Mikael Appelgren (handballer)

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Mikael Appelgren
Personal information
Born (1989-09-06) 6 September 1989
Uddevalla, Sweden
Nationality Swedish
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club ONE Veszprém
Number 1
Senior clubs
Years Team
0000–2009
 GF Kroppskultur
2009–2012
 IFK Skövde
2012–2015
 MT Melsungen
2015–2025
 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2025–
 ONE Veszprém
National team 1
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2020
 Sweden 101 (2)
Medal record
European Championship
Silver medal – second place2018 Croatia
1 National team caps and goals correct
as of 14 January 2026
18 January 2017.

Mikael Appelgren (born 6 September 1989) is a Swedish handball player for ONE Veszprém.[1] He was named Swedish Handballer of the Year in 2017.[2]

Career

Appelgren started playing handball at GF Kroppskultur, before joining IFK Skövde in 2009.[3] In the 2011–12 season he was part of the Swedish league all-star team.[4] After three seasons at IFK Skövde he joined German Bundesliga team MT Melsungen.[5] Here he played for three seasons before joining league rivals Rhein-Neckar Löwen for the 2015–16 season to get more playing time.[6] Here he won the German championship in his first season at the club.[7] This was the first championship in club history. In 2017 he won the league for a second time. In 2018 he was named Swedish handballer of the year.

At the end of the 2019–20 season Appelgren was operated for a finger injury.[8] In October 2020 he had to be operated again due to a tendon injury in the shoulder.[9] In December the same year he was on the operation table for a third time; this time due to a cartilage-damaged knee.[10] These injuries made him miss the entire 2020–21 season. In August 2021 he was once again through a knee operation.[11] In March 2022 he was once again part of a match day squad for Rhein-Neckar Löwen.[12]

National team

He debuted for the Swedish national team in 2011 in a European Championship qualification match against Israel.[13]

He competed at the 2016 European Men's Handball Championship.[14] Here he acted as a backup for Mattias Andersson. He also represented Sweden at the 2017 World Championship together with Andreas Palicka.[15]

He won silver medals at the 2018 European Championship.

After a long time away from handball due to injuries, he was once again part of the Swedish team at the 2023 World Championship.[16] He made his comeback in a preparation match leading up to tournament against Serbia.[17]

References

  1. "EHF profile".
  2. "Albin Lagergren utses till Årets spelare" (in Swedish). Swedish Handball Federation. 7 May 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  3. "Alla övergångar i handbollens elitserie" (in Swedish). Ekurinen.se.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. "Skövdetrio i All star-team" (in Swedish). Skövde Nyheter. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018.
  5. "Mikael Appelgren klar för tyska Melsungen" (in Swedish). Skövde Nyheter. 1 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016.
  6. Johan Flinck (22 December 2014). "Svenske målvakten behöver speltid – byter klubb". Aftonbladet (in Swedish).
  7. TT (5 June 2016). "Svenskduo vann tysk handbollstitel". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish).
  8. "Målvaktsstjärnan: "Kan bli en helvetessäsong"". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  9. "Appelgren borta ur spel året ut efter axeloperation" (in Swedish). Handbollskanalen. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  10. ""Äpplet" har lämnat rullstolen – hoppas på OS". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  11. "Mikael Appelgren wird nochmals operiert" (in German). Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  12. "Irre Achterbahnfahrt mit Happy End" (in German). Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  13. Martin Johansson (12 June 2011). "Appelgrens debut i landslaget" (in Swedish). Bohusläningen. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018.
  14. "Men's EHF Euro 2016 Poland. Sweden". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  15. Martin Fransson (10 January 2017). "Förnuft och känsla skapar det perfekta målvaktsparet" (in Swedish). DN.
  16. "Sverige trupp till VM på hemmaplan" (in Swedish). Handbollslandslaget. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  17. "Appelgren lysande i comebacken – men svensk förlust". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 January 2023.