Born in Lund and raised in Teckomatorp, Jakobsson started his senior career as a central defender for nearby club Landskrona BoIS in 1990. He helped Landskrona win promotion for the top-flight Swedish Allsvenskan championship in 1993. Landskrona were relegated again following the 1994 Allsvenskan season, and Jakobsson moved on to Allsvenskan club Helsingborgs IF. He instantly commanded a place in Helsingborg's starting line-up, and made his debut for the Swedish national team in February 1996. Together with Ola Nilsson, he formed the strongest central defence in Allsvenskan for several years and in, 1999, HIF was finally able to win Allsvenskan after 58 years of waiting. Without the solid defence controlled by Jakobsson, many doubt it would have been possible. After winning the 1999 Allsvenskan championship with HIF, he moved abroad to play for F.C. Hansa Rostock in the German Bundesligain the summer 2000. He played three seasons at Rostock, missing only three of 102 league games for the club. He was called up for the Swedish squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and played full-time in all four games for Sweden, replacing the injured captain Patrik Andersson. In July 2003, Jakobsson left Rostock to play for Brøndby IF in the Danish Superliga. He was selected to represent Sweden at the 2004 European Championship, and played full-time in the tournament, as Sweden reached the quarter-finals. He was a designated penalty taker in the penalty shoot out against the Netherlands, but refused to take his penalty. Instead, Olof Mellberg took a penalty which Dutch keeper Edwin van der Sar saved and Sweden were consequently eliminated. Jakobsson announced his retirement from international football after the tournament. He played five games in the 2004–05 Superliga, which Brøndby would go on to win, before moving to English club Southampton F.C. in the FA Premier League, scoring twice against Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough. At the end of the season, Southampton were relegated, and Jakobsson returned to play for Helsingborgs IF. After the 2007 season, he retired from professional football.
