Erik Nilsson

Erik Nilsson
	Erik Nilsson in May 1952
Personal information
Full name	Erik Henry Sixten Nilsson
Date of birth	6 August 1916
Place of birth	Limhamn, Sweden
Date of death	9 September 1995 (aged 79)
Place of death	Höllviken, Sweden
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
0000–1933	Limhamns IF
Senior career*
Years	Team
1934–1953	Malmö FF
International career
1938–1952	Sweden
Medal record
Representing Sweden
Olympic Games
FIFA World Cup
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Erik Henry Sixten Nilsson (6 August 1916 – 9 September 1995) was a Swedish footballer who played as a left back. Nilsson played his youth days with Limhamns IF, before he moved in 1934 to Allsvenskan club Malmö FF, where he played until 1953. There he won five league titles and five Swedish Cups. During his playing days he rejected an offer from A.C. Milan.

Career

Nilsson played 57 times for the Sweden men's national football team,^[1] and participated in several international tournaments. He played in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, where Sweden finished fourth. He took part in the 1948 London Olympics,^[2] where Sweden celebrated its best international result with a gold medal, defeating Yugoslavia 3–1 in the final. Two years later he competed in the 1950 FIFA World Cup where Sweden finished third, thus becoming one of only two players to play in World Cups before and after World War II (the other being Switzerland's Alfred Bickel). In the 1950 World Cup, Nilsson was also elected into the All-Star team of the tournament. He won another medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where Sweden won the bronze after defeating Germany 2–0.^[3]^[4]