Eigil Louis Marius Ferdinand Nielsen,[1] known simply as Eigil Nielsen (15 September 1918 – 7 September 2000) was a Danish amateur football goalkeeper, who played 28 games for the Danish national football team and won a bronze medal with Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics.

[3] Originally from Esbjerg, Eigil Nielsen was not selected for the Danish national team, until he moved to Copenhagen club Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB).

[4] Denmark won bronze medals at the tournament, and Eigil Nielsen was considered on par with legendary goalkeeper Svend Jensen;[4] a status not equalled until Peter Schmeichel in the 1990s.

[3] While playing, Nielsen worked in the shoe and leather industry for additional financial support.

[6] Eigil Nielsen is credited with creating the common 32-panel football design in 1962 using 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal patches.