.jpg) Thorisdottir withManchester United in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1993-06-05)5 June 1993 (age 31) | ||
| Place of birth | Stavanger, Norway[1] | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Klepp | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2017 | Klepp | 71 | (8) |
| 2012 | Klepp II | 1 | (0) |
| 2017–2021 | Chelsea | 22 | (1) |
| 2021–2023 | Manchester United | 31 | (1) |
| 2023– | Brighton & Hove Albion | 33 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2008 | Norway U15 | 2 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Norway U16 | 16 | (6) |
| 2009–2010 | Norway U17 | 8 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Norway U19 | 17 | (1) |
| 2012 | Norway U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2015 | Norway U23 | 3 | (0) |
| 2015– | Norway | 71 | (3) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 July 2024 | |||
Maria Thorisdottir (Icelandic:Maria Þórisdóttir[ˈmaːrijaˈθɔːrɪsˌtɔːtɪr]; born 5 June 1993) is a Norwegian professionalfootballer who plays as adefender forBrighton & Hove Albion of the EnglishWomen's Super League and theNorway national team.[2] Prior to fully focusing on football, she also playedhandball in theEliteserien forSola andStabæk.[3][4]
Thorisdottir began her career at Norwegianfirst division teamKlepp IL. Originally amidfielder orstriker within the Klepp youth system, she first transitioned tocentre-back while with the youth national team.[4] She made her senior debut as a 66th-minute substitute on 5 April 2010 in a 0–0 draw withAmazon Grimstad.[5] She scored her first goal for the club on 29 August 2010, a 90th-minute consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat toArna-Bjørnar.[6]
In September 2012 Thorisdottir decided to retire from football due to injury, most notably citing her struggle withpatellar tendinitis.[7] During this spell she began playinghandball, signing forStabæk in June 2013.[8]
In 2014, Thorisdottir made the decision to return to football and began training with Klepp again. Two years since her last appearance she made her comeback on 6 August 2014, starting in a 1–0Norwegian Cup victory overArna-Bjørnar.[9] In August 2015 Thorisdottir was sidelined again, this time with a torn ankle ligament. Close to a return, Thorisdottir suffered a further setback when doctors picked up a rare and complicated issue with the foot that would be "potentially career-threatening" if left untreated.[10] She underwent surgery in November 2015, keeping her out for the 2016 season.[7][11]
A perpetual mid-table team during her tenure, Klepp earned their highest finish position in 12 seasons when Thorisdottir returned in2017, ending the season in fourth-place in her final season with the club.[12]
In September 2017, Thorisdottir left Klepp to sign a two-year contract with EnglishFA WSL teamChelsea.[13] She made her first appearance for the club on 24 September 2017 in a 6–0 WSL win overBristol City. In her first season with the club Thorisdottir made 10 league appearances as Chelsea won the2017–18 FA WSL title.[14] She also made three appearances in theFA Cup including as a substitute in thefinal as Chelsea beatArsenal 3–1.[15]
In her second season at Chelsea, Thorisdottir scored her first goal for the club on 12 September 2018 in aUEFA Champions League Round of 32 5–0 victory overSFK 2000 Sarajevo.[16] In October 2018, she suffered a concussion during a game which kept her out until May 2019.[17] In June 2019, she renewed her contract with Chelsea until the summer of 2021.[18][19]
On 22 January 2021, Thorisdottir signed forManchester United from Chelsea on a two-and-a-half-year contract with an option to extend for a further year.[20][21] Two weeks later, she made her debut in a 2–0 league defeat toReading.[22]
On 30 August 2023,Brighton & Hove Albion announced the signing of Thorisdottir.[23]
Thorisdottir went through all Norwegian junior teams beginning in 2008 at under-15 level. She was part of the under-17 team during2009 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification and was called up to the finals inNyon, Switzerland where Norway finished in fourth place.[24] A year later, she was again part of the under-17s as Norway proceeded to the second round of2010 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship qualification before losing out to Germany.
At under-19 level Thorisdottir was part of the team at the2011 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, reaching the tournament final before losing 8–1 to Germany.[25] The tournament also acted as qualification for the2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, only the second time Norway had qualified. Thorisdottir was part of the squad in Japan, making three appearances as Norway reached the quarter-finals before meeting Germany again and losing 4–0.[26] Following the tournament, Thorisdottir announced her retirement from football due to injuries.[7] Having reignited her club career with Klepp, she made a return to international football three years later, receiving a call-up to the under-23 team for the La Manga U23 invitational against Japan and theUnited States in February 2015.[27]
On 16 February 2015, Thorisdottir was called-up to thesenior team for the first time as part of the2015 Algarve Cup squad.[28] On 6 March 2015, just four days after appearing for the under-23 team in La Manga, Thorisdottir made her senior international debut starting in a 1–0 victory overIceland.[29] She had earlier been approached to play for Iceland but turned it down in the hope of making the Norwegian team.[30][31] Despite this she described how special it was to debut against the country of her father's birth that she visited every summer to stay with her grandparents.[32]
On 14 May 2015, she was named to the squad for the2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[33] After sitting out the opening group game, she made her World Cup debut in a 1–1 draw withGermany.[34] Norway progressed from the group stage before being eliminated byEngland in the Round of 16.[35] Despite missing the entire qualification campaign with injuries, Thorisdottir was named in the squad forUEFA Women's Euro 2017.[36] Having at least reached the semi-finals in the past four editions, Norway surprisingly crashed out bottom of the group having lost all three games, the first time they had failed to pick up any points at the tournament.[37] Thorisdottir played the full 90 minutes in group games against both eventual finalistDenmark andNetherlands. In January 2018, she scored her first senior international goal in a 3–0 friendly win overScotland.[38] Having stayed fit enough to start all 8 of Norway's2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification matches in which the team topped a group including the Netherlands, Thorisdottir was named to the final tournament squad in May 2019.[39] She played every minute of all five of Norway's games in France before they were once again eliminated byEngland, this time at the quarter-final stage.[40][41]
Thorisdottir was part of the squad that was called up to theUEFA Women's Euro 2022.[42]
Thorisdottir was born in Norway to a Norwegian mother and an Icelandic father,Þórir Hergeirsson,[43] appointed coach of theNorway women's national handball team in 2009.[27][44] Her father's extended family lives in Iceland.[32]
During her childhood, she was part of ajuggling group and performed with different companies.[45]
Thorisdottir got agolden retriever called Theo in 2015 and has regularly commented on the positive impact owning a dog has had on her mental health, especially during the two-year spell she had battling frequent injuries.[46][47]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental[c] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Klepp | 2010 | Toppserien | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2011 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 4 | ||||
| 2012 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 1 | ||||
| 2013 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2014 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2015 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 16 | 2 | ||||
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2017 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 8 | 7 | 1 | — | — | 78 | 9 | ||||
| Chelsea | 2017–18 | FA WSL | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 8 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Total | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 47 | 2 | ||
| Manchester United | 2020–21 | WSL | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| 2021–22 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 27 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Total | 31 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | — | 45 | 1 | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2023–24 | WSL | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | |
| 2024–25 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |||
| Total | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 157 | 10 | 19 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 212 | 12 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 2015 | 8 | 0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 11 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 10 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 71 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 January 2018 | La Manga Stadium,La Manga, Spain |  Scotland | 3–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 4 October 2019 | Borisov Arena,Barysaw, Belarus |  Belarus | 3–1 | 7–1 | Euro 2022 qualifying |
| 3 | 25 November 2021 | Arena Kombëtare,Tirana, Albania |  Albania | 3–0 | 7–0 | 2023 World Cup qualification |
Chelsea
Manchester United
Norway squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
