Elías Ólafsson

Elías Ólafsson
Personal information
Full name Elías Rafn Ólafsson
Date of birth (2000-03-11) 11 March 2000
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Midtjylland
Number 16
Youth career
2005−2012 Breiðablik
2012−2013 Völsungur
2013−2018 Breiðablik
2018−2019 Midtjylland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Breiðablik 0 (0)
2017 → FH (loan) 0 (0)
2018− Midtjylland 73 (0)
2019−2020 → Aarhus Fremad (loan) 20 (0)
2020−2021 → Fredericia (loan) 26 (0)
2023−2024 → Mafra (loan) 32 (0)
International career‡
2016 Iceland U16 3 (0)
2018 Iceland U19 1 (0)
2019–2021 Iceland U21 7 (0)
2021– Iceland 15 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 August 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 June 2026

Elías Rafn Ólafsson (born 11 March 2000) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland.[1][2][3]

Early life

Elías started playing football at the age of five.[4] He also played both handball and volleyball in his youth and played two games for the Iceland national volleyball team in 2015.[5] He subsequently quit both sports to fully focus on football.[4]

Club career

Elías came through the youth academy of Breiðablik. In July 2018, he was sold to reigning Danish champions Midtjylland.[6][7] In 2019, he was loaned to Aarhus Fremad[8] where he appeared in 20 games.[9] In August 2020, he was loaned to Fredericia.[10] In December 2020, he signed a five-year contract extension with Midtjylland.[11][12] In September 2021, he was named the Danish Superliga Player of the Month.[13]

On 18 July 2023 it was confirmed, that Ólafsson had joined Liga Portugal 2 club Mafra on a season-long loan deal.[14] After the loan spell Ólafsson returned to Midtjylland.[15]

International career

Elías was selected to the Icelandic national team ahead of its friendly games against Canada and El Salvador in January 2020. He was an unused substitute in both games.[16] In October 2020, Elías was diagnosed with COVID-19, following Iceland under-21 national team's 2–0 win over Luxembourg U21.[16] In March 2021, he was selected for the Iceland U21 ahead of its games in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[17]

He made his debut for the senior national team on 8 October 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Armenia.[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 27 August 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Breiðablik 2017 Úrvalsdeild 0000——00
FH (loan) 2017 Úrvalsdeild 0000—0000
Aarhus Fremad (loan) 2019–20 Danish 2nd Division 20000——200
Fredericia (loan) 2020–21 Danish 1st Division 26000——260
Midtjylland 2021–22 Danish Superliga 14010—5[a]0200
2022–23 Danish Superliga 8010—4[b]0130
2024–25 Danish Superliga 20000—11[c]0310
2025–26 Danish Superliga 27040—15[d]0460
2026–27 Danish Superliga 4000—6[e]0100
Total 73060004101200
Mafra (loan) 2023–24 Liga Portugal 2 3201000—330
Career total 150070004101980
  1. ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Europa League, two appearances in UEFA Conference League
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Europa League, four appearances in UEFA Conference League

International

As of matches played on 9 June 2026
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Iceland 202140
202320
202570
202620
Total150

Honours

Midtjylland

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Hafliði Breiðfjörð (12 August 2020). "Elías Rafn: Gott að finna að þetta er nálægt en maður vill alltaf lengra". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  2. ↑ "Næsti landsliðsmarkmaður Íslands?". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 27 October 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Anders Funder (25 October 2019). "Islandsk fyrtårn imponerer overrasket Fremad-træner". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  4. 1 2 Patrick Viborg Andersen (19 January 2021). "FC Fredericias islandske plankeværk drømmer om Champions League". Koldingavisen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  5. ↑ Elín Heiður Gunnarsdóttir (27 May 2015). "Tveir sigrar í Færeyjum". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Ívan Guðjón Baldursson (16 July 2018). "Elías Rafn til Midtjylland (Staðfest)". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Sæbjörn Þór Þórbergsson Steinke (27 October 2019). "Elías Rafn fær mikið lof fyrir frammistöðu sína". Fótbolti.net (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Mathias Hansen (21 August 2019). "Netværk sendte islandsk målmand til Aarhus: - Han har ekstreme spidskompetencer". stiften.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Anton Ingi Leifsson (7 June 2020). "Elías fær mikið lof: "Getur allt og verður söluvara fyrir Midtjylland"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Jesper Banke (11 August 2020). "FC Fredericia henter stor målmand i FC Midtjylland". frdb.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  11. ↑ Anton Ingi Leifsson (19 December 2020). "Elías skrifar undir langan samning við dönsku meistarana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "FC Midtjylland skriver lang kontrakt med keepertalent". Tipsbladet (in Danish). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (2 October 2021). "Elías Rafn leikmaður mánaðarins í dönsku deildinni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  14. ↑ ELÍAS ÓLAFSSON É REFORÇO, cdmafra.com, 18 July 2023
  15. ↑ ELÍAS RAFN: MÆTTUR AFTUR TIL AÐ VERA AÐALMARKVÖRÐUR, fotbolti.net, 28 June 2024
  16. 1 2 Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (16 October 2020). "Elías Rafn með kórónuveiruna". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  17. ↑ Hörður Snævar Jónsson (18 March 2021). "KSÍ staðfestir hópinn sem lak út í fyrradag". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  18. ↑ "Iceland v Armenia game report". FIFA. 8 October 2021.
  19. ↑ Thrane, Kasper (14 May 2026). "Midtjysk dødbold afgjorde grim pokalfinale" [Midtjylland set piece settled ugly cup final]. DR (in Danish). Archived from the original on 14 May 2026. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Thomas Jørgensen på Årets Hold i 3F Superliga" (in Danish). Viborg FF. 29 May 2026. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
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