Magnusson was born in
Helsingborg. During his career he played for
Malmö FF (two spells),
Servette FC,
S.L. Benfica and
Helsingborgs IF. Upon his return home he helped the latter side, featuring a young
Henrik Larsson, reach the
Allsvenskan. At the
Lisbon club, where he arrived in 1987 as a replacement for fellow
Scandinavian,
Michael Manniche, Magnusson developed as a top flight goalscorer, winning two
Primeira Liga championships and appearing at the
European Cup finals in
1988 (lost to
PSV Eindhoven in a
penalty shoot-out) and
1990 (losing to
A.C. Milan). In
1989–90, even though they lost to
FC Porto in the league, he finished as top scorer of the competition with 33 goals in 32 games; during his time with Benfica he shared team with countrymen
Jonas Thern (1989–92),
Stefan Schwarz (1990–94) – also his teammates at Malmö – and coach
Sven-Göran Eriksson (1989–92). His total of 87 goals in all official competitions made him Benfica's top foreign goalscorer for more than twenty years. He was later surpassed by Paraguayan international
Óscar Cardozo (172 goals) and Brazilian international
Jonas (137 goals). ==International career==