(right) His 349 matches in the highest league is the third most for a goalkeeper in Allsvenskan. He also has got the less impressive record of being the goalkeeper who has conceded the highest number of goals in Allsvenskan, a total of 575. He never won Allsvenskan with his club, Helsingborgs IF finished second two times, third three times and fourth three times during his career, giving him a total of eight medals (as fourth placed teams are awarded medals in Allsvenskan), but no gold, missing it by having a lower goal difference in 1948–49, and by being one point behind in 1953–54. He was the first goalkeeper to receive the
Swedish Football Association award for best Swedish footballer,
Guldbollen, in 1952. His
national team career is more impressive, gaining 73
caps between his debut 13 May 1949 at home against
England (3–1) and his final match 29 June 1958 against
Brazil in the World Cup final which ended in a
2–5 loss. Karl Svensson played in four of the big tournaments, the
1950 and
1958 World Cups, as well as the
1948 and
1952 Olympic Games, winning a medal in all four. His nickname
Rio-Kalle, derived from
Rio de Janeiro and the common Swedish nickname for Karl,
Kalle, was given to him during the 1950 World Cup in
Brazil after two heroic matches against
Italy and
Spain, which both actually were played on
Estádio do Pacaembu in São Paulo. Kalle Svensson has been honoured with a statue placed outside
Olympia in
Helsingborg which was made by sculptor
Risto Karvinen. ==Club career==