York Rafael
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-03-17) 17 March 1999
Place of birth Gävle, Sweden
Position(s) Left midfielder[1]
Team information
Current team
 Gefle IF
Number 24
Youth career
2011–2013 Brynäs IF
2013–2014 Sandvikens IF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2018 Sandvikens IF 38 (6)
2016 → Gefle IF (loan) 1 (0)
2017[2] → VfL Bochum (loan) 0 (0)
2018–2019 IFK Värnamo 7 (0)
2018 → Sandvikens IF (loan) 17 (2)
2019–2021 Kalmar FF 37 (0)
2021–2022 AFC Eskilstuna 53 (8)
2023– Gefle IF 18 (1)
International career‡
2015–2016 Sweden U17 6 (0)
2016–2019 Sweden U19 11 (1)
2021– Rwanda 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 2 June 2023

York Rafael (born 17 March 1999) is a professional footballer who plays for Superettan club Gefle IF, primarily as a left midfielder.[3] Born in Sweden, he represents the Rwanda national team.

Club career

York Rafael started his football career with Gävle side Brynäs IF in 2011.[4] He joined Sandvikens IF's youth academy two years later and made his senior debut with them as a 15-year-old in Division 2.[5] In 2015 Rafael went on trials with European clubs Watford and Lazio, as well with Swedish IFK Göteborg the previous year, without signing any contracts.[6][7]

After having been linked with a move to AIK,[8] Rafael instead joined Allsvenskan club Gefle IF on loan in August 2016.[9] He made his Gefle debut in Svenska Cupen, playing 90 minutes against Söderhamns FF on August 24.[10] It was followed up with his professional debut in Allsvenskan three days later against Djurgårdens IF, in which he came on as a substitute in the final minutes.[11]

On 11 December 2017, he joined IFK Värnamo in Superettan, Sweden's second tier.[12] During the 2018 season, York returned to his old club Sandvikens IF on loan.[13] On 11 December 2018, Kalmar FF announced, that they had signed Rafael on a deal until the end of 2021.[14]

International career

He won his first youth international cup for Sweden U17 on 4 August 2015, in Sweden's 3–0 win against Iceland.[15] He played six games in total for U17, for which he is still eligible to play for, until he was called up to Sweden's U19 squad in September 2016. He has scored one goal in three games so far.[4]

Due to his dual citizenship with Rwanda, he was invited to play for Rwanda national football team in 2015.[16] He debuted with Rwanda in a 1–0 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification loss to Uganda on 7 October 2021.[17]

Personal life

Rafael was raised in Gävle, Sweden, to an Angolan father and Rwandese mother.[18][7][16] He is a practicing Christian.[19]

He cited Arjen Robben as his idol.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of 21 October 2016[21]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Gefle IF 2016 Allsvenskan 1010—20
Total 10100020
Career total 10100020

References

  1. ↑ York Rafael at WorldFootball.net
  2. ↑ Officiellt: York Rafael återvänder till Sandvikens IF‚ fotbolltransfers.com, 3 March 2017
  3. ↑ York Rafael at Soccerway
  4. 1 2 "York Rafael". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "A-lagsman som 15-åring – nu vill supertalangen utomlands" (in Swedish). FotbollDirekt.se. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  6. ↑ "Nu testar svenske talangen med Lazio" (in Swedish). Fotbollskanalen.se. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Southampton jagar svenske talangen" (in Swedish). Sportexpressen. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "AIK testar supertalangen" (in Swedish). Sportbladet. 25 May 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Tshakasua lånas ut – York Rafael lånas in" (in Swedish). Gefle IF. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "Matchinformation: Söderhamns FF mot Gefle IF". svenskfotboll.se. 24 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Matchinformation: Djurgårdens IF mot Gefle IF". svenskfotboll.se. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Välkommen York!‚ ifkvarnamo.se, 11 December 2017
  13. ↑ "Inget utlandsäventyr för York – tillbaka i SIF". Sandvikens IF. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  14. ↑ York Rafael klar för Kalmar FF!, kalmarff.se, 11 December 2018
  15. ↑ "York Rafael". svenskfotboll.se. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  16. 1 2 "SIF-talangen får jättechans hos Premier League-lag" (in Swedish). Arbetarbladet.se. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "Match Report of Rwanda vs Uganda - 2021-10-07 - WC Qualification". Global Sports Archive. 2021-10-07. Retrieved 2021-10-07.
  18. ↑ "Rafael York yahamagawe n'Amavubi U20, ariko ntazakina umukino wa Uganda" (in Kinyarwanda). umuseke.rw. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  19. ↑ "Ung talang med prisat stöd i ryggen" (in Swedish). SvT. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  20. ↑ "York Rafael – Sandvikens IF" (in Swedish). Tonsser.com. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "Y. Rafael". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
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