TheSweden men's national football team (Swedish:Sveriges herrlandslag i fotboll) representsSweden in men's internationalfootball and it is controlled by theSwedish Football Association, the governing body offootball in Sweden. Sweden's home ground isNationalarenan inSolna. From 1945 to the late 1950s, they were considered one of the greatest teams in Europe.[3]
Sweden has made twelve appearances at theWorld Cup with their first coming in1934. They have also made seven appearances at theEuropean Championship. Sweden finished second at the1958 FIFA World Cup, which they hosted, and third in both1950 and1994. Sweden's other accomplishments also include a gold medal at the1948 Summer Olympics, and bronze medals in1924 and1952. They also reached the semi-finals atUEFA Euro 1992, while hosting the tournament.
Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 12World Cup appearances and 3 medals in theOlympics. Sweden national team finished second in the1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, being beaten byBrazil 5–2 in thefinal. Sweden has also finished third twice, in1950 and1994. In1938, they finished fourth.
Sweden played its first international game againstNorway on 12 July 1908, an 11–3 victory atIdrottsplatsen inGothenburg.[4][5] Other matches in 1908 were played againstEngland, Great Britain, theNetherlands (twice) andBelgium; Sweden lost all five matches. In the same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time. Sweden, however, lost a game in the Olympics against theGreat Britain 1–12, the largest loss in the Sweden national team's history.
Sweden played in the 1912 Olympics (as hosts), the 1920 Olympics, and in the 1924 Olympics, where Sweden took the bronze and their first medal ever.
The1938 World Cup was Sweden's second qualification for the World Cup. In the first round, they were scheduled to play againstAustria, but afterGermany's occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the quarter-finals match againstCuba. They beat Cuba 8–0 with bothHarry Andersson (on his debut) andGustav Wetterström scoringhat-tricks. In the semi-final match againstHungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Sweden's next match was the third-place match againstBrazil. In that game the Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in fourth place for the first and only time in Sweden national team football history.[citation needed]
In the first round, Sweden played against Austria. The Austrian team had qualified without their professional players, which was a surprise since the Austrian league had many professional players who were allowed to play in the tournament. The match was played atWhite Hart Lane in London and Sweden won 3–0. In the second game, Sweden played against Korea and won 12–0, one of the two largest margin wins Sweden has ever had. In the semi-final Sweden met theirarchrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2.[citation needed]
The final was played at legendaryWembley Stadium in London. The attendance was around 40,000 people which was high for a football game in those days. Sweden took on Yugoslavia in the final and won 3–1, with goals byGunnar Gren (24', 67'),Stjepan Bobek (42') andGunnar Nordahl (48'). This was Sweden's first championship win in any international football tournament.[citation needed]
In the1950 World Cup, the Swedish football association did not allow any professional Swedish football players to take part. Consequently, Sweden only fielded amateur players during the tournament.
Qualifying for the tournament as one of six European national teams, Sweden played in the same group as Italy and Paraguay. (India withdrew from the group.)
In the first match, Sweden beatItaly 3–2 inSão Paulo. The second match was a 2–2 draw against Paraguay. With the most points in the group, Sweden advanced to the next round.
Their first game in the second stage – also a group format – was against the hosts Brazil. It was played at theMaracanã Stadium with a total attendance of more than 138,000, to this day the record attendance for the Sweden national team. The game ended 7–1 to Brazil and it is rumored that almost everyone in the Brazilian audience waved the Swedes goodbye with their scarfs.
The next game was against Uruguay, who Sweden played against for the first time in World Cup history. Played in São Paulo, Uruguay won the game 3–2, which meant Sweden were unable to play for the gold.
The final game for Sweden in the tournament was played in São Paulo, against Spain. Sweden won 3–1 with goals byStig Sundqvist (15'),Bror Mellberg (34') andKarl-Erik Palmér (79'). Sweden finished 3rd in the group and took their first World Cup medal. As Sweden was the best placed European team, Sweden was, as the time, regarded "unofficial European champions".
At the Summer Olympics in 1952 inHelsinki, Sweden continued to achieve success and won an Olympic bronze. The following year, the Football Association decided not to allow foreign professionals to play in the national team and the team failed to qualify for the World Championships in Switzerland in 1954 when Sweden only came second in their qualifying group behind Belgium.
Sweden won the silver medal at the 1958 World Cup.
In 1956, the Swedish football federation allowed the professional footballers to play for the national team again, giving Swedish football fans hope for the1958 FIFA World Cup. Sweden, the host nation, were in the same group as Mexico, Hungary and Wales.
The first game, Sweden vs Mexico, was played at Sweden's national stadium,Råsunda Stadium,Solna, and was attended by around 32,000 people. Sweden won the game 3–0, taking the lead in Group 3. The next match was against Hungary, who had finished 2nd in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland and were also the 1952 Olympic Champions. Also played at Råsunda, this game ended 2–1 to Sweden, with both goals scored byKurt Hamrin. In the next match, against Wales, Sweden drew 0–0.
Making it through to the quarter-finals, playing at Råsunda for the fourth time in this tournament, Sweden were up against theUSSR and won 2–0.
The semi-final atUllevi,Gothenburg, was the only game in the tournament which Sweden did not play at Råsunda. The crowd of around 50,000 people attended one of the best games Sweden played in the tournament. West Germany led by 1–0 whenErich Juskowiak was sent off in the 59th minute. Sweden won 3–1.
The final was played at Råsunda between host nation Sweden and the1950 FIFA World Cup runners-up, Brazil. The total attendance was approximately 52,000 people. Brazil ended up winning the World Cup for the first time ever after beating Sweden by 5–2. Sweden consequently became runners-up, the best result for Sweden in any World Cup and the only Nordic country to achieve this so far. After the final match the Brazilian players honoured the host nation by sprinting around the pitch holding a Swedish flag.
After the successful 1958 World Cup, Sweden's fortunes diminished. In the qualification round of the 1962 World Cup, Sweden won its group in impressive fashion (scoring 10 goals and only having 3 goals scored against it), but it still had to win a play-off game againstSwitzerland to qualify. The game was played in West Berlin, and the Swiss won, 2–1.
Sweden almost got to the UEFA European Championship 1964. They started their play-off against Norway and won the first game and drew in the last game. In the second round, Sweden beat Yugoslavia, 3–2, but they lost the first game. In the quarter-finals, Sweden played against the defending champions, the Soviet Union. Sweden tied the first game but lost the second.
During the 1966 World Cup qualification, Sweden was in the UEFA Qualification group 2. Sweden started the qualification with a draw against West Germany and then a 3–0 victory over Cyprus. But only the winner of the group advanced and Sweden was eliminated with a loss in its next game against West Germany.
Sweden successfully entered the UEFA European Championship in 1968, but they finished in the Qualification group 2.
Sweden's only major success in the '60s was to qualify for the 1970 World Cup, after winning UEFA Group 5 ahead of Norway and France. Sweden finished third in its group, losing a tie-breaker with eventual No. 4 Uruguay, and did not advance to the elimination round, however. The winner of Sweden's group was eventual world runner-up Italy.
In the qualification of the1974 FIFA World Cup, Sweden was in the same group as Austria, Hungary and Malta. Sweden clinched a narrow win via a classic play-off-match against Austria in a snowyGelsenkirchen, and advanced to the World Cup finals in Germany. During the World Cup, the team releasedVi är svenska fotbollsgrabbar, a fight song written byGeorg Ericson.
The group Sweden drew into included Uruguay, Netherlands and Bulgaria. The first game against Bulgaria ended in a draw. In the second game against the Netherlands, Sweden drew another tie. The last game of the round was played against Uruguay. That game was the first victory Sweden had in the tournament, when they beat Uruguay 3–0 with goals byRoland Sandberg (74') andRalf Edström (46', 77'). Sweden finished 2nd in the group and advanced to the second group stage.
In the second group stage, Sweden was defeated in the first game against Poland 0–1. The situation after the defeat against Poland was that if Sweden lost against West Germany with a single goal difference and Yugoslavia defeated Poland, Sweden would be second in the group and play for the bronze medal. But since Poland beat Yugoslavia 2–1, Sweden had to win the game against the host nation,West Germany, to finish second in the group.
The game against West Germany was played inDüsseldorf with an attendance of 66,500 people. The Sweden nantional team striker Ralf Edström gave the Scandinavian the lead with 1–0 after 29 minutes. But in the second half West Germany took control of the game, even after Roland Sandberg's equaliser after 52 minutes. Germany won 4–2. After the tournament, the German players commented that the game against Sweden was their best game in that tournament. The last game for Sweden was played in Düsseldorf against Yugoslavia. Sweden won that game 2–1. They finished the tournament as the 5th place team. The Sweden national team had profiles that Ronnie Hellström, Bo Larsson and Björn Nordqvist.
Sweden did not qualify for the European Championship quarter-finals game in 1976. On 11 May 1976, Sweden lost for the first time since 1937 at home to Denmark.
1978 took Sweden for the third consecutive World Cup. Sweden made it from the qualifiers in a three team group with Switzerland and Norway as opponents. The qualifying session was played in 1976 and 1977 in the1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, Sweden played the first match with a draw (1–1) against Brazil. Swedish scorer was Thomas Sjöberg. 1–1 was Sweden's best result so far in the World Cup against Brazil context (the result was repeated between the two countries at the World Cup finals in 1994). The team then lost against Austria (0–1) and Spain (0–1). The Sweden national team finished last in the group with 1 point and goal difference 1–3. Several of the profiles from 1974, still with (Larsson, Edström, Nordqvist) but also new players such as Anders Linderoth, Hasse Borg and Torbjörn Nilsson.
After the successful 1970s, reaching all three World Cups, Sweden changed their coach fromGeorg "Åby" Ericson toLars "Laban" Arnesson. Arnesson had been a successful coach forÖsters IF before becoming national team coach. Sweden failed to qualify for theUEFA Euro 1980 after only managing to win againstLuxembourg in qualifying in a group that also includedCzechoslovakia andFrance, and the1982 FIFA World Cup, ending third to Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1983, Sweden met Brazil in Gothenburg to play a friendly, the match ended 3–3. They failed to qualify for theUEFA Euro 1984, despite defeating the then-reigning world champions Italy 3–0 in Naples, including two goals byGlenn Strömberg, but were unable to prevail against Romania in the battle for the top spot, losing both away and at home against theTricolours. The Sweden setbacks continued. After the failed qualification for the1986 World Cup,Olle Nordin took over the team. Sweden lost their match against Czechoslovakia with 1–2 in the final qualifying round, while Portugal unexpectedly won 1–0 away against West Germany and took second place in the group. It was West Germany's first ever loss in a World Cup qualifier.
Sweden also failed to qualify to theUEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany.
They won their qualification group for the 1990 World Cup ahead of England and went on to their first World Cup in 12 years. However, the World Cup campaign ended quickly after three 1–2 defeats in the group stage matches, against Brazil, Scotland and Costa Rica. As of May 2018, it is the only time that Sweden has failed to score points in a World Cup tournament. After the World Cup, Olle Nordin resigned and Nisse Andersson became an interim coach untilTommy Svensson took over in 1991.
As the host of theUEFA Euro 1992, Sweden played in their first ever European Championship tournament. They were drawn in group A with Denmark, France and England. Sweden managed to advance as group winners ahead of the eventual champions Denmark. In the semi-finals following the group stage, Sweden were eliminated by Germany with 2–3. As of July 2016, the semi-final place remains Sweden's best result ever in a European Championship.
Sweden qualified for the1994 World Cup in the United States at the top of their qualifying group ahead of Bulgaria and France. Sweden was placed in Group B with Brazil, Cameroon and Russia. The first game against Cameroon in Los Angeles looked to be yet another 1–2 loss, (after the1990 World Cup fiasco with losses of 1–2 in all three games) but in the 75th minute,Martin Dahlin scored the equaliser from a rebound shot off ofHenrik Larsson and the match finished 2–2. In the next game against Russia in Detroit, Russia was handed an early penalty and made it 1–0. Sweden managed to come back, with a penalty goal fromTomas Brolin and two goals from Martin Dahlin, with the result being 3–1. In the last group stage match, against Brazil (also in Detroit), they tied 1–1 after goals byKennet Andersson ('23) andRomário ('47).
In the first knockout-stage match, Sweden facedSaudi Arabia in the extreme heat and humidity ofDallas, where the game started at the hottest time of day- 4:30 p.m. where temperatures went past 40C (104F) in an outdoor stadium. Sweden won 3–1 after two goals from Kennet Andersson and one from Martin Dahlin. Sweden's quarter-final match in San Francisco againstRomania has become a memorable match for Sweden national team football fans. After Sweden had scored late in the second half, Romania managed to equalise in the dying minutes of the match, sending it into extra time. Romania'sFlorin Răducioiu, who scored the first goal for Romania, scored his second of the day to take Romania ahead at the 101st minute. But with five minutes left, Kennet Andersson scored with a header to make it level at 2–2. The penalty shoot-out began with a miss fromHåkan Mild of Sweden, butThomas Ravelli managed to save two penalties fromDaniel Prodan andMiodrag Belodedici, giving Sweden the win and making himself a hero. Sweden advanced to the semi-finals, where they were to face Brazil in Los Angeles. They had managed to score in the group stage against Brazil but couldn't do it a second time. After Jonas Thern had been sent off with a red card, Romário scored the only goal of the game in the 80th minute.
In the third-place match, Sweden played against aBulgaria side that had lost to Italy in their semi-final match in New York City. Sweden scored 4 goals in the first half, but the second half went goal-less. Sweden finished 3rd and won the bronze medal, the best placing for the national team in a World Cup since the 1958 silver medal. This led Sweden to a second-place in theFIFA Men's World Rankings for one month, in November 1994.
They finished as the top scorers of the tournament, with 15 goals scored in total.
After the World Cup in 1994, Sweden had difficulty reaching up to the same level. The national team was knocked out in qualifying for the 1996 European Championships in England and the World Cup in France in 1998. The qualification for theEuro 96 had started with a win for Sweden 1–0 away against Iceland in September 1994, but then lost against Switzerland away from home. In November 1994, Tomas Brolin broke his foot in a win against Hungary. In the spring of 1995 continued failure in the European Championship qualifiers. Sweden lost the away games against Turkey and played 1–1 draw at home to Iceland. When Sweden drew 0–0 against Switzerland in Gothenburg in September 1995, it was clear that the team would miss the European Championship finals.
The qualifying game for theFrance 98 was not better. In October 1996, Austria won 1–0 in Stockholm and the month after the Swedes lost against Scotland on away ground. Admittedly, Sweden won against Scotland in the return match in Gothenburg on Walpurgis Night in 1997, but in September 1997 won Austria 1–0 in Vienna. In October 1997, Tommy Svensson quit as head coach andTommy Söderberg took over.
Sweden qualified impressively for this tournament, winning all games except the away game against England (0–0) and conceding only one goal. The finals however, were a great disappointment. Sweden lost their opening game on 10 June against the hostBelgium 1–2.Johan Mjällby scored the goal for Sweden in the 53rd minute after an error by Belgian goalkeeperFilip De Wilde, while Belgium won via goals fromBart Goor in the 43rd minute andÉmile Mpenza in the 46th. Then on 15 June Sweden played 0–0 againstTurkey. On 19 June, Sweden lost 2–1 to eventual runners-upItaly in the last group stage match.Luigi Di Biagio scored with a header on a corner kick in the first half to give Italy the lead. Late in the second half,Henrik Larsson equalised to 1–1. But afterDaniel Andersson lost control of the ball,Alessandro Del Piero shot it into the top corner. Sweden finished the group last behind Belgium with only 1 point. Italy finished first and Turkey second.
Sweden qualified undefeated for the2002 FIFA World Cup, ahead of eventual third placed Turkey. Sweden was drawn in the "group of death",Group F, which also featured big favouritesArgentina,England andNigeria. The first match was against England on 2 June.Sol Campbell gave England the lead in the first half by heading in a left-side corner fromDavid Beckham. The equalising goal was scored by midfielderNiclas Alexandersson, a powerful left-foot shot from outside the box pastDavid Seaman. The match ended 1–1. In the next game on 7 June, Sweden played Nigeria.Julius Aghahowa gave Nigeria the lead by heading in a cross from the right. Sweden managed to equalise with a goal by Henrik Larsson. Later in the game, Larsson was fouled in the penalty area and Sweden were awarded with a penalty which Larsson himself put in the goal. Sweden won 2–1.
In the final group match on 12 June, Sweden played Argentina, who needed to win after losing 0–1 to England in the previous game. Sweden midfielderAnders Svensson scored a freekick goal from 30 meters.Andreas Andersson had a shot off the crossbar and out in an attempt to extend the lead.Mattias Jonson committed a foul in the penalty area and Argentina was awarded a penalty.Ariel Ortega shot straight onMagnus Hedman, the Sweden national team keeper, butHernán Crespo rushed into the box and shot the rebound from Hedman between the keeper's legs. The goal was controversial because Crespo began running into the box at the same time as Ortega stepped up to shoot. However, the match ended 1–1 and Sweden won the group, England on second place, Argentina third and Nigeria last.
In the round of 16 on 16 June, Sweden playedSenegal. Henrik Larsson gave Sweden an early lead by heading in a corner from Anders Svensson. Senegal equalised throughHenri Camara. They also had a goal disallowed for offside. The game came to sudden death golden goal. Rising starZlatan Ibrahimović came on and nearly won Sweden the game. He made a terrific run on the right wing past several Senegal players, and shot with his weaker left foot from a tight angle straight at Senegal's keeperTony Sylva. Ibrahimović had Larsson and Svensson in excellent positions for a pass, but shot instead. Then Svensson made a great spin past a defender and hit the post with a powerful shot, which Sylva would have had no chance of saving, had it gone inside the posts. Camara then took a weak shot which went past Hedman, off the post and into the goal. Consequently, Sweden were eliminated. Henrik Larsson announced his retirement from the national team after the tournament.
Despite another impressive qualifying campaign and the unexpected return of Henrik Larsson, Sweden came into the tournament in Portugal with low expectations. But after a dazzling 5–0 win againstBulgaria on 14 June, they became one of the favorites.Freddie Ljungberg began the goal-fest after a well done pass by Zlatan Ibrahimović. Henrik Larsson scored 2–0 and 3–0 in the second half. His first goal was a diving header after a perfectly taken crossball from the left byErik Edman. 4–0 was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović on a penalty and the substituteMarcus Allbäck scored the last goal of the game. After the 5–0 victory, Sweden became a feared team in the tournament and many were surprised by Sweden's offensive play since they were known to mostly play a defensive form of football.
In the next game on 18 June, they were set up against Italy, who would prove themselves as a very hard opponent. After 36 minutesAntonio Cassano scored the first goal of the game for Italy after a cross byChristian Panucci. A great game by Sweden national team goalkeeperAndreas Isaksson made Sweden survive the rest of the game and after 84 minutes, Zlatan Ibrahimović scored a backheel goal to make it 1–1, which became the final score.
Sweden's last game of the group was held againstDenmark. It was said before the game that if Sweden and Denmark played 2–2, Italy would be eliminated from the tournament. This is exactly what happened. Denmark led the game by 2–1 for a long time. But at the end of the game, Mattias Jonson scored the equaliser after numerous rebounds. Italy was eliminated and both Denmark and Sweden was qualified for the quarter-finals.
In the quarter-finals on 26 June, Sweden played against Holland. The game became goalless after full-time, but not without a lot of chances. The closest Sweden came to scoring was through Freddie Ljungberg but he hit the post with a well taken shot. Henrik Larsson also hit the cross bar from close range. After a goalless extra time, the game went to a penalty shootout. After a long run of penalties were taken, it wasOlof Mellberg's turn to take a shot. The Dutch goalkeeperEdwin van der Sar saved Mellberg's shot and Sweden lost the penalty shoot out afterArjen Robben converted the following penalty.
Sweden national team of 2006
Sweden qualified for the World Cup as the best runner-up, behindCroatia, who won their qualifying group. At the World Cup draw in December 2005, Sweden were drawn inGroup B together with England,Paraguay andTrinidad and Tobago. Their squad for the tournament featured players who played club football in eleven different nations. Sweden started the World Cup slowly, recording a goal-less draw on 10 June in Dortmund against unheralded Trinidad and Tobago, despite playing with a one-man advantage for most of the game. The second game, against Paraguay on 15 June in Berlin, looked to be another goal-less draw until Freddie Ljungberg scored with a header in the 89th minute to give Sweden a 1–0 victory. On 20 June, Sweden played their last group stage match against England in Cologne.Joe Cole scored 1–0 for England with a spectacular long range shot in the 34th minute. Marcus Allbäck equalised to 1–1 with a header in the 51st minute. WhenSteven Gerrard scored with a header in the 85th minute, it looked like England would win the game. However, Henrik Larsson made it 2–2 from close range in the 90th minute. The draw was enough for Sweden to go through to the round of 16. On 24 June, Sweden's World Cup run came to an end with a 2–0 defeat to the host nation,Germany in Munich, after two early goals byLukas Podolski. DefenderTeddy Lučić was controversely sent off by refereeCarlos Simon, who was captured laughing while holding up a questionable red card. Henrik Larsson missed a penalty kick early in the second half. After the tournament, Mattias Jonson and Teddy Lučić announced they had retired from the national team. On 17 July, Henrik Larsson retired for a second time from the national team.
Sweden finished second inGroup F behindSpain, and qualified for theEuro 2008 finals as the best runner up. The qualifying campaign included anabandoned match away to Denmark, for which Sweden were awarded a 3–0 win by UEFA.
Prior to the final tournament, Henrik Larsson made another sensational return to the national team, nearly aged 37. Sweden were drawn in Group D together with Spain, Greece and Russia. In their first match in Euro 2008 on 10 June, they beat the reigning European champions,Greece, by a score of 2–0 with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović andPetter Hansson. Their next game was against Spain on 14 June. The game looked like a draw until a 92nd-minute strike fromDavid Villa, which put the Spaniards ahead. In the final group match on 18 June, the Swedes went on to lose 2–0 to the Russians, eliminating them from the tournament. Freddie Ljungberg, Marcus Allbäck and Niclas Alexandersson all chose to retire from the national team after Sweden was eliminated.
The2010 FIFA World Cup qualification ended disastrously for Sweden. In the first game inTirana, they were only able to tie 0–0 with an Albanian side that they were expected to defeat easily. Four days later, Sweden beat Hungary, 2–1, with goals fromKim Källström andSamuel Holmén. They would go on to tie with Portugal twice, both inStockholm and inPorto. Both games ended 0–0. Sweden would lose to Denmark on home ground with an early strike fromThomas Kahlenberg after a defensive mistake byMikael Nilsson. Kim Källström had a penalty kick saved early in the first half, which proved to be decisive. Sweden recovered with a 4–0 hammering of Malta. Against Hungary and Malta, both of the winning goals for Sweden were scored late. They would lose to Denmark again atParken Stadium in Copenhagen after a late goal fromJakob Poulsen. Meanwhile, Portugal defeated Hungary, 3–0, putting the Portuguese team ahead in the standings. Sweden would defeat Albania, 4–1; however, Sweden was eliminated by Portugal's 4–0 defeat of Malta.Lars Lagerbäck resigned andErik Hamrén was appointed the next head coach. Several veteran players chose to retire after Sweden failed to reach the World Cup, includingDaniel Andersson, Mikael Nilsson andHenrik Larsson, his third and final retirement. Zlatan Ibrahimović took a break from the national team due to Sweden missing the World Cup. He returned almost a year later, in August 2010, and was named Sweden captain by the new coach Hamrén.
Sweden'sEuro 2012 campaign with their new coach, Erik Hamrén, started well with two consecutive wins inGroup E againstHungary andSan Marino. After that Sweden lost to the Netherlands in Amsterdam with 1–4, but then won against Moldova first in Stockholm with 2–1 and later inChișinău with 4–1. After the battle against Moldova Sweden beat their neighbor Finland with 5–0. The following game was a defeat when Hungary through Rudolf scored 2–1 home at Stadium Puskás Ferenc at the last minute of full-time. After that Sweden defeated San Marino with 5–0 away including two goals fromChristian Wilhelmsson, who before the two games against San Marino and Hungary hadn't been a regular in the starting eleven during Hamréns tenure as head coach. The Sweden national team then proceeded to beat Finland with 2–1 and in the final game beat the Netherlands with 3–2 to end their streak of 17 consecutive qualification-game wins. On 2 December 2011, Sweden were drawn into Group D alongsideEngland,Ukraine andFrance in the Euro 2012 competition.[6][7]
Sweden played their opening match on 11 June against Ukraine. Zlatan Ibrahimović scored from close range after a pass from Kim Källström in the 52nd minute.Andriy Shevchenko equalised by heading in a corner just three minutes later, and in the 62nd minute, he scored another header. Sweden were unable to respond to this and lost the match 1–2.[8]Sweden played their second group stage match against England on 15 June.Andy Carroll scored 1–0 for England with a powerful header in the 23rd minute. Sweden equalised through an own goal byGlen Johnson and took the lead when Olof Mellberg scored 2–1 in the 59th minute. However, England turned the game around with goals byTheo Walcott andDanny Welbeck. The two losses meant that Sweden were already eliminated from the next stage.[9] In the third group stage game on 19 June, Sweden played against France. Zlatan Ibrahimović scored a spectacular flying volley early in the second half andSebastian Larsson sealed a meaningless 2–0 win during stoppage time. After Sweden's early exit from the tournament, the veteran Olof Mellberg announced his retirement from the national team.
Playing inGroup C of the2014 FIFA World Cupqualifiers, Sweden finished second behindGermany, and was one of eight teams to move on to thesecond round of qualification. A notable result during group play was their match in Germany on 16 October 2012 where they fought back from 4–0 down with 30 minutes remaining to draw the game 4–4 at theOlympiastadion, and was widely regarded as one of the most memorable comebacks in football history.[10]
Sweden's new national stadiumFriends Arena in Solna was opened on 14 November 2012 with a friendly match against England, which Sweden won 4–2. Zlatan Ibrahimović scored four goals in a world class performance. His fourth goal was an extraordinary overhead bicycle kick from 35 yards, which later won theFIFA Puskás Award for goal of the year.
A key win in their group was the home game againstAustria on 11 October 2013, asMartin Olsson and Zlatan Ibrahimović both scored in the second half to secure the win at the Friends Arena.[11]
Using the October 2013FIFA World Rankings, Sweden was ranked 25th overall and would face one of the four highest ranked teams in the second round of qualification. They were drawn to facePortugal, the team that beat Sweden for a qualification spot in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal in a 1–0 win for Portugal the first match inLisbon on 15 November. The return match was played on 19 November at Friends Arena inSolna. After Ronaldo scored 1–0 for Portugal, Zlatan Ibrahimović scored two quick goals to make it 2–2 on aggregate. Sweden still needed to score a third goal because of Portugal's away goal. However, Ronaldo scored two more counter-attack goals and Portugal won the game 3–2 and 4–2 on aggregate. This meant that Sweden once again failed to qualify for theWorld Cup. Due to this, Sweden's most capped player of all timeAnders Svensson decided to end his international career.[12]
The Sweden national team before playing againstRussia in 2015 during theEuro 2016 qualifiers
Competing inGroup G of theUEFA Euro 2016qualifiers, Sweden picked up their first point on the road against Austria with a 1–1 draw on 8 September 2014.[13] After a 1–1 draw againstRussia at the Friends Arena, Sweden then picked up their first win in their next match with a 2–0 result againstLiechtenstein.[14] Sweden then went unbeaten for another three matches before suffering two consecutive defeats, a 1–0 loss to Russia in Moscow and a crushing 4–1 home defeat to group leaders Austria. This caused Sweden to move down to third place in their group, just one point above fourth-placedMontenegro. Sweden then bounced back to win their final two group games against Liechtenstein and Moldova with the scoreline being 2–0 on both occasions. They finished their group in third position behind Austria and Russia and qualified for the playoffs. Sweden were drawn against big rivalsDenmark and won 4–3 on aggregate, qualifying for the UEFA Euro 2016. They were, however, eliminated from the group stage, losing to Italy and Belgium, drawing with the Republic of Ireland and scoring no goals of their own (their only goal was anown goal byCiaran Clark).
On 25 July 2015, Sweden were drawn inGroup A of2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. The team scored six wins, a draw and three losses. As a result, they tied with the Netherlands in points, and claimed second place behind eventual world champions France on goal difference.
On 13 November 2017, Sweden qualified for the 2018 World Cup after a 0–0 draw away toItaly at theSan Siro during the second leg of their qualification play-off match. As Sweden had won the first match 1–0, this resulted in a Sweden national team win on aggregate, making their return to the World Cup for the first time in 12 years.
At the 2018 World Cup, Sweden started its campaign by a 1–0 win overSouth Korea in the first match on 18 June, through a penalty goal byAndreas Granqvist, decided by the newVAR technology.[15] Their second match on 23 June was against Germany.Ola Toivonen scored 1–0 for Sweden by lobbing the ball over the German goalkeeperManuel Neuer in the first half. However,Marco Reus equalised to 1–1 early on in the second half. With 15 seconds remaining on the five stoppage time minutes,Toni Kroos won the game for Germany by scoring a free kick from just outside the penalty area, after a foul byJimmy Durmaz.[16] Despite this loss, Sweden advanced to the knockout stage top of the group with a 3–0 win overMexico, while Germany were knocked out bottom of the group with a 2–0 loss to South Korea.[17]
On 3 July 2018, Sweden playedSwitzerland in the round of 16, beating them1–0 with a goal byEmil Forsberg, and advancing to the quarter finals for the first time since 1994.[18] In the quarter-finals, Sweden suffered a 2–0 defeat to England and was thus knocked out.[19]
Sweden were drawn withTurkey and Russia in theLeague B. Sweden started their campaign on 10 September with a 2–3 defeat against Turkey in Solna, after leading 2–1 with only a few minutes remaining. A month later, Sweden earned a point in a 0–0 draw against Russia in Kaliningrad. With two matches remaining, Sweden had to win both to top the group and to be promoted to the2020–21 UEFA Nations League A. On 17 November, Sweden beat Turkey with 1–0 in Konya after a penalty goal from captain Andreas Granqvist. Three days later, they achieved a 2–0 victory over Russia in Solna. The two wins meant promotion for Sweden to League A and a guaranteed play-off spot for theUEFA Euro 2020, should they not qualify directly via the regular qualification process.
The draw for theUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying saw Sweden placed in Group F withSpain,Norway,Romania,Faroe Islands andMalta. On 15 November, Sweden defeated Romania 2–0 inBucharest. The win meant that Sweden had secured second place in the group and a spot at UEFA Euro 2020, their sixth consecutive European championship.
ForUEFA Euro 2020, Sweden were drawn in Group E together with Spain,Poland, andSlovakia.[20] At the delayed final tournament, held in 2021, Sweden opened their campaign with an impressive 0–0 draw with Spain inSeville.[21] Four days later, Sweden would face off against Slovakia inSaint Petersburg. The match provided no goals until the 77th minute where Emil Forsberg slotted home the winning penalty after Slovakian goalkeeper,Martin Dúbravka, took out Robin Quaison in the box, this win confirmed Sweden's path to the knockout stages.[22] On 23 June, Sweden finished their group campaign with a 3–2 win against Poland.[23] Sweden would face off againstUkraine in the round of 16 on 29 June inGlasgow. The match finished 1–1 in normal time. Late in extra time, a header fromArtem Dovbyk in the 120th-minute would eliminate the Swedes.[24]
Promoted to League A, Sweden were drawn in Group A3 with Portugal, France and Croatia. Despite a 2–1 home win against Croatia, Sweden would be relegated to League B due to an inferior goal difference.
For the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification, Sweden were drawn in Group B along with Spain, Greece, Georgia and Kosovo. On 16 March 2021, Zlatan Ibrahimović was included in the squad for the first time in almost five years, following his retirement from the national team after Euro 2016. On 25 March 2021, Sweden beat Georgia 1–0 at Friends Arena after a goal by Viktor Claesson, with Ibrahimović providing the assist. With his 117th appearance, Ibrahimović officially became Sweden's oldest player of all time at the age of 39 years, five months and 22 days, taking over Thomas Ravelli's record from 11 October 1997. On 2 September, Sweden beat Spain 2–1 in Solna. This was the first time Spain had been beaten in a World Cup qualifier since 1993.[25][26]
On 11 November, Sweden suffered a shock 2–0 loss against Georgia, the lowest ranked team to have ever defeated Sweden.[27] On 14 November, Sweden played the return fixture against Spain in Seville where they have to win. Despite creating the best chances to score, Sweden lost the match 1–0 afterÁlvaro Morata scored on a rebound in the 86th minute.[28] This meant that Sweden finished second place in the group, and entered the play-off round as one of six seeded teams in late March 2022. On 24 March, Sweden played againstCzech Republic in the play-off semi-final in Solna. The game was scoreless after 90 minutes and went into extra time, where Robin Quaison scored the winning goal.[29] On 29 March, Sweden lost 2–0 to Poland at theStadion Śląski due to goals from Robert Lewandowski andPiotr Zieliński and thus failed to qualify for the World Cup.[30]
Sweden competed in League B of the Nations League against Norway, Serbia, and Slovenia. Their campaign started in a promising way with a 2–0 away win against Slovenia. However, they subsequently suffered four straight losses before only managing a draw at home to Slovenia. This meant that Sweden suffered back-to-back relegations as finished last in their group and were relegated to League C for the2024–25 UEFA Nations League.[31][32][33][34]
Their terrible Nations League form meant that Sweden realistically must qualify directly forUEFA Euro 2024 by finishing in the top two. They were drawn in Group F with Belgium, Austria,Azerbaijan, andEstonia forUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying. However, Sweden performed poorly throughout their qualifying campaign – notably suffering a shocking 3–0 loss to Azerbaijan. Furthermore, one draw and a loss against Belgium and two losses to Austria severely damaged their chances of qualification,[35][36][37] leading to Sweden failing to qualify for Euro 2024 after Austria beat Azerbaijan 1–0 in Baku,[38] marking their first failure to qualify for the European Championship since1996. As a result, Janne Andersson announced he would resign as Sweden's head coach, doing so after the final match against Estonia.[39][40][41][42]
On 26 February 2024, the Swedish FA announced that former Danish playerJon Dahl Tomasson has been appointed as manager of the Sweden national team, effective from 1 March 2024.[43] Tomasson's contract includes the2026 FIFA World Cup qualification and will be extended if Sweden qualifies for the World Cup. Tomasson is Sweden's first foreign manager sinceGeorge Raynor who led Sweden in the 1950 and 1958 World Cups.[44]
Tomasson led Sweden to victory in Group 1 of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League C.[45] However, after taking only 1 point in four matches in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying, Tomasson was sacked by the Swedish FA on 14 October 2025, following a 1–0 home defeat to Kosovo. This marked the first time that a manager for Sweden had been sacked. On 20 October,Graham Potter was appointed as Tomasson's replacement.[46]
Sweden national team supporters showed up first during the 1912 Summer Olympics, where they chanted "Heja Sverige / friskt humör / det är det som susen gör" (roughly meaning "Come on, Sweden / being in good spirits is what does the trick") during the football games.
The traveling supporters for Sweden's away games showed up for the first time in the 1974 FIFA World Cup in West Germany, and since then Sweden has always had supporters in large tournaments. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sweden had one of the largest group of supporters during a tournament, especially during the group stage match against Paraguay with around 50,000 Sweden national team supporters in attendance, plus an additional 50,000 fans watching the game outside the stadium. The Sweden national team fans were also voted the best fans during the 2006 World Cup, due to their massive numbers, friendly attitude and love for the game.[47]
Since 2004,Camp Sweden has organised gatherings around matches.[48] In 2017, another organisation,Gula väggen (lit.'the Yellow Wall'), also started organising gatherings.[48] Gula väggen, a limited company, had Andreas Richt – who was the son of the then head of football of the national team, Lars Richt – as one of its owners.[49] Gula väggen, which had been a common term used by different supporter groups for the Swedish fans, registered their name as a trademark.[49] It was found Gula väggen profiles such as "Kannan", "GV-Sara", "Hasse Kongo", and "Jan-Tommy" were paid to support Sweden.[48] Camp Sweden stopped using the term Gula väggen to refer to their activities.[50]
Sweden's main rival isDenmark. The countries have played against each other 107 times, of which Sweden have won 47, drawn 20 and lost 40. The first match between the teams was an 8–0 Denmark win in May 1913. Sweden lost their first five matches against Denmark before their first win in October 1916 by the score 4–0. The first competitive match between the countries was as 1–0 win for Sweden in the group stage ofUEFA Euro 1992. Both teams advanced from the group stage and Denmark went on to win the tournament. InUEFA Euro 2004 the teams drew 2–2 in the last group stage match, ensuring that both teams advanced at the expense ofItaly. In thequalification forUEFA Euro 2008, Swedenwere awarded a 3–0 win away against Denmark after a Danish fan invaded the pitch and attacked the referee. The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw and Sweden qualified for the final tournament. In thequalification for the2010 FIFA World Cup, Sweden lost both matches against Denmark by 1–0 and failed to qualify for the World Cup. In the play-offs round of thequalification forUEFA Euro 2016, Sweden defeated Denmark by 4–3 on aggregate to qualify for the final tournament. The most recent match between the countries was won by Denmark by 2–0.[51]
Sweden traditionally wears yellow shirts, blue shorts, and yellow socks as their home kit, and their away kit is in reverse order: blue shirts, yellow shorts, and blue socks, though the color of the shorts are interchangeable if there is any minor clash. Since 2013, their kit manufacturer isAdidas, who were also the manufacturer between 1973 and 2003. They were manufactured byUmbro in 1970 as well as between 2003 and 2013.
Since 2012, the Swedish national stadium isNationalarenan, replacingRåsunda Fotbollsstadion which was demolished. According to FIFA, Råsunda Stadion was a classic stadium,[citation needed] one of only two stadiums in the world, the other one being theRose Bowl Stadium inPasadena, California, which hosted both the men's and women's World Cup final (1958 FIFA World Cup final and the1995 FIFA Women's World Cup). Råsunda stadium was opened 18 September 1910, and had a capacity of only 2,000, mostly standing. It was Råsunda stadium and Valhalla stadium in Gothenburg that were the first football fields with grass used for Sweden national team football. The stadium was expanded during 1937, to a capacity of 40,000 people. It was used for the football tournament in the1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, and hosted eight games during the 1958 FIFA World Cup. At the1992 UEFA European Championship, the stadium hosted four games and in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup it hosted only the final game.Ullevi inGothenburg is used for some home games, such as the centennial game of the Swedish Football Association againstEngland in 2004. Even other stadiums, such asStadion inMalmö, are used for the national team.
Björn Nordqvist, with 92 matches as team captain, is the Swedish player with the most captaincies.Victor Lindelöf has captained Sweden since 2021.
This is a list of captains who either have played 30 or more matches as team captain or have played a match as team captain in a major tournament (FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro and Olympic Games). Note that only players who started the match as captain are included in the list.[57][58]
The order for this list is by most appearances as captain, then chronological order of first captaincy.
Football at the Summer Olympics was first played officially in1908. The Olympiads between 1896 and 1980 were only open for amateur players. The 1984 and 1988 tournaments were open to players with no appearances in theFIFA World Cup. Since1992 Olympics, the football event was changed into a tournament for under-23 teams with a maximum of threeoverage players. SeeSweden Olympic football team for competition record from 1984 until present day.
The following table shows Sweden's all-time international record.[59] Theabandoned match against Denmark on 2 June 2007 here counts as a draw.Former national teams are included in their respective successor team. However, note that matches againstCzechoslovakia are included in the statistics forCzech Republic, notSlovakia.
^Elo rankings change compared to one year ago."World Football Elo Ratings".eloratings.net. 19 January 2026. Retrieved19 January 2026.
^Sengupta, Somnath (30 June 2018)."'What if?' – The story of India's lost opportunity at the 1950 World Cup".Football Paradise.Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved3 July 2018.[Sweden] were arguably the best team in Europe when football restarted after War until the rise of the great Hungarian team of the early 1950s. [...] Sweden was still perhaps the strongest European team in 1950
^Jimmy Lindahl, Alf Frantz (April 1998)."90 år sedan första landskampen"(PDF) (in Swedish). Bolletinen.Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 February 2023. Retrieved11 December 2022.
^"Janne Andersson avslutade med klar seger" [Janne Andersson finishes with a clear victory].Svenska Fotbollförbundet (in Swedish). 19 November 2023. Retrieved19 November 2023.
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