Niklas Fernando Nygård Castro (born 8 January 1996) is a professional footballer who currently plays for Brann. Born in Norway, he has represented the Chile national team. Widely regarded as one of the best and most stable left wingers in the Norwegian Eliteserien.
He played youth football for Manglerud Star.[4] Ahead of the 2016 he was drafted into the senior team of first-tier club Vålerenga. He made his Norwegian top division debut in April 2016 against Stabæk.
Already on 15 June 2018, Castro signed with Aalesund for the 2019 season. The contract was until 2021.[5]
Due to his Chilean heritage, on 3 October 2019, Castro was officially called up to the Chile national team for the friendly matches against Colombia and Guinea.[6] Since he did not have Chilean nationality at the time, he was included in the squad as a "special guest" according to manager Reinaldo Rueda.[7]
On 27 February 2020, it was confirmed Castro officially acquired the Chilean nationality and may be called up to the national team according to Ambassador of Chile to Norway, Waldemar Coutts.[8][9] So, in November 2020, he received his first official call up to the Chile senior team for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Peru and Venezuela,[10] making his international debut in the first match at the minute 83 by replacing Mauricio Isla.[11]
His father, Miguel, is a Chilean who came to Norway in 1994 and his mother, Anne, is Norwegian. He has a sister, Lene, and a brother, Fabian.[12] His paternal grandfather, Óscar Castro, was a football referee who first involved Niklas' uncles, and later Niklas himself, in football.[13]
| Club | Season | League | Norwegian Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vålerenga | 2016 | Tippeligaen | 9 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | 13 | 1 | |
| Kongsvinger | 2017 | Norwegian First Division | 25 | 12 | 3 | 3 | – | 28 | 15 | |
| 2018 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 2 | – | 30 | 12 | |||
| Total | 53 | 22 | 5 | 5 | – | 58 | 27 | |||
| Aalesund | 2019 | Norwegian First Division | 24 | 17 | 3 | 3 | – | 27 | 20 | |
| 2020 | Eliteserien | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | – | 24 | 4 | ||
| 2021 | Norwegian First Division | 25 | 7 | 2 | 0 | – | 27 | 7 | ||
| Total | 73 | 28 | 5 | 3 | – | 78 | 31 | |||
| Brann | 2022 | Norwegian First Division | 29 | 11 | 2 | 2 | – | 31 | 13 | |
| 2023 | Eliteserien | 20 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 4[a] | 1 | 28 | 9 | |
| 2024 | 29 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 6[a] | 0 | 38 | 11 | ||
| 2025 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4[b] | 1 | 15 | 5 | ||
| Total | 88 | 31 | 10 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 112 | 38 | ||
| Career total | 223 | 81 | 24 | 14 | 14 | 1 | 261 | 97 | ||
Individual
Él está cumpliendo el sueño de la familia, porque nuestro abuelo (Óscar Castro) fue árbitro. Él le enseñó jugar a mis dos tíos, y después le traspasó a Niklas.
  | This biographical article related to a Chilean association football forward is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article related to a Norwegian association football forward is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
