Bayern stars are engaged
They love each other – and fight for titles together
Updated 10/16/2025 – 7:13 p.mReading time: 3 minutes
They met and fell in love in Sweden: the soccer stars Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson. They are now playing together in Germany – and want to get married.
Pernille Harder and Magdalena Eriksson make no secret of their relationship – and have not for many years. The footballers have been a couple since 2014. They met in Linköping, Sweden, where both played for the local women’s football club.
In the Danish podcast “Heartbeats DK” in 2021, Harder explained that there was only a spark between them a year after they became teammates. They weren’t best friends at first, but they were good friends. “And then we started talking to each other more,” said Harder. “And I suddenly wanted to be with her all the time.”
Harder emphasized that she then started doing more things with Eriksson than with her “normal” friends. “Then I developed feelings and got butterflies in my stomach.” However, unlike Eriksson, she did not know at the time that she was attracted to women.
But Harder still took the first step. “I already knew she liked women,” she said of Eriksson. “So I thought if anyone should take the initiative, it would be me.” Luckily for her, Eriksson was also interested in her, says the now 32-year-old. After a year-long dating phase, the two’s relationship became official.
In 2017, the two stars parted ways again – but only on a purely sporting note. Harder moved to VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Eriksson signed for Chelsea FC in England. Both celebrated some success with their new clubs.
At the 2019 World Cup, they unplanned made it clear that the striker and the defender remained firmly together during this time. A camera caught the pair after Sweden’s round of 16 game against Canada. Eriksson, who had just made it into the last eight with her team, located her Danish partner Harder in the stands, went to her and kissed her.
“We didn’t even know anyone was taking a photo,” the 31-year-old later told the British newspaper “Guardian.” But the picture of the two footballers in Swedish jerseys kissing went viral – and triggered a wave of enthusiasm.
Around a year later, Harder and Eriksson were to be together again permanently. The goalscorer left VfL Wolfsburg and moved to her partner in London. Together they each celebrated three championship titles and cup victories in England.