Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir

Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir (born 27June 1995) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Iceland national team.

Glódís Perla started her career with HK/Víkingur, Horsens SIK, and Stjarnan. She moved to Sweden in 2015, first playing for Eskilstuna United and then FC Rosengård. With Rosengård, she won one Damallsvenskan title and two Svenska Cupen trophies. She then moved to Bayern Munich, where she has won three consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles.

Glódís Perla is a four-time Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year winner and one-time Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year. Later on in 2024, she became the first Icelandic player to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or Féminin.

Club career

HK/Víkingur, Stjarnan Glódís Perla played youth football in Denmark with Egebjerg EIF before moving to her first senior club, HK/Víkingur, in 2009. She was a productive scorer for HK/Víkingur, managing to net 14 goals in 17 league appearances with the team while playing as a striker. She had a short, three-month stint with Horsens SIK in Denmark before heading back to Iceland and joining Stjarnan for the 2012 season. With Stjarnan, Glódís Perla won two Besta deild kvenna titles across four years.

Eskilstuna United In November 2014, Glódís Perla signed in Sweden for Damallsvenskan club Eskilstuna United, where she played between 2015 and 2017. She later helped contribute to Eskilstuna United's run in the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League, where they reached the Round of 16. She started all 11 matches in 2017 before ultimately departing.

FC Rosengård In July 2017, Glódís Perla moved clubs and signed for one of Eskilstuna's competitors, FC Rosengård. She had prior familiarity with the club, having attended Rosengård training camps at ages 16 and 17. With center backs Emma Berglund and Amanda Ilestedt having previously moved on from Rosengård, Her play earned her a contract extension in 2018, and she re-signed for two more seasons.

In 2020, Rosengård finished second overall in the league and secured qualification for the UEFA Women's Champions League. Earlier on in the year, Glódís Perla had helped the team start the season on a good note, scoring the lone goal against Kristianstad to give Rosengård their second win in as many games. An example of consistency, she ended up not missing a single club match for the first three years of her tenure, starting 57 in a row. At the end of 2020, she was nominated for the Damallsvenskan's Defender of the Year award, but the accolade was instead won by Kopparbergs/Goeteborg player Natalia Kuikka. However, Glódís Perla still was able to secure a spot on the Damallsvenskan team of the season, along with five of her teammates. She played her final Rosengård match on 9 July 2021. inking a three-year contract in the midst of her sixth professional season. Although she had previously heard negative stories about Bayern, a chat with Icelandic teammate Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir assuaged her concerns. On 12 September 2021, she scored her first Frauen-Bundesliga goal in a win over SC Freiburg.

The following season, Bayern Munich hired manager Alexander Straus, whom Glódís Perla has expressed helped her perform better than the year prior. capping off a season in which she played every single minute of Bayern's campaign. (a position which had been held for three years prior by Lina Magull) and extended her contract until 2026. In 2023–24, she was a key contributor as Bayern won their second Frauen-Bundesliga in a row. During the game, Glódís Perla scored once as Bayern beat Freiburg, 3–1, to ensure that the title would end up in their hands.

Glódís Perla led FC Bayern Women to the first double in the club's history in 2024–25 season. In December 2025, her contract was extended until 30 June 2028.

International career Glódís Perla played for multiple Icelandic youth national teams, one of which she has captained. It was at the under-17 level that she was fully converted into a centre-back after playing as a midfielder and forward for HK/Víkingur. On 4 August 2012, she made her senior international debut in Iceland's 1–1 friendly draw with Scotland at Cappielow. Glódís Perla was also a member of Iceland's team in the 2017 Women's Euro. While she expressed excitement and balance among the team leading up to the tournament, Iceland lost their opening match to France in a slim defeat and were beaten in each of their other two fixtures, resulting in their elimination from the group.

On 11 June 2018, she scored her first international brace against Slovenia as part of Iceland's 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification journey. Glódís Perla was included in Iceland's squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022. She started in all three matches On 7 April 2022, she played her 100th match for Iceland in a 5–0 win over Belarus in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification. At the end of 2022, she was named Iceland's Footballer of the Year, beating teammate Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir. Glódís Perla would go on to win the award in 2023 and 2024 as well, setting a three-year streak.

In 2024, Glódís Perla received multiple other honors in addition to the Icelandic Footballer of the Year, as she was named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year She became the first Icelandic women's footballer to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or. Despite not winning, she was also the highest-voted centre-back.

In July 2024, Glódís Perla played in a 3–0 win over Germany and executed a key goal-line clearance in the second half. The result, Iceland's first-ever win against the Germans, sealed their spot in the UEFA Women's Euro 2025. marking her fourth Euro tournament since her arrival onto the national team. In the opening game of the competition, a match against Finland, she went down for treatment in the first half of the game before being substituted off during halftime. After the conclusion of the game, which ended as a 1–0 win for Finland, Glódís Perla revealed that her absence was caused by diarrhea.

Style of play Glódís Perla plays primarily as a centre back for both club and country, although she was a midfielder at the start of her career. As a captain for both Bayern Munich and Iceland, Glódís Perla has been recognized for her leadership qualities. She is also known for her aerial presence, After graduating from the Reykjavík Women's College, she studied at the University of Akureyri. She graduated from Akureyri with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology the day after scoring a brace against Slovenia in a 2019 World Cup qualifier. Svenska Cupen: 2017, 2018

Bayern Munich Frauen-Bundesliga: 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26 DFB-Pokal: 2024–25, 2025–26 DFB-Supercup: 2024 , 2026

Individual Icelandic Women's Footballer of the Year: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year: 2024 Order of the Falcon: 2025