Hanna Bennison

Hanna Ulrika Bennison (born 16 October 2002) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Women's Super League club Everton and the Sweden women's national team. In January 2020 she was named by UEFA as one of the 10 most promising young players in Europe and in March 2021 she won the GOAL NXGN Award as the best young female footballer in the world.

Youth
Bennison is from Lomma and joined her local team GIF Nike as a five year old. She later joined the youth system at FC Rosengård.

Rosengård
In April 2018, 15-year-old Bennison made her Damallsvenskan debut as a substitute against IFK Kalmar. Rosengård won the Swedish Cup that year. She finished the 2018 season with four league appearances.

In September 2018, she made her first appearance in European club competition when she came on as a substitute in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League against Ryazan-VDV. In the 2018 season, she scored her first competitive goal in the 2-2 draw against league rivals Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC.

In 2019 Bennison's development accelerated and she played 18 league games, starting in 16, and scoring three goals, as Rosengård won the league title. The club's sporting director Therese Sjögran was surprised by Bennison's rapid progress, and had only expected the youngster to feature in about six league games that season. Despite transfer interest from Lyon, Bennison did not yet want to leave Malmö, since she was still in school.

Bennison was absent much of the 2020 season due to injuries and COVID-19. As she recovered in 2021, she then faced stiff competition for a starting position in the club, mostly from Ria Öling and Olivia Schough.

Everton
In August 2021, Bennison signed a four-year contract with Everton for a "substantial six-figure sum," making her the club's record signing in terms of transfer fee. She made her debut on September 5 when she came on as a substitute shortly after half-time in the 4-0 defeat against Manchester City. She scored her first goal for the Toffees on September 25 when she scored to make it 2-1 against Birmingham City. Over the course of the season she established herself as a regular player, appearing in each of the 22 league games, ten of them from the start, and thus made a significant contribution to Everton staying in the league. Her achievements in a difficult debut season, which was characterized, among other things, by two coaching changes, were recognized by the club by awarding Bennison the prize for the best young player.

Near the end of the 2022–23 season, Bennison scored the winner in the 91st minute of the 2-1 match against Brighton, ensuring her team finished in a top six spot in the league, an improvement from the 10th place finish the previous season.

International career
On 7 November 2019 Bennison made her senior Sweden debut, in a 3–2 friendly defeat by the United States in Columbus, Ohio. Her chipped pass in the build up to Sweden's first goal was hailed as "something special" by television color commentator Aly Wagner.

National team coach Peter Gerhardsson kept Bennison in the squad for the 2020 Algarve Cup, where she started her first match for the Blågult in a 1–0 defeat by Germany. In Portugal Caroline Seger, a teammate with club and country, acknowledged Bennison's great potential but also tried to temper the burgeoning hype: "[She] is a 17-year-old girl so it is important to be careful with her."

FC Rosengård coach Jonas Eidevall noted in an interview in May 2021 that Peter Gerhardsson has a different philosophy than Pia Sundhage and Thomas Dennerby. The earlier national team coaches pretty much excluded players who didn't always start in their club. Gerhardsson doesn't think so, something Eidevall expressed relief over and referenced him saying that he (Gerhardsson) can only start with eleven players and need good substitutions too. Eidevall believes it could be favourable for Hanna Bennison to prove herself as a good substitute player as well, as it would give her a wider repertoire and more possibilities.

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She played in four of seven games. She played over 90 minutes in the third group game against Argentina when some regular players were rested. She came on as a substitute in the other three games. Due to a 1-2 semi-final defeat against the Spanish, her team missed the final, but was able to win the game for third place against Australia.

Honours
Individual


 * IFFHS World's Best Youth (U20) Player: 2021