Matilda Nildén: The story so far

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In fact, Brommapojkarna is where the young forward began her career and she made an instant impact into life as a senior professional at the Swedish second division side.

Making her debut at just 15 years old, one month shy of her 16th birthday, the energetic attacker took just 16 minutes to find the back of the net as she scored the opening goal in a 4-4 draw with Sandvikens IF. She went on to make 17 appearances in total in her first full season at senior level, netting two goals overall.

Matilda represented Brommapojkarna for the opening months of the 2021 campaign, featuring in seven games, before making the switch to Swedish top-flight side AIK Fotboll in August – a club that has strong family connections with her grandfather, father and sister all having spells there.

The 21-year-old made her debut for the club in a 1-0 win over Djurgardens IF, going on to make 10 appearances that campaign, before joining Elitettan side Bollstanas SK on a short loan.

Returning to AIK Fotboll the following season, her maiden campaign in the top tier, Matida featured in 27 games and scored her first goal for the club in October, 2022, netting two goals in total that term.

She was then selected to represent her country at the Under-19 UEFA European Championship in Czech Republic – Matilda Vinberg (also Sweden) and Cathinka Tandberg (Norway) also featured at the tournament – and she helped her nation reach the semi-final of the competition.

In 2023, Matilda recorded her best goalscoring return to date, scoring an impressive 23 goals in 25 games in the Elitettan (Swedish second division) – including three hat-tricks in the league - to inspire AIK to the league title and promotion back to the top flight – and that certainly caught the eye of one of the best sides in the country.

After receiving her first call-up to Sweden Under-23s in February of that year, where she started on her debut for the young side and provided an assist in a 4-1 friendly win over Denmark, the exciting forward joined BK Häcken for the 2024 season.

Her first appearance for the side came in the UEFA Women’s Champions League – officially her debut in the competition – against Paris Saint Germain in the quarter-finals.

Matilda’s league debut would come in the April of that year before opening her account in a 2-1 win over her former side AIK Fotbol a month later. She went on to complete 24 league games in total, scoring seven goals and registering two assists, as they missed out on the title on goal difference to finish second.

Most recently this term, she was part of the team that secured the Damallsvenskan title by four points ahead of Hammarby IF. Matilda made 25 appearances and registered six goal involvements (one goal and five assists) – with one of those assists coming in a 2-0 victory over Djurgardens IF which secured their name as league champions in November.

She also netted twice more in the Swedish Cup, racking up 63 senior appearances in total across her two seasons with the club, scoring eight goals in total and providing seven assists.

After suffering defeat in the qualifying round to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League, BK Häcken competed in UEFA’s first-ever edition of the Europa Cup in October and November, with Matilda featuring in all four games prior to joining Spurs this winter.