Once head coach Eric Quill decided upon a 5-at-the-back formation full time for 2026, FC Dallas' top brass added a specific profile to the shopping list.
Among the first orders of offseason business was acquiring Herman Johansson, a 28-year-old Sweden international to add a new dimension to wide areas. Johansson, who stands an imposing 6-foot-3, is coming off a career season having helped Mjällby AIF win its first Swedish top-flight title while scoring seven goals and adding a team-high eight assists – all from his natural wingback position.
“One of our needs was to bring a right wingback, someone that we felt could come right away and have an impact in the team,” said Chief Soccer Officer André Zanotta. “Johansson has the speed, the physicality and the aggressiveness which adds a lot for offensive set pieces and defensive set pieces. So he checked a lot of boxes. He's a player that also showed a lot of desire to be here with us, to come to MLS and to be in Dallas. So it really made sense to bring in someone like him.”
Johansson's journey to the Sweden national team and FC Dallas wasn’t straightforward. Born in Örnsköldsvik, a town renowned for exporting its local hockey players to the NHL, Johansson instead chose soccer and grew up playing for local sides BK Ornen and Friska Viljor FC, eventually breaking through to the semiprofessional level with the latter. After six seasons and over 50 goals, he moved on to third-division outfit Sandvikens IF and soon after caught the eye of top-flight side Mjällby. In all, Johansson played 136 times and recorded 32 goal contributions over five campaigns for Mjällby, capping it off with a first-ever Allsvenskan championship and a record 75 points.
With a record-breaking season under his belt and a first Sweden cap in hand, Johansson felt the time was right for a new chapter.
“I've been playing in Sweden my whole life, and I wanted to try something new,” he explained on the FC Dallas Agenda podcast. “I wanted to try something completely new. It's very different, but it feels good. I had a meeting with the whole staff, and Eric (Quill) and André (Zanotta), and I just had a great feeling from the start.
“They presented how the team wants to play, how they see me fitting, everything around the club, the city and the town around, so basically the whole package.”
A wingback by trade, Johannson fits naturally as the wide player in Eric Quill’s now go-to 3-5-2 formation. And with his height and speed (Johansson reached 22 MPH last season, making him the second fastest player on FCD’s roster behind Anderson Julio), the Swede seems an ideal fit for Quill’s transitional style.
“I see myself as quite a physical player, going back and forth,” Johansson said. “I like to score and assist, and I still like to defend with the team, to help them keep clean sheets and stuff. So, I like going both ways.”
“In that position specifically, you're looking at endurance metrics, you're looking at speed metrics, recovery, and he stands at the top when you compare him to wingbacks around the world,” Quill said. “We have built in physical standards that we want in these different positions, and he surpassed our standards. So along with his technical ability, I think he's going to have a huge amount of success in Major League Soccer.”
Johansson’s athletic ability was on full display in FC Dallas’ second match of its preseason training camp in Algarve, Portugal. Early in the second half against Denmark’s Brondby IF, Johansson easily outpaced the opponents’ backline to go 1v1 with the goalkeeper before applying a confident finish. It was exactly the kind of vertical attack Quill and co. hoped Johansson would bring to FCD’s flanks (Johansson has played as both right and left wingback across his first two appearances).
While it’s still early days, the blueprint for Johansson’s place in the Dallas game model is plain to see. Once he settles in and becomes more accustomed with his new surroundings, expect Johansson to be a major contributor for Dallas on both sides of the ball in 2026.
“I'm just looking forward to getting a place (in DFW) with my family, getting to know the town, going around and seeing everything,” Johansson said. “I’d like to go to some more Dallas Stars games, of course (Johansson attended a Stars game on his first visit to Texas last month). But overall, I just want to enjoy the big experience of the U.S.”
