Noel Törnqvist

Noel Törnqvist
Personal information
Full name Noel Max Joachim Törnqvist
Date of birth (2002-02-01) 1 February 2002 (age 22)
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Mjällby AIF
Number 1
Youth career
Snöstorp Nyhem FF
–2017 Halmstads BK
2018 IS Halmia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019 IS Halmia 22 (0)
2020– Mjällby AIF 55 (0)
2021 → AFC Eskilstuna (loan) 10 (0)
International career‡
2019 Sweden U19 1 (0)
2022–2024 Sweden U21 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:15, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Noel Max Joachim Törnqvist (born 1 February 2002) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Mjällby AIF in Allsvenskan.[2]

Career

Törnqvist started his youth career in Snöstorp Nyhem FF as an outfield player. He went on to Halmstads BK and became a goalkeeper at age 15,[3] opting to join the smaller city rivals IS Halmia in 2018. This year, he also started playing with a helmet. He trained with several foreign clubs such as Leeds United in 2017 and Hellas Verona in 2018.[4][5][6] He represented Sweden in a U17 three-nation tournament, playing against the Czech Republic.[7]

Having played for Halmia in Division 2, the fourth tier of Swedish football, Törnqvist was signed by Mjällby AIF ahead of the 2020 season.[8] This was Halmia's largest sale in two decades, since Mikael Roth in 1998.[9]

The 2021 season saw Törnqvist loaned out to Superettan club AFC Eskilstuna. He played 10 matches for AFC, but featured infrequently.[2] When he was omitted from the starting eleven during the closing months of the season, he called it "not fair".[10] In 2022 he played only one league match, but this was his Allsvenskan debut, keeping a clean sheet against Djurgården.[2] He also prolonged his Mjällby contract until 2026.[11] In 2021 he was called up to Sweden U21 for the first time,[12] making his actual debut in 2022.[7]

In 2023 he played the 2022–23 Svenska Cupen final which Mjällby lost.[13] The coaches declared Törnqvist to be their first-choice goalkeeper for the season.[4] Shortly into the 2023 season, he received praise for ascending to the level of a good Allsvenskan goalkeeper.[14][15]

References

  1. ^ "Noel Törnqvist". Fotbolltransfers (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Noel Törnqvist at Soccerway. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Noel Törnqvist om landslagsdebuten" (in Swedish). SvFF. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Billengren, Ludwig (21 March 2023). "Törnqvists försvarstal efter "svin-utspelet": "Jag är snäll"" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  5. ^ Tuhcic, Damir (20 November 2017). "Noel Törnqvist testar med Leeds United" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Noel Törnqvist testas av Hellas Verona" (in Swedish). Fotbolltransfers. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Noel Törnqvist" (in Swedish). SvFF. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  8. ^ Pearson, Sebastian (15 December 2019). "Officiellt: Mjällby värvar målvaktstalang" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  9. ^ Ferhatovic, Muhamed (15 December 2019). "IS Halmias rekordtransfer – största på 20 år". P4 Halland (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Landslagsmålvakten om petningen i AFC: "Inte fair"". Eskilstuna-Kuriren (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  11. ^ Berander, Moa (17 July 2022). "Törnqvist förlänger med Mjällby: "En spelare vi tror på"" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  12. ^ Holmberg, Henric (2 October 2021). "Trio kallas in till U21-landslaget efter återbud - första kallelsen för AIK-talang" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  13. ^ Östman, Petter (18 May 2023). "Häcken vinner svenska cupen – krossade Mjällby". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  14. ^ von Knorring, Martin (10 May 2023). "Törnqvist hyllas: "Rest sig på ett fantastiskt sätt"" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  15. ^ Pearson, Sebastian (23 August 2023). "Serie A-intresse för Törnqvist: "Lite intresse - men inget konkret"" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 9 October 2023.