of match played 16 November 2022

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

Lech Poznań

Ekstraklasa: 2021–22, 2024–25, 2025–26 Polish Super Cup: 2026 Sweden U21

UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2015 Individual

Ekstraklasa Player of the Month: May 2022, March 2026 Ekstraklasa Forward of the Season: 2021–22 Piłka Nożna Foreigner of the Year: 2022, 2025