🔎 How influence from Nordic football continues to shape MLS | OneFootball

MLS has become a league in focus in recent years after achieving steady progression on and off the pitch.

Though the top flight of football across the United States and Canada is still a far cry from truly competing with the elite domestic club competitions in both Europe and South America, how far the league has come is undoubtedly commendable.

Still being able to boast recognized big-name stars who seek new pastures in their waning years, MLS now has become a growing haven for young talent who continue to arrive from all corners of the footballing world.

The same can be said for gifted managers as well, which is evident given the improving tactical schematics on offer from one coast to another.

And while so much attention will - and should be - paid to nations like Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, France, England, and Ghana when it comes to foreign influence on the pitch, there is a growing section of the league that can link itself to the ever-expanding presence of Nordic football in these parts.

FC Nordsjælland and San Diego FC

One of the stories of the opening month of the new 2025 MLS campaign has been expansion outfit San Diego FC, and rightly so.

Nestled in their quiet corner of the California market at Snapdragon Stadium, SDFC have taken MLS by storm in their first-ever campaign, currently sitting second in the Western Conference and unbeaten in an early run that included an opening-weekend win over MLS Cup holders LA Galaxy.

Though under the command of California-native Mikey Veras, SDFC boasts six Nordic players on their roster, headlined by Danish trio Anders Dreyer, Marcus Ingvartsen, and Jepe Tverskov, all of whom have been vital from the first minute of action this season.

In the case of Dreyer, the diminutive winger is joint-third in the scoring chart alongside D.C. United hitman Christian Benteke and sitting atop the chances created chart (14), while Tverskov has been a rock in the center of the park.

This is undoubtedly owed to the club's direct link with Danish youth production experts FC Nordsjælland, with Ingvartsen and Tverskov arriving directly via the club's base in Farum.

More importantly, SDFC, as part of a broader footballing conglomerate and thus operating along similar lines to FCN as well as Right to Dream Academy, looks primed to benefit from Mansour Group ownership, whose portfolio is chock-full of clubs directed to focus on player development on and off the pitch.

Not only will this likely see SDFC remain a destination for Danish players to arrive either on loan or on full transfer deals, but much of their identity is sure to be shaped along similar lines.

Olof Mellberg's historic start along the Mississippi

The age-old adage of "offense gets the glory, defense wins championships" is as old as time itself, but unfortunately in the footballing world, consistent goal threat is as important if major trophy wins are to be on offer.

But St. Louis City SC may be primed to test that very theory across the early days of Olof Mellberg's tenure at Energizer Park.

While St. Louis is hardly a stranger to success after a brilliant inaugural campaign in 2023 that saw them taste defeat on just five occasions before ultimately being ousted from the post-season picture in the first round, Mellberg, a very competent defender during an underrated career at the top level in Europe, has already shaped the senior side in his image.

Having yet to surrender a single goal in their opening four matches in the current 2025 season but only hitting the back of the net on four occasions, their 2-2-0 record is a reflection of what fans may expect under the former Swedish international center-back.

Allowing just ten shots thus far (a number only bettered by Vancouver), leading MLS in clean sheets, and boasting the highest serial duels success rate (61%), St. Louis is almost a throwback to the Sweden of Mellberg's playing career, and a shout to his first managerial stint that saw him post highly successful returns at IF Brommapojkarna.

Unfortunately for SLC, the club rests in the bottom half of almost every single attacking metric thus far. Still, the organizational if not pragmatic nature of the club's on-pitch product thus far is undoubtedly a nod to what Mellberg knows best.

Vancouver making waves under Danish guidance

Mellberg is not the only Scandinavian manager planting strong roots in MLS in 2025, with Vancouver Whitecaps headmaster Jesper Sørensen at the head of a record-setting start at BC Place.

Currently atop the Western Conference pile while owning a perfect 4-0-0 record, Sørensen's influence on Vancouver, and indeed, his footballing upbringing in a Danish landscape once billed as 'Danish Dynamite' and 'The Brazilians of Europe,' has seen the Blue-and-White's looking a new version of themselves.

Boasting the second-best possession metrics across both conferences (88.6%) while coming in as one of the better attacking sides in terms of key passes (6th), xG (2nd), shots (3rd), shots on target (2nd), and assists (4th), Vancouver are currently on course for their highest finish in club history to date.

As such, this new-found attacking identity shows connections to Sørenson's spells with former postings Silkeborg IF and Brøndby IF, where both sides flirted with averaging two goals/match under his guidance.

Should Vancouver find their attacking numbers sustainable across the season, they could be in for a deep run come the post-season.

Young talent flocking to MLS clubs

Much of the Nordic story in MLS has mirrored that of every other region of the world which ultimately saw players arrive in the US and Canada at the tail end of their careers.

There has been a lengthy list of aging talent who viewed a stint in the league as a worthwhile venture, none more notably than Swedish icon Zlatan Ibrahimović.

One of the greatest strikers his nation has ever produced alongside the likes of Gunnar Nordahl and Henrik Larsson, Zlatan's brief but sensational spell with LA Galaxy was telling.

The same could not be said of compatriot Fredrik Ljungberg, however. Despite starring at Arsenal for nine seasons, the Vittsjö-born winger struggled during his time with the Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders.

But it's not just capable managers and veteran stars who have flown their respective flags in MLS to varying degrees of success. When it comes to the 2024 and 2024 seasons, the arrival of a cadre of young talents offers a breadcrumb trail to what the league has become.

Versatile Finnish defender Matti Peltola (22) arrived at D.C. United last season after starring for domestic giants HJK.

Former key Norwegian youth international Dennis Gjengaar also arrived in 2024, leaving Odds and the Eliteserien to ply his trade with the New York Red Bulls.

Youth international teammate Edvard Tagseth (24), once billed as one of the brightest talents to come through the domestic ranks, left giant Rosenborg BK to nestle his way into life with Nashville SC just before the 2025 season, while another Odd product in Conrad Wallem, traded Slavia Prague for St. Louis despite a very credible spell in the Bohemian capital which could have yielded a move to another European locale.

There have been two Swedish additions, too, in the vein of Noah Eile's pathway to NYRB in 2024, and the arrival of bright attacking midfielder Ahmed Qasem in Nashville in 2025, with Qasem already scoring twice this season.

And while MLS is hardly a stranger to Nordic talent, so often it has been veteran players or stars just past their prime years - with some exceptions - that have made the same trek some of their descendants embarked on centuries ago.

If MLS is now viewed as a viable pathway for young(er) talent from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, it is proof-positive of not only the growing reputation of the league but a testament that gives credence to Zlatan's observations and hopes of yesteryear.

📸 Photo Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images