Thorleifur Úlfarsson

Thorleifur Úlfarsson (Icelandic: Þorleifur Úlfarsson; born 27 December 2000) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Houston Dynamo in Major League Soccer.

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Thorleifur.
Thorleifur Úlfarsson
Personal information
Full name Þorleifur Úlfarsson
Date of birth (2000-12-27) 27 December 2000
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Houston Dynamo
Number 34
Youth career
2006–2016 Breiðablik
2016–2018 Stjarnan
2018–2019 Breiðablik
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021 Duke Blue Devils 25 (19)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2021 Breiðablik 1 (0)
2019–2020 → Augnablik (loan) 21 (10)
2020–2021 → Víkingur Ólafsvík (loan) 11 (2)
2022– Houston Dynamo 45 (7)
2023– Houston Dynamo 2 0 (0)
International career‡
2022 Iceland U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 June 2023

Club career

Youth and domestic

Thorleifur began playing with Breiðablik at age 6.[1] From 2016 to 2018, he joined the Stjarnan youth ranks, but returned to Breiðablik in 2018. Thorleifur spent time on loan at Augnablik during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, where he made 21 appearances and scored 10 goals in the 3. deild karla, the 4th tier of Icelandic football. He also was loaned to Víkingur Ólafsvík for parts of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, where he scored 2 goals in 11 appearances in the 1. deild karla. Thorleifur made 3 first team appearances for his boyhood club Breiðablik, 2 in the League Cup and 1 in the Úrvalsdeild before leaving for Duke.[2]

College

In February 2021, Thorleifur joined the Duke Blue Devils to play college soccer in the United States.[1] During one and a half seasons with the Blue Devils, he scored nineteen goals and had 2 assists in twenty five matches.[3] Following his first half-season, he was named the team's Most Valuable Offensive Player and was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team, All-ACC Academic Team, and ACC Academic Honor Roll.[3] Following the 2021 season, he was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year, was a MAC Hermann Trophy semi-finalist, and was named Duke Most Valuable Offensive Player. He was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-American First Team and All-ACC First Team.[3] Following his second year at Duke, it was announced that Thorleifur had signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer ahead of the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.[4]

Professional

On 11 January 2022, Thorleifur was selected with the fourth overall pick by the Houston Dynamo in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.[5] He made his Dynamo debut on 27 February 2022, coming off the bench in the 81st minute during a 0–0 draw against Real Salt Lake in Houston's opening match of the season.[6] He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on 22 May, helping Houston to a 3–0 win over the LA Galaxy.[7] Thorleifur finished his rookie season with 4 goals and 1 assist in 31 MLS appearances, 11 of them starts.[7] It was a disappointing season for the Dynamo as a team, missing out on the playoffs after finishing 13th in the Western Conference.[8]

Career statistics
As of 15 October 2022[2][9][10]
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Breiðablik2020Úrvalsdeild 0000200020
2021 1000000010
Total 1000200030
Augnablik (loan)20193. deild karla 134210 0—155
2020 86103 1—127
Total 21103131002712
Víkingur Ólafsvík(loan)20201. deild karla 510000—51
2021 612200—83
Total 112220000134
Houston Dynamo2022Major League Soccer 3142000—334
Career Total 64167351007620
  1. Includes Icelandic Cup and U.S. Open Cup
  2. Includes Icelandic League Cup, Icelandic League Cup B, and MLS Cup Playoffs

Personal life

Thorleifur was born in Reykjavík, Iceland to Úlfar Helgason and Gudfinna Kristofersdottir and was raised in the neighboring town of Kópavogur.[3] He has 2 brothers and 1 sister.[3] Thorleifur is a fan of English club Manchester United, with Cristiano Ronaldo being his favorite player.[1]

References
  1. "Ulfarsson Joins Duke Men's Soccer". Duke Athletics. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  2. "KSI profile". KSI (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  3. "Duke Athletics profile". Duke Athletics. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  4. "2022 Generation adidas class announced". Major League Soccer. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  5. Richardson, Dustyn (11 January 2022). "Houston Dynamo select Thor Ulfarsson in first round of MLS SuperDraft". Dynamo Theory. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  6. "Dynamo draw 0–0 with Real Salt Lake in 2022 season opener". Houston Dynamo FC. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  7. "Þorleifur Úlfarsson 2022 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  8. "2022 Major League Soccer Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  9. "Iceland – Þ. Úlfarsson – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  10. "Thorleifur Úlfarsson". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
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