From the School Playground to the Olympic Stage: A Friendship That Endured

It all began in Uppsala. Little Nathalie and her friend Filippa simply wanted a place to play football. So Nathalie’s father took matters into his own hands and founded a club for his daughter and her best friend — creating a space where other children in the neighbourhood, boys and girls alike, could play the game.

It was 2003, the year Sweden reached the Women’s World Cup final. Although they lost to Germany, the tournament is widely regarded as the spark that ignited a nationwide surge of interest in women’s football. The Swedish team inspired thousands of young girls to take up the game — Nathalie and Filippa among them.

Little did they know, two decades later, they would stand on the podium at the very same tournament, this time with bronze medals around their necks. When Mr Björn founded a football club for his daughter and her friends, he could hardly have imagined the stars they would one day become. What never left Nathalie and Filippa was not only their love for the game, but also their friendship.

What began as a childhood hobby soon became a clear calling — both knew they wanted to dedicate their lives to football. Side by side, they signed their first contracts with IK Sirius at the age of 16, and a year later both made the move to Stockholm giants AIK.

Together in the club and the national team

Their paths eventually diverged. Filippa made the switch to city rivals Hammarby, while Nathalie joined Eskilstuna United. Yet they remained teammates on the international stage, both earning call-ups to the national team — where they would go on to share some of the biggest moments of their careers.

Among those achievements are the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo and, above all, the World Cup bronze. Back when they were just little girls at their club in Uppsala, Nathalie and Filippa could hardly have dreamed of moments like that.

Perhaps the most beautiful testament to their friendship, however, has nothing to do with football. In 2024, Filippa and her partner Megan became parents to a baby boy. They named him Aston Björn — a tribute to Nathalie. It is a gesture that speaks volumes about how deeply Filippa values their lifelong bond.