Defenders, head coaches and now TV analysts have been trying for nearly three decades to keep Zlatan Ibrahimović out of the headlines. Right now, maybe more than ever, that seems impossible.
The Swedish star has been a mainstay of FOX’s World Cup coverage, alongside Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry and Alexi Lalas. And, as he tends to do, Ibrahimović has added to his list of fans and critics—no prizes for guessing which one of those categories Lalas most likely falls into.
But, as you might expect, the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain striker has quite the backstory. From acting up in training to acting on the silver screen, here are 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Zlatan has a black belt in taekwondo
While coming through the academy at his hometown club Malmö FF, Ibrahimović was also training for a different sport: taekwondo. He earned a black belt at just 17 years old, and later, in 2010, would go on to receive an honorary black belt from the Italian national taekwondo team, having recently left Italian champion Inter Milan to join Barcelona.
Zlatan trademarked his own name
By 2003, Ibrahimović had earned a move to Ajax and was making a name for himself in the Netherlands. While many young players may have chosen to get their head down and focus on honing their craft, Ibrahimović was already thinking bigger—he trademarked the name “Zlatan” with the Swedish Patent and Registration Office, protecting his rights to use it on certain products.
A teammate once accused Zlatan of deliberately injuring him
Ibrahimović was not the only star at Ajax at the time. The team also had Rafael van der Vaart, its exciting young captain. But the Ajax locker room was not big enough for both egos to coexist, and the pair frequently clashed.
Their rivalry culminated in 2004, when they faced each other in a friendly between Sweden and the Netherlands, and Ibrahimović put in a rough tackle on van der Vaart, tearing the ligaments in the Dutchman’s ankle. After the game, van der Vaart accused the Swede of deliberately injuring him. Reportedly, Ibrahimović would go on to threaten to break the Dutchman’s legs. Two weeks later, Ajax sold Zlatan to Juventus.
That wasn’t Zlatan’s only violent outburst
The change of scenery did nothing to quell Ibrahimović’s fiery temperament, and the Swede was involved in a number of violent outbursts during his career. In 2011, while playing for AC Milan, he punched Bari defender Marco Rossi in the stomach after the Italian beat him to a header.
A year later, he was sent off again for slapping Napoli’s Salvatore Aronica in the face. Within a year of that, he received two more red cards—the first for kicking Stéphane Ruffier in the chest and the second for a poor challenge high on the leg of Andrés Guardado.
Among various other incidents, Ibrahimović found himself embroiled in controversy again during a preseason friendly in 2015 when he smashed an elbow into John Terry’s face.
Zlatan scored one of the greatest goals of all time
Despite all of that, Ibrahimović also put his taekwondo skills to good use in 2012 when he scored an overhead kick from more than 30 yards out to grab his fourth goal in a 4-2 win over England. Widely considered one of the greatest goals of all time, it won him the 2013 Puskás Award, FIFA’s prize for the best goal of the year.
It was just one of many acrobatic finishes which the striker managed throughout his career—MLS fans will remember the 500th goal of his career, a glorious roundhouse kick for the LA Galaxy against Toronto FC.
Zlatan once scored a goal that clocked in at 93 mph
Ibrahimović’s goals were not all deft touches and ingenious finishes. Sometimes he just kicked the ball really, really hard—never more so than in 2013, when he blasted a shot from 30 yards into the top corner to complete a first-half Champions League hat trick against Anderlecht for PSG.
The ball clocked in at 93 mph, meaning it would get a speeding ticket anywhere in the US.
Zlatan once charted in Sweden
In 2014, Ibrahimović recorded a version of the Swedish national anthem for a Volvo commercial. The track was produced by Max Martin, the Swedish hitmaker responsible for “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift and “Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd.
The version of “Du Gamla, Du Fria” went gold after 3 million streams and peaked at number 13 in the Swedish charts.
Zlatan never won the Champions League
Ibrahimović has an impressive 12 league titles to his name, as well as a whole host of other trophies and individual awards. But he never managed to win the Champions League. He came closest in 2010 when Barcelona reached the semifinals, but were knocked out by Inter Milan, the team Ibrahimović had left just nine months earlier.
Inter went on to win the competition that year, and the Swede would never again make it past the quarterfinals.
Zlatan made his acting debut in 2023
It can sometimes feel as though Ibrahimović is playing a caricatured version of himself. But in 2023, he went one step further, making his acting debut in Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom. He played Caius Antivirus, a Roman soldier known for his martial arts skills.
The movie also stars Vincent Cassel as Julius Caesar and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as Cleopatra.
Zlatan missed Sweden’s opening World Cup game to attend UFC White House
There was a conspicuous absence at Sweden’s opening World Cup game in Mexico: the nation’s all-time leading goal scorer. But Ibrahimović was not busy on a FOX broadcast. Instead, despite it being the nation’s first World Cup game for eight years, he was attending UFC Freedom 250 at the White House, much to the dismay of many Swedish fans.
