As the final whistle blew in Stockholm on Saturday afternoon, fans of Rosengård and hosts Djurgården rose to their feet. Signs and flags were raised aloft at the Olympic Stadium and a standing ovation ensued as Caroline Seger, a name synonymous with Swedish women’s football for the best part of two decades, walked off a competitive football pitch for the final time.

Every footballer dreams of ending their career on a high but relatively few manage to achieve it, particularly when they have already bid farewell to the international stage. Seger, however, has managed to go out at the very top, a deserved finale for an individual who has transformed the game in Sweden on and off the pitch.

Having rounded the season off with a 3-0 win over Djurgården, the Rosengård celebrations could finally begin. It has been a successful campaign for the Malmö side who succeeded in wresting the Damallsvenskan title back from last year’s champions, Hammarby, and finished nine points clear of Häcken in second. It is the fourth domestic title Seger has won with the club since joining in 2017 and the seventh of a storied journey that has taken her across the world with equal success. As impactful off the field as she was on it, she will be remembered as a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.

Born in Helsingborg in 1985, Seger began her senior career with a five-year stint at Linköping. Instrumental in their midfield, she made 139 appearances for the club, helping them to the league title in 2009 and three Svenska Cupen victories. As so many of her generation of footballers did, she subsequently moved to the US. After a year at Philadelphia Independence and then Western New York Flash – where she picked up a Women’s Professional Soccer title – she returned home to spend two seasons at Tyresö, winning another league title before the team withdrew from the Damallsvenskan due to financial difficulties. Seger made her way to France, first to PSG and then to rivals Lyon where she added another domestic treble to her collection, including the 2016-17 Champions League, before returning to Sweden once more.

Seger became one of the most recognisable names of the Swedish national team and is widely considered one of the best midfielders of her generation. Her leadership, vision and outstanding footballing intelligence became the hallmarks of her 18 years at the heart of the Swedish midfield. She epitomised the quality and energy that has seen Sweden remain a constant presence at the top of world football.

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After making her debut against Germany in 2005, the midfielder played for Sweden 240 times and she remains the European all-time appearance record holder. She featured at 14 major tournaments, became national team captain and was an integral part of the teams that brought home three World Cup bronze medals and two Olympic silvers.

Seger announced her international retirement in December 2023 as Sweden’s inaugural Nations League campaign came to a close. After battling with persistent calf issues, she had made the 2023 World Cup squad the previous summer but the emotion on display on the eve of the tournament showed just how hard the battle to prove her fitness had been. “For me to be here with this national team, and to do that, it’s my last chance,” she said. “I’m not going to play any more World Cups. That’s the end.”

She would make just three appearances at the tournament, but the fact she managed to return to full fitness and play such an integral role for Rosengård in her final season will surely mean a lot. The talismanic midfielder made 22 appearances across the season, contributing three goals on the way to the title.

As the celebrations got under way, Seger took time to reflect on her career. “At the moment, it’s mostly an emptiness to not be a footballer any more,” she told Fotbollskanalen. “But I am of course happy and proud of what I have achieved and that I have had such a long and fine career.”

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What comes next for her remains to be seen. For now, there is one final goodbye left to make. On 3 December, she will return to Stockholm’s Tele2 Arena for Sweden’s Euro 2025 playoff against Serbia for a celebration of her career, one last chance for her country to thank her for the immeasurable impact she has made.

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