Nellie and Elin Karlsson: Twins united by football and divided by injury

Although they say they are not alike, twins Nellie and Elin Karlsson share one passion. Unsurprisingly, a love for football.

And while they are twins, unlike Denmark’s Holmgaard sisters, there are still visible differences between them. One has darker hair, the other is blonde. One has blue eyes, the other is brown eyed. One is left-footed, the other right-footed. Both, however, played as defenders, both wore the shirts of Swedish clubs Kristianstad and Växjö, and both represented Sweden at youth international level.

That is now only true for Nellie. Elin hung up her boots after suffering an ACL injury, with her recovery made even more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Football had been a shared language for the Karlsson sisters from the very beginning. They started playing at the age of six and progressed almost entirely side by side. First through regional leagues, later at higher levels, and eventually with Sweden’s U17 and U19 national teams.

When an injury affects both

But their bond became most visible whenever one of them was missing. When Nellie was sidelined for almost a year with a knee injury, it did not only affect her. “It was horrible going to training without her,” Elin admitted years ago in an interview with UEFA. “I felt like it affected my performances too.”

Nellie spoke in a similar way about their relationship, describing it as stronger than what most siblings experience. Successes and disappointments were never carried separately.

Both sisters were regarded as talented defenders within Sweden’s youth national teams. Nellie played at the U19 European Championship in 2013, while Elin followed a year later. It was during that period that the extent to which they shaped each other became especially clear. Before the tournament, Elin asked her sister about the atm osphere and pressure of playing at a major international competition. Nellie explained what to expect, how demanding it would be, but also how special such an environment could feel.

Football as an universal language

Their stories, however, eventually moved in different directions. While Nellie continued her career, Elin’s came to a halt after a serious knee injury. A torn ACL alone represents one of the toughest obstacles for any footballer. In women’s football, moreover, it has become an alarmingly frequent injury. One that many believe requires deeper research and understanding. Worse still, Elin’s recovery coincided with the pandemic, which intensified the isolation, uncertainty, and challenges of rehabilitation. The comeback never came.

Yet their story is not simply about a career cut short. It is more about a unique type of sibling connection that occasionally exists in sport. About how football can become a shared space, an identity, and an everyday reality for two sisters to such an extent that when one part disappears, the other feels it too.

And even though only Nellie remains on the pitch today, some things have not changed. What Elin said years ago still holds true: they may not look alike at first glance, but they could hardly be any closer.

In the end, Nellie and Elin Karlsson’s careers went separate ways, but their relationship did not. Football was never just a sport or a shared hobby for them. It was the space in which they grew up together, learned how to handle pressure and loss, and where one could always instinctively sense when something was wrong with the other. And neither injury nor the end of Elin’s playing career could take that away from them.