Sweden

Sweden has always been an extremely strong international team football, having made twelve World Cup appearances and 3 medals at the Olympics. The Swedish team came in second place at the 1998 World Cup, when it was the host team having been defeated by Brazil with a score of 5-2 during the championship. Sweden has also been third in the years 1950 and 1994. The year 1938 was the time they were fourth.

Sweden had its first international match against Norway on the 12th of July in 1908, winning 11-3. Other matches included matches in opposition to England, Great Britain, the Netherlands (twice) and Belgium; Sweden lost all five games. The same year, Sweden competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for the first time. Sweden did not win an event in the 1908 Olympics against Great Britain 1-12, the largest loss in Swedish National team's history.

It was in 1916 that Sweden beat Denmark to win for the first time in history.

Sweden participated during 1912's 1912 Olympics (as the hosts) and the 1920 Olympics as well as the 1924 Olympics which was the year 1924. Sweden won the bronze medal and won their first ever medal.

1938's World Cup was Sweden's second qualification to Sweden's second qualification for World Cup. In the initial round, Sweden was scheduled to play Austria however, due to the German occupation of Austria The Austrian team was unable to play during the competition. The team instead, Sweden went straight to the quarterfinals against Cuba. They defeated Cuba 8-0, with both Harry Andersson (on his debut) and Gustav Wetterstrom scoring hat-tricks. In the semi-final game with Hungary, Sweden lost 1-5. Sweden's next game was the third-place game against Brazil. In that match, the Swedes were defeated 2-4 and were relegated to fourth for the first occasion ever in Swedish the history of Swedish football.

In the opening game, Sweden played against Austria. The Austrian team was not represented by their professional players. This was quite a shock considering that the Austrian league had a lot of professional players that were permitted to participate during the competition. The game was played in White Hart Lane in London and Sweden defeated the English team 3-1. In the second match, Sweden played against Korea and prevailed 12-0. This is one of the biggest margin victories Sweden has ever experienced. In the semi-final, Sweden faced their arch-rivals from Denmark winning 4-2. 

The game was played at the famous Wembley Stadium in London. There were approximately 40,000 which was a record for a soccer match in the days of. Sweden played Yugoslavia during the championship, and defeated 3-1. The goals were scored from Gunnar Gren (24' and at 67'), Stjepan Bobek (42') and Gunnar Nordahl (48'). This was Sweden's debut title win at any international football competition.

The 1950 World Cup, the Swedish football association didn't permit any professional Swedish footballers to participate. Therefore, Sweden only played amateurs in the tournament.

Participation in the tournament as one of the six European National teams. Sweden participated in the same tournament with Italy as well as Paraguay. (India was dropped from this group.)

In the first game, Sweden beat Italy 3-2 in Sao Paulo. The second game was the draw of 2-2 against Paraguay. With the highest points in this group Sweden made it to the next round.

The first match of the second phase - which is in a group format, too - was against hosts Brazil. The game was played at Maracana Stadium with a total attendance of over 138,000. This is to date the largest attendance in the history of Sweden. Swedish nation. The game ended 7-1 for Brazil as well. It is thought that the majority of the Brazilian crowd was able to wave goodbye to the Swedes by putting on their scarves.

The following game was played against Uruguay the country that Sweden faced at first during World Cup history. The game was played in Sao Paulo, Uruguay won the game by a score of 3-2. This means that Sweden were not able to compete for gold.

The final game played by Sweden during the tournament took place at Sao Paulo, against Spain. Sweden defeated Spain 3-1, thanks to goals scored by Stig Sundqvist (15'), Bror Mellberg (34') and Karl-Erik Palmer (79'). Sweden placed 3rd in their group and won the first World Cup medal. Because Sweden was the top-ranked European group, Sweden was, as at the time, thought of as "unofficial European champions".

In the Summer Olympics in 1952 in Helsinki, Sweden continued to be successful and earned an Olympic bronze medal. In the next year it was decided that the Football Association decided not to let foreign players to compete for the national team, and Sweden failed to get into at the World Championships in Switzerland in 1954. Sweden was only 2nd in the qualifying groups, behind Belgium.

In 1956 in 1956, the Swedish football association allowed professional footballers to join the national team and gave Swedish football fans optimism to participate in an appearance at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Sweden hosts was part of the same category as Mexico, Hungary and Wales.

The first match, Sweden vs Mexico, was played in Sweden's national stadium, Rasunda Stadium, Solna, and was watched by approximately 32,000 fans. Sweden took the victory 3-1, and took an advantage in group 3. The next game was played against Hungary who finished second in the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland and also became in the position of 1953 Olympic Champions. The match was also the match was played in Rasunda the game finished with a 2-1 win for Sweden and both goals were being scored from Kurt Hamrin. The next game with Wales, Sweden drew 0-0.

The Swedish team made it to the quarterfinals, playing at Rasunda four times during this tournament. Sweden faced the USSR and came out on top by 2-0.

The semifinal game at Ullevi, Gothenburg, was the only game of the tournament in which Sweden didn't play in Rasunda. The crowd of about 50k people attended one of the most exciting matches Sweden took part in during the tournament. West Germany led by 1-0 after Erich Juskowiak was sent off in the 59th minute. Sweden won 3-1.

The final took place in Rasunda between the host the nation of Sweden along with Sweden and the 50th FIFA World Cup runners-up, Brazil. The attendance total was about 52,000 spectators. Brazil was crowned this World Cup for the first time ever , after defeating Sweden by 5-1. Sweden was subsequently runners-up which is the highest outcome for Sweden at the history of any World Cup and the only Nordic nation to have achieved this at this point. Following the final game, the Brazilian players honored their host country by running through the pitch with the Swedish flag.

After the stunning 1998 World Cup, Sweden's fortunes declined. In the qualifying phase of the 1962 World Cup, Sweden won its group with a stunning performance (scoring 10 goals while only scoring 3 goals against it) however, it needed to win the play-off match against Switzerland to be able to qualify. The match was played on the streets of West Berlin, and the Swiss prevailed, winning by a score of 2-1.

Sweden was close to qualifying for their first UEFA European Championship 1964. They played off against Norway and took the lead in the first game before drawing in the final game. After the 2nd round Sweden defeated Yugoslavia by a score of 3-2, but they lost their first game. In the quarterfinals, Sweden faced the current champions in the Soviet Union. Sweden played a tie in the first game but lost the next.

In the 1966 World Cup qualification, Sweden was part of group 2 of the UEFA Qualification group 2. Sweden began their qualification by drawing in the first game against West Germany and then a 3-1 win against Cyprus. However, only the player who won the group qualified to the next round. Sweden was eliminated after losing its following game with West Germany.

Sweden did well in to the UEFA European Championship in 1968 However, they ended up in the qualification group 2.

Sweden's sole major accomplishment during the 1960s was qualifying for the 1970 World Cup, after winning UEFA Group 5 ahead of Norway and France. Sweden was third in the group, but lost an eventual tie-breaker to #4 Uruguay but did not make it to the elimination round, but. The Sweden's winner was the eventual world runner-up Italy.

In the qualifying of the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Sweden was part of with Austria, Hungary and Malta. Sweden won narrowly through a classic play-off-match in the match against Austria in a cold Gelsenkirchen and then advanced into the World Cup finals in Germany.

The group that Sweden joined comprised Uruguay, Netherlands and Bulgaria. The first match against Bulgaria was drawn. In the second game , against The Netherlands, Sweden drew another tie. The final match that was played was the one against Uruguay. The game was the first win Sweden achieved during the tournament. they defeated Uruguay 3-1, scoring goals from Roland Sandberg (74') and Ralf Edstrom (46' and 777'). Sweden came in second place in their group, and progressed to the second group stage.

In the second stage, Sweden was defeated in the opening game against Poland with a score of 0-1. The scenario following the loss in the game against Poland was that, if Sweden fell to West Germany with a single goal difference, and Yugoslavia beat Poland, Sweden would be second in the group and compete for bronze. Since Poland defeated Yugoslavia with a score of 2-1 Sweden must be able to win against their host country, West Germany, in order to be second within the competition.

The match between Germany and West Germany was played in Dusseldorf with a crowd of more than 66,500. In the first half, Swedish forward Ralf Edstrom scored his side Scandinavian the lead, scoring one goal after 29 minutes. However, in the second period West Germany took control of the game, even following Roland Sandberg's equalizer in 52 minutes. Germany took the win 4-2. Following the tournament, the German players stated that their game with Sweden was their best match during that tournament. The final match for Sweden occurred at Dusseldorf with Yugoslavia. Sweden beat Yugoslavia with a score of 2-1. They ended the tournament as 5th placed team. The Swedish team featured profiles of Ronnie Hellstrom, Bo Larsson and Bjorn Nordqvist.

Sweden was not able to get into in the European Championship quarter-finals game in 1976. The 11th of May in 1976 saw Sweden was defeated to the very first time in 37 years, at home against Denmark.

1978 saw Sweden to the 3rd time at the World Cup. Sweden qualified from the qualifying group in an all-three team group, which included Switzerland as well as Norway as their opponents. The qualifying match was held in 1977 and 1976 in the World Cup 1978 in Argentina, Sweden played the first match in an unbeatable drawing (1-1) with Brazil. Swedish scoring the match is Thomas Sjoberg. 1-1 was Sweden's most impressive result thus far within the World Cup against Brazil context (the result was replicated between the two nations at the World Cup finals in 1994). The team lost to Austria (0-1) as well as Spain (0-1). The Swedish team came at the bottom of their group, with 1 point and a goal differential of 3-3. A few of the profiles are from 1974 still have (Larsson, Edstrom, Nordqvist) but also featuring new players like Anders Linderoth, Hasse Borg and Torbjorn Nilsson.

Following the success of the 1970s which saw Sweden win 3 World Cups, Sweden changed their coach from Georg "Aby" Ericson to Lars "Laban" Arnesson. Arnesson was a highly successful coach at Osters IF before becoming national team coach. They were not able to qualify for in 1982 for the FIFA World Cup, ending in third place behind Scotland as well as Northern Ireland. The year 1983 saw Sweden played Brazil in Gothenburg for a friendly match which ended in a 3-3 draw. Sweden failed to qualify for an appearance at the UEFA Euro 1984, despite beating the world champions of the time Italy 3-1 in Naples with two goals scored by Glenn Stromberg, but were in no position to beat Romania in the race over the first spot. They fell both home and away against Romania's Tricolours. The Swedish defeats continued. Following the failure to qualify to the 1986 World Cup, Olle Nordin was appointed the new coach. Sweden were defeated by Czechoslovakia with a score of 1-2 during the last qualifying round while Portugal unexpectedly scored a 1-0 victory in the final qualifying round against West Germany and took second spot on the team. This was the first time that West Germany has suffered ever defeat in the course of a World Cup qualifier.

Sweden did not qualify for the UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany. They were able to qualify in their qualifying team for 1990 World Cup ahead of England and were able to qualify for the debut World Cup in 12 years. But, the World Cup campaign ended quickly following three 1-2 losses in group stage games in the group stage, against Brazil, Scotland and Costa Rica. In May 2018, it's the only time Sweden is unable to score points during an World Cup tournament. Following it was the World Cup, Olle Nordin was fired and Nisse Andersson took over as temporary coach, till Tommy Svensson took over in 1991.

As host of UEFA Euro 1992, Sweden participated in their first European Championship tournament. They were grouped in group A alongside Denmark, France and England. Sweden were able to progress as group winners, ahead of their eventual winners Denmark. In the semi-finals that followed the stage of group play, Sweden were eliminated by Germany with a score of 2-2. At the time of writing the semi-final spot is Sweden's highest ever performance at the history of a European Championship.

Sweden was able to participate in Sweden's participation in 1994's World Cup in the United States at the top of their qualifying group, just ahead of Bulgaria and France. Sweden were placed into Group B along with Brazil, Cameroon and Russia. The opening game played against Cameroon at Los Angeles looked to be another loss that was a 1-2 one (after that 1990 World Cup fiasco with losses of 1-1 in all three games) However, at the end of the 75th minute Martin Dahlin scored the equaliser after a rebound shot from Henrik Larsson and the match ended with a score of 2-2. The next game was in the match against Russia at Detroit, Russia was handed an early penalty that ended up winning 1-0. Sweden came back by scoring a penalty by Tomas Brolin and two goals from Martin Dahlin, with the score being 3-1. In the previous match of the group stage, in the match against Brazil (also located in Detroit) the teams drew 1-1 following goals scored from Kennet Andersson ('23) and Romario ('47).

In the first knockout-stage game, Sweden faced Saudi Arabia in the scorching heat and humid conditions of Dallas in the Dallas area, where the match began at the highest temperature of the day- 4:00 p.m. in which temperatures rose above forty degrees Celsius (104F) at an indoor stadium. Sweden defeated Saudi Arabia 3-1, thanks to two goals scored by Kennet Andersson, and one by Martin Dahlin. The quarter-final match played by Sweden at San Francisco against Romania has been a highlight for Swedish soccer supporters. After Sweden scored in the second half late, Romania managed to equalise during the closing minutes of the game which forced the game into overtime. Romania's Florin Raducioiu who scored the first goal for Romania was able to score his second goal of the match to put Romania ahead in one minute 101. However, with just five minutes remaining, Kennet Andersson scored with a shot to bring it equal at 2-2. The penalty shoot-out started with a miss by Hakan Mild from Sweden however Thomas Ravelli managed to save two penalties from Daniel Prodan and Miodrag Belodedici which gave Sweden victory and making him an instant hero. Sweden made it to the semi-finals where they would play Brazil at Los Angeles. They scored during the preliminary stage of the tournament against Brazil but failed to score again. When Jonas Thern had been sent off for yellow card Romario was the sole goal during the 80th minute.

In the match for third place, Sweden played against a Bulgaria team who was defeated by Italy during their semifinal game on the outskirts of New York City. Sweden scored four goals in the opening half and the second ended without a goal. Sweden came third and took home the bronze medal, which is the most impressive performance for the Swedish national team at an World Cup since the 1958 silver medal. This resulted in Sweden to second place at the FIFA Men's World Rankings for one month in November 1994.

They were among the top scorers at the tournament, scoring 15 goals in all.

Following having won the World Cup in 1994, Sweden struggled to climb to the similar standard. The team was eliminated in getting ready for 1996 European Championships in England and also the World Cup in France in 1998. The qualifying process for Euro 96 had started with the team winning Sweden in a 1-0 home win in a match against Iceland on September 24, 1994 but they then lost against Switzerland at home. On November 24, 1994 Tomas Brolin broke his foot in a match against Hungary. In the spring of 1995, Sweden his performance was not improving in his European Championship qualifiers. Sweden were unable to win the away games against Turkey and also played a 1-1 draw at home against Iceland. When Sweden played 0-0 against Switzerland at Gothenburg the month of September in 1995 it became obvious that the team was not going to their place in the European Championship finals.

The game of qualifying for France 1998 tournament was not any more successful. The match was played in October of 1996. Austria defeated Austria 1-0 at Stockholm and the next month the Swedes were defeated by Scotland on a field away from home. It is true that Sweden beat Scotland in the rematch of Gothenburg during Walpurgis Night in 1997, however, in September 1997, the Swedes beat Austria by 1-0 in Vienna. Then, in October of 1997 Tommy Svensson quit as coach, and Tommy Soderberg took over.

Sweden had a great time qualifying for the tournament, winning every game apart from the away game with England (0-0) as well as scoring just one goal. Finals, however, proved to be a major disappointment. Sweden lost their opening match on the 10th of June, against hosts Belgium 1-1. Johan Mjallby scored the goal for Sweden in the 53rd minute, following an error made by Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, while Belgium took the lead thanks to goals scored by Bart Goor in the 43rd minute, and Emile Mpenza in the 46th. On the 15th of June, Sweden played the game 0-0 against Turkey. The 19th June was the day that Sweden fell 2-1 to the eventual second-placed Italy in the final match of the group stage. Luigi Di Biagio scored with an unorthodox header from a corner kick during the first period to give Italy the advantage. In the second half, Henrik Larsson equalised to 1-1. However, after Daniel Andersson lost control of the ball, Alessandro Del Piero shot the ball to the far corner. Sweden finished last in the group in the group, just behind Belgium with just one point. Italy came in first place and Turkey second.

Sweden was undefeated at this year's FIFA World Cup, ahead of eventual third-placed Turkey. Sweden was selected into group F. This was the "group of the dead" in Group F, which also included big favorites Argentina, England and Nigeria. The first game was played against England on June 2. Sol Campbell gave England the advantage in the first period by kicking in a left-side angle by David Beckham. The equaliser occurred through midfielder Niclas Alexandersson with a powerful left-footed shot out of the area that sailed past David Seaman. The game finished with a draw. The following game, on June 7, Sweden played Nigeria. Julius Aghahowa gave Nigeria the advantage by kicking into an effort from the right. Sweden could have equalised through a goal scored by Henrik Larsson. In the second half, Larsson was fouled in the penalty area , and Sweden were awarded the penalty, which Larsson himself scored the goal. Sweden won 2-1.

In the final match of the group on June 12, Sweden played Argentina, who were in need of a win after losing 1-0 to England in their previous match. Sweden player Anders Svensson scored a freekick goal in the 30th minute. Andreas Andersson had a shot from the crossbar, then out to increase the lead. Mattias Jonson committed a foul in the penalty box and Argentina received an penalty. Ariel Ortega shot straight on Magnus Hedman, the Swedish goalkeeper and Hernan Crespo raced into the box and smashed the rebound of Hedman between the legs of the goalkeeper. It was a controversial goal due to the fact that Crespo was running into the box when Ortega was able to shoot. The match was ultimately at 1-1. Sweden was the winners of the group, England on second place, Argentina third and Nigeria last.

The round-of-16 match took place on the 16th of Juin, Sweden faced Senegal. Henrik Larsson gave Sweden an early lead when he smashed into the corner of Anders Svensson. Senegal scored a goal back by utilizing Henri Camara. Also, they had a goal which was disallowed because of offside. The game was decided by a an abrupt end with a golden goal. The rising star Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined the game and almost won Sweden the match. He ran incredibly along the right side of the field, passing numerous Senegal players and then shot with his weaker left wing at a tight angle straight straight at Senegal's keeper Tony Sylva. Ibrahimovic was able to get Larsson along with Svensson in great positions for an attack, but decided to shoot instead. Then Svensson did a spectacular turn past a defender, and struck the goal post using a strong strike that Sylva was not able to save. chance of saving should it have hit the posts. Camara was able to take a poor shot, which flew past Hedman and off his post, and onto the goal. As a result, Sweden were eliminated. Henrik Larsson announced his retirement from the Swedish national squad following the tournament.

Despite another excellent qualifying season and the surprise appearance to the team of Henrik Larsson, Sweden came to the competition in Portugal with little expectations. However, after their stunning victory of 5-0 against Bulgaria on June 14 the team were able to become one of the favourites. Fredrik Ljungberg scored the first goal with a great move from Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Henrik Larsson scored 2-0 and three goals in the second period. His first goal came from a diving header following a well executed crossball left side by Erik Edman. The 4-0 score resulted from Zlatan Ibrahimovic after penalty. Substitute Marcus Allback scored the last goal in the game. Following the 5-0 win, Sweden became a feared team at the tournament, and many were shocked by the team's offensive style as they are typically known for their defensive football style.

In the following game, on June 18 they were scheduled to play against Italy and were to prove to be an extremely difficult adversary. After 36 minutes, Antonio Cassano scored the first goal of the match for Italy following a cross from Christian Panucci. An excellent performance by Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson made Sweden survive the remainder of the game and after 84 minutes Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an unassisted goal to make the score 1-1. This was an end-of-game score.

The final game played by Sweden in the group was played against Denmark. The game was announced prior to the game that should Sweden together with Denmark played at 2-2, Italy would be eliminated from the tournament. That's exactly what happened. Denmark was leading the game 2 to 1 for a lengthy period. However, at the end of the match, Mattias Jonson scored the equaliser following a number of rebound. Italy was eliminated, and the teams of Denmark and Sweden were able to progress to the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals of the tournament on the 26th of June Sweden faced Holland. The game ended goalless after the full-time break, but there were numerous opportunities. The closest Sweden got to scoring was via Fredrik Ljungberg, but he missed an upright with a carefully made shot. Henrik Larsson also hit the crossbar from close distance. After an unproductive extra-time the game moved to the penalty shootout. After a lengthy sequence of penalties was taken and then It became Olof Mellberg's turn to shoot the shot. He was saved by the Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved Mellberg's shot. Sweden was unable to shoot the penalty out when Arjen Robben scored the next penalty.

Sweden was selected at to participate in the World Cup as the best second-placed team, just behind Croatia who were the winners of their group of qualifying. When they took part in the World Cup draw in December 2005, Sweden were drawn in Group B along alongside England, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. The team for the tournament included players who played for clubs across eleven different countries. Sweden began with the World Cup slowly, recording a scoreless draw on 10 the 10th of June Dortmund against unnoticed Trinidad and Tobago, despite having an advantage of one man for the majority time. The next game, against Paraguay on the 15th of June in Berlin was expected to be a draw with no goals up until Freddie Ljungberg scored with a goal during the final minute of the game of the game to bring Sweden an 1-0 win. The 20th of June was when Sweden played their final group stage game in Cologne against England on the pitch in Cologne. Joe Cole scored 1-0 for England with a fantastic long-range shot in 34th minute. Marcus Allback equalised to 1-1 through a header in 51st minute. Steven Gerrard scored an effort in the 85th minute it appeared as if England could win the match. But, Henrik Larsson made it the score 2-2 with a goal with a shot from close range in the 90th minute. The draw allowed Sweden to progress into the next round. On the 24th of June, the Sweden's World Cup run came to the end of its run with defeat by 2-0 to hosting nation of Germany on the pitch in Munich, with two early goals scored by Lukas Podolski. The defender Teddy Lucic was controversely sent off by the referee Carlos Simon, who was photographed laughing as he held up the red card that was deemed questionable. Henrik Larsson missed a penalty kick in the first half. Following the match, Mattias Jonson and Teddy Lucic announced that they would be retiring as national players. On the 17th of July, Henrik Larsson retired for an additional occasion from national football.

Sweden was 2nd in the Group F, behind Spain and was able to make it to Finals in the position of the top third placer. The qualifying tournament included a game that was abandoned to Denmark and Denmark, in which Sweden received the win 3-0 by UEFA.

Before the final match, Henrik Larsson made another amazing return to Sweden's national team at the age of 37. Sweden were selected in Group D alongside Spain, Greece and Russia. In their opening game at Euro 2008 on 10 June they defeated the current European Champions, Greece, by a score of 2-0, with goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Petter Hansson. The next match they played took place against Spain on the 14th of June. The match appeared to be an even draw until a 92nd minute strike by David Villa, which put the Spanish ahead. In the final game of the group on the 18th of June The Swedes were beaten by 2-0 to the Russians and were eliminated out of the competition. Freddie Ljungberg, Marcus Allback and Niclas Alexandersson each decided to leave the Swedish national team following Sweden were eliminated.

2010. FIFA World Cup qualification ended in a disaster for Sweden. In their opening game in Tirana Sweden were in a position to draw 0-0 with an Albanian team they supposed to easily defeat. A few days later, Sweden beat Hungary, scoring 2-1, thanks to goals by Kim Kallstrom and Samuel Holmen. The team would then draw with Portugal twice, at Stockholm both in Porto. Both games ended in a draw. Sweden were beaten by Denmark on their home turf, thanks to an early strike by Thomas Kahlenberg after a defensive mistake made by Mikael Nielsen. Kim Kallstrom had a penalty kick saved during the first period, which proved decisive. Sweden rebounded by beating 4-0 Malta. The match was played against Hungary and Malta two of the goals that won for Sweden were scored in the final minutes. They lost to Denmark in the following match in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen after an injury-time goal by Jakob Poulsen. At the same time, Portugal defeated Hungary, with a score of 3-0, placing the Portuguese team in the top spot in the standings. Sweden defeated Albania 4-1. However, Sweden was eliminated by Portugal's 4-0 loss to Malta. Lars Lagerback resigned and Erik Hamren was chosen as the new head coach. A number of veteran players decided to leave the team following the fact that Sweden were unable to make it to the World Cup, including Daniel Andersson Mikael Nilsson, Daniel Andersson as well as Henrik Larsson, his third and final retirement. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was absent from the Swedish national team because of Sweden not participating in this year's World Cup. He returned nearly a year later, in the month of August and was named Sweden captain in the absence of the current coach, Hamren.

The Swedish Euro 2012 campaign with their new coach, Erik Hamren, started good with two wins in Group E, beating Hungary as well as San Marino. Then, Sweden fell to their neighbors the Netherlands on the pitch in Amsterdam with a score of 1-4. They the team then beat Moldova at first Stockholm with a 2-1 score, and then in Chisinau with a score of 4-1. Following the fight against Moldova Sweden defeated their neighbour Finland with a score of 5-0. The next game was an defeat as Hungary by Rudolf scored 2-1 at the Stadium Puskas Ferenc in the closing minutes of the full-time. Then, Sweden beat San Marino with 5-0 away which included two goals from Christian Wilhelmsson, who before the two matches with San Marino and Hungary hadn't been a regular player in the starting eleven throughout Hamrens stint as head coach. The Swedish team went on to defeat Finland with a score of 2-1 and then in the final game , they beat the Netherlands by 3-2 to end an unbroken streak of qualification game victories. 2 December 2011 was the day that Sweden were drafted into Group D along with England, Ukraine and France in the Euro 2012 competition.

Sweden played their first game on June 11 against Ukraine. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the first to score from close range following receiving a pass by Kim Kallstrom in the 52nd minute. Andriy Shevchenko made it 2-2 by kicking into a corner only three minutes later. Then, within the final minute He scored with a header. Sweden did not react to this, and ended the game 1-2. Sweden took part in their third game of group stage against England on June 15. Andy Carroll scored 1-0 for England by kicking a powerful shot at the end of 23 minutes. Sweden came back through an own goal scored by Glen Johnson and took the lead after Olof Mellberg scored 2-1 for Sweden in the 60th minute. Then, England turned the game around by scoring goals from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. Both defeats resulted in Sweden were removed from next round. In the third stage of the group on the 19th of June, Sweden were playing France. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a stunning flying volley just in the second half , and Sebastian Larsson sealed a meaningless victory with a 2-0 score in the final minutes. Following Sweden's early exit from the tournament, the experienced Olof Mellberg declared his decision to retire from the Swedish national team.

In Grup C during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Sweden placed second after Germany and was among eight teams that advanced to the next round of qualifying. One of the highlights from game play in group was the game in Germany on October 16th, 2012, when they came to win despite being 4-0 down in the final 30 minutes to draw 4-4. This match took place at the Olympiastadion and was thought of as among the greatest comebacks of the history of football.

The new Swedish National arena Friends Arena located in Solna was officially opened on November 14, 2012, when it hosted an international friendly game against England in which Sweden defeated 4-2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted four goals during a stunning performance. The 4th goal came from an amazing overhead bicycle kick at 35 yards. The goal later earned him the FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year.

One of the most important wins in their group was their home game against Austria on the 11th of October, 2013 when Martin Olsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic each score in the final period to earn victory on Friends Arena. Friends Arena.

Utilizing in the month of October, 2013, FIFA World Rankings, Sweden was ranked 25th overall. They will be one of the top four placed team in the next round of qualifying. They were scheduled to play Portugal which was the team who defeated Sweden to earn a spot at the time of 2010. World Cup qualifiers. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the sole goal in a 1-0 victory for Portugal the first game played in Lisbon on the 15th of November. The second match took place on 19 November in the Friends Arena in Solna. After Ronaldo scored a goal of 1-0 in the favor of Portugal, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two goals in quick succession to draw the score to 3-3 on aggregate. Sweden had to find another goal to counter Portugal's goal away. But, Ronaldo scored two more counter-attack goals, and Portugal defeated Sweden with a score of 3-2 and 4-2 in aggregate. It meant that Sweden was unable to be able to qualify for at the World Cup. This is why Sweden's top player in terms of caps ever Anders Svensson decided to end his international career.

Participating in the Group G for Group G of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers, Sweden got their first points during their travels in Austria by drawing 1-1 on the 8th of September, 2014. Following a 1-1 draw against Russia on the Friends Arena, Sweden then scored their first victory in their next game by securing a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein. Sweden were unbeaten for the next three games until they suffered two defeats in succession in a 1-0 loss against Russia at Moscow and an utter defeat at home of 4-1 to the group leaders Austria. The result caused Sweden to fall to third at the bottom of their league, which is just one point behind fourth-placed Montenegro. Sweden returned to win their last two group matches with Liechtenstein and Moldova and the score was two-to-one in both games. They ended their group in third place ahead of Austria as well as Russia and were able to qualify for the playoffs. Sweden faced their biggest adversaries Denmark and prevailed 4-3 in aggregate, qualifying for UEFA Euro 2016. However, they were removed from their group after defeating Italy and Belgium while draw against Ireland. Republic of Ireland and scoring none of their own goals (their sole goal was scored that was scored by Ciaran Clark).

On July 25, the 25th of July in 2015 Sweden received a draw in the Group A for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. Sweden scored six wins as well as a draw, and suffered three loss. In the end, they were tied against the Netherlands in terms of points. They also placed second ahead of eventual world champions France in goal differences.

13 November 2017 was the date that Sweden were selected to their place in the 2018 World Cup after a one-sided draw against Italy on the San Siro during the second stage of their qualifying play-off match. Because Sweden had won their first match 1-0, it resulted in an Swedish victory on average, which brought them back at the World Cup for the first time in the past 12 years.

In this year's World Cup, Sweden started the tournament with an 1-0 victory over South Korea in the first match on the 18th of June thanks to a penalty goal scored by Andreas Granqvist, decided by the VAR technology that was introduced in the 2018 World Cup. The second match of the 23rd June took place against Germany. Ola Toivonen scored 1-0 for Sweden by kicking the ball over German goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer during the opening half. But, Marco Reus equalised to 1-1 at the beginning of the second period. In the final 15 seconds of the five minutes of stoppage time, Toni Kroos won the match for Germany through free kick just outside the penalty box following a challenge on Jimmy Durmaz. In spite of this, Sweden advanced to the knockout phase at the top of the group thanks to an impressive 3-0 win against Mexico in the group stage, while Germany had to be eliminated from the last in the group by the loss of 2-0 against South Korea.

On the 3rd of July, 2018 Sweden took on Switzerland at the quarterfinals, defeating them 1-0 thanks to the goal scored by Emil Forsberg, and advancing to the quarter-finals in the very first time since 1994. In the quarterfinals, Sweden lost 2-0 to England and was subsequently eliminated.

Sweden were drawn alongside Turkey along with Turkey and Russia to play Russia and Turkey in League B. Sweden started their campaign on the 10th of September with a 3-2 loss to Turkey in Solna in the 2-1 lead in the final minutes left. One month later, Sweden earned a point in a 0-0 draw with Russia at Kaliningrad. There were two games left, Sweden had to win in order to be top of the group and get elevated in the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League A. On the 17th of November, Sweden beat Turkey 0-1 in Konya following a penalty strike by the captain Andreas Granqvist. A few days later they won the same result, winning 2-0 against Russia at Solna. Both wins secured the promotion of Sweden into League A and a guaranteed play-off slot for UEFA Euro 2020, should they not be able to qualify directly using the normal qualifying procedure.

Draw for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying was conducted on December 2nd, 2018. Sweden were seeded into the pot 2 and were drawn in Group F along in Group F with Spain, Norway, Romania, Faroe Islands and Malta.

Sweden began their qualifying campaign on the 23rd of March, 2019, with a 2-1 victory over Romania at the Friends Arena in Solna. Goals were scored through Robin Quaison and Viktor Claesson. A few days later, Sweden played against Norway at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo. It was the first official match between the two nations since 1978's FIFA World Cup qualification. After being down 2-0 early in the second quarter, Sweden turned the match around, scoring goals again through Claesson along with Quaison to bring the score to 3-2 in the final minutes of the game. But, Ola Kamara equalised for Norway on their one moment of play to make it 3-3 in final minutes after added extra time. On the 7th of June, Sweden played against Malta at the Friends Arena in Solna. For the third time in a row, Robin Quaison and Viktor Claesson scored in a 3-0 win. On June 10, Sweden lost 0-3 against Spain at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.

On the 5th of September, Sweden played away against Faroe Islands in Torshavn. Alexander Isak scored two goals in the first fifteen minutes of the game. In the second half, Victor Lindelof and Robin Quaison scored goals before half-time to ensure victory with a comfortable score of 4-0. A few days later, Sweden played the return game against its neighbours Norway at the Friends Arena in Solna. Stefan Johansen scored 1-0 for Norway shortly before half-time due to a mishap caused by Andreas Granqvist. 15 minutes into the second period, Emil Forsberg scored 1-1 which was the final score.

On the 12th of October, Sweden defeated Malta in Ta'Qali, the score of 4-0. In the first game, Marcus Danielson scored and Sebastian Larsson scored two penalty goals. Larsson's debut international goal since scoring against France during UEFA Euro 2012. A few days later, Sweden played the return match against Spain at the Friends Arena in Solna. In the second half, early in the game, Marcus Berg scored 1-0 for Sweden by scoring a goal from close the goal. Rodrigo scored to equalize for Spain after the second half of extra time and the game finished 1-1.

On the 15th of November, Sweden defeated Romania with a 2-0 win at Bucharest with goals from Marcus Berg and Robin Quaison in the first period. The victory was a sign that Sweden were second in the group, and was guaranteed a spot for UEFA Euro 2020, their sixth consecutive European championship.

Final draw took place on November 30, 2019 at Bucharest, Romania. Sweden were seeded into the pot 3 and were drawn into the group E alongside Spain out of pot 1. Poland from the pot 2. Slovakia in pot 4 which qualified through play-off.

The tournament started for Sweden on the 14th of June, 2021 at Seville against a well-known Spain team they met in qualifying. It was a bit of unusual in that Spain had an 86% share of control and had 17 attempts to Sweden but it wasn't enough to score and the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Alexander Isak's UEFA Euro debut provided moments of individual brilliance that attracted the attention of fans in a game that had nothing else to offer offensively for Swedish fans.

The next day, Sweden would face off against Slovakia in Saint Petersburg. The game was not a goal-scoring affair up to the moment of the 77thminute when Emil Forsberg slotted home a penalty following Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, took out Robin Quaison in the box. After the Slovakian goalkeeper held the Slovakian side to a bare zero shots at goal, the game ended 1-0 in the for the Swedes. This victory would ensure Sweden's spot in knockout rounds.

On June 23, Sweden would play their final game of the group against the Poland team that featured Robert Lewandowski, desperate to beat them to increase their chances of making it to in the knockout stage. In the 2nd minute it was Emil Forsberg would score the first goal of open-play Sweden during the tournament. At the end of the match, in the 59th Forsberg's goal in the second half of the game was scored by a feisty Dejan Kulusveski, who missed the initial matches because of a COVID-19-related diagnosis. The striker arrived just five minutes prior to running at the half-way point, which resulted in his first goal in the Sweden senior shirt. Similar to Isak two weeks earlier it is the first time he made his UEFA Euro debut. Two minutes after Forsberg's first goal in the game, Lewandowski would score a shot that sailed into the corner and pull off a goal to the Poles. He would later score a second goal in the final minute of the game, scoring an equaliser. The time for stoppage came and so did an Swedish goal in the fourth minutes of timeout, courtesy the Kulusveski assists for Viktor Claesson. The 90th minute winner will guarantee Sweden's first place in UEFA Euro 2020 Group E.

Sweden will take on Ukraine at the end of the 16th round on the 29th of June , in Glasgow. After a goal in the opening minutes from Ukrainian flanker also Manchester City player, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Emil Forsberg would once again show his heroics during the 43rd minutes in order to bring the game to a level. After 45 minutes, and with no further goals, the game was sent into extra-time. At the end of 99 minutes, Marcus Danielson was shown a straight red card for an attack against Artem Besyedin. The game did not result in penalties since Artem Dovbyk smashed a 120th-minute shot into the net after an assist from Zinchenko. It was a fitting end to an otherwise impressive game for Janne Andersson's team.

In the process of being promoted into League A, Sweden was placed in Group A3 with the current champions Portugal as well as current World champions France and the 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia. The team began their season with a loss of 0-1 against France at the Friends Arena on 5 September 2020. Sweden's next match was against Portugal in the same venue three days after. They were beaten 2-0 after Gustav Svensson was sent off at the half-time break while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice.

On the 11th of October, Sweden looked to draw 1-1 with Croatia in Zagreb following Marcus Berg's goal. However, a defensive error by Pontus Jansson at the end of the match earned Croatia the win 2-1. The next day Sweden was defeated 3-3 by Portugal at Lisbon. Four consecutive losses in matches that are competitive is Sweden's worst run of results over 108 years, stretching from 1912. On the 14th of November, Sweden played the return match against Croatia at the Friends Arena and won 2-1 following goals scored from Dejan Kulusevski as well as Marcus Danielson, but Danielson's fatally missed goal late in the game was to be a disaster. The next day, Sweden played against France in Paris and had a 1-0 lead thanks to Viktor Claesson. But, France turned the match around and took the victory 4-2. In the second Swedish score was scored by Robin Quaison. This meant that Sweden came last in the group because of an the lower goal difference to Croatia and was relegated into League B for the next UEFA Nations League tournament.

In 2022's FIFA World Cup qualification, Sweden were included in Group B alongside Spain, Greece, Georgia and Kosovo. On the 16th of March in 2021 Zlatan Ibrahimovic made it into the team at the very first opportunity in nearly five years following his resignation from the national team following Euro 2016. On the 25th of March in 2021 Sweden defeated Georgia 1-0 at the Friends Arena after a goal by Viktor Claesson, with Ibrahimovic as the assistant. In his 117th game, Ibrahimovic officially became Sweden's most senior player ever at 39 years, 5 weeks and two days old, surpassing Thomas Ravelli's record since November 11, 1997. On March 28, Sweden beat Kosovo 3-0 in Pristina and Ibrahimovic set the goals for the goals of both Ludwig Augustinsson for the first goal, and Alexander Isak for the second goal. The day's captain Sebastian Larsson then scored from the penalty spot.

The 2nd September was the day that Sweden played Spain at Solna. Carlos Soler scored for Spain in just 3 minutes however Alexander Isak equalized 11 seconds immediately after kick-off. The second half began with a flurry of goals, Dejan Kulusevski set up Viktor Claesson who scored 2-1 that was the final score. It marked the first occasion that Spain was defeated in the course of a World Cup qualifier since 1993. On September 8, Sweden lost 1-2 against Greece in Athens in a substitution Robin Quaison scoring the only Swedish goal.

On the 9th of October, Sweden played against Kosovo at the Friends Arena. Emil Forsberg scored from the penalty spot in the opening half, following the long-awaited VAR decision regarding handball. After the break, Alexander Isak scored a fantastic long shot that was placed in the corner of the goal. Robin Quaison then sealed a win 3-0 on his birthday. A few days after, Sweden hosted Greece at the same venue. It was a sloppy first half, with Greece appearing to be the stronger team and also hitting both the wall twice. Sweden took the lead in the final half. Emil Forsberg scored a penalty following Alexander Isak was taken down in the box. After that, Isak himself scored a 2-0 goal following an extended goal kick by Robin Olsen. The victory meant that Sweden finished top of the group, with two points clear of Spain with just two matches left.

On the 11th of November, Sweden suffered a shocking defeat of 2-0 against Georgia. The team was ranked 93rd that time Georgia was the fourth lowest placed team to have ever beaten Sweden. On the 14th of November, Sweden played the return match in the match against Spain on the pitch in Seville. Although they had the best chance of scoring Sweden were defeated by 1-0, following Alvaro Morata scored on a rebound in the 85th minute. The result was that Sweden ended up in second place in the group and went into the play-offs as one of the six teams that were seeded in the late March of 2022.

On March 24, Sweden played against Czech Republic in the semi-finals of play-off in Solna. The game was not scored after 90 minutes, and then ended in extra time in which Robin Quaison scored the winning goal. On March 29, Sweden lost 2-0 to Poland at the Stadion Slaski due to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski and did not be able to qualify for this year's World Cup.

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Swedish supporters first showed up at the 1912 Summer Olympics during the 1912 Summer Olympics, when they sang "Heja Sverige / friskt Humor"Det ar det som susen gor" (roughly which translates to "Come to Sweden and being happy is the way to go") during football matches.

The supporters who travel for Sweden's games away from home were seen in the very first instance during the year 1974 at FIFA World Cup in West Germany Since then, Sweden has always been a popular host at large events. In 2006's FIFA World Cup in Germany, Sweden had one of the biggest crowds of fans at a sporting event, particularly in the group stage game against Paraguay with more than 50 000 Swedish supporters present and additional 50,000 people watching the game from outside the stadium. The Swedish supporters were also voted the most enthusiastic fans at this year's World Cup, due to their huge numbers, friendliness attitude , and passion for the sport.

Sweden's biggest rival is Denmark. Both countries have played each against each other 107 times. Of that Sweden had won 47 times, won 20 times and lost 40. The first meeting between the two teams resulted in an 8-0 Denmark victory in the month of May 1913. Sweden had to lose five of their initial five matches against Denmark before winning their first match in October 1916 , with the score of 4-0. The first game played between the two countries ended with a the score was 1-0 by Sweden at the stage group in UEFA Euro 1992. Both teams advanced to the group stage, and Denmark won the tournament. At UEFA Euro 2004 the teams were able to draw 2-2 in the final group stage game, ensuring that both teams made it to the finals in the same way, but at the expense of Italy. For the qualifying match of UEFA Euro 2008, Sweden received a 3-0 victory away from Denmark following an unruly Danish fan swarmed into the pitch and assaulted the referee. The match was a draw, and Sweden got into the final match. For the qualification to this year's FIFA World Cup, Sweden fell in both games against Denmark by 1-0. They did not qualify for this year's World Cup. In the play-offs stage of the qualifying of UEFA Euro 2016, Sweden defeated Denmark by 4-3 in aggregate to make it to the final event. The most recent meeting between the two countries ended in an uncontested draw in June of 2018.

Sweden traditionally wears yellow shirts, blue shorts, and yellow socks as their home kit, and blue shirts, yellow shorts, and blue socks as their away kit. Since 2013, their kit manufacturer is Adidas, who were also the manufacturer between 1973 and 2003. They were manufactured by Umbro in 1970 as well as between 2003 and 2013.

Since 2012 in 2012, The Swedish national stadium has been changed to Friends Arena which replaced the Rasunda Fotbollsstadion which was destroyed. Based on FIFA, Rasunda Stadion was an historic stadium,[citation requiredone of the two stadiums around the globe and the other is that of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, which hosted both the women's and men's World Cup final (1958 FIFA World Cup final as well as that of the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup). Rasunda stadium opened on 18 September 1910 and could hold less than 2,000, with the majority of it standing. The stadium was Rasunda stadium as well as Valhalla arena in Gothenburg which were the first soccer fields that had grass for Swedish soccer. The stadium was further expanded in 1937 to accommodate a total capacity of 40,000. It was the venue for the football event in the 1912 Summer Olympics that took place in Stockholm and also hosted eight games in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 1992, during the UEFA European Championship, the stadium was home to four games. during the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup it was only used for the final match. Ullevi located in Gothenburg can be used to host home matches, including the 100th anniversary match that was played by Sweden's Swedish Football Association against England in 2004. There are other stadiums too like Stadion in Malmo and Stadion in Malmo, are used by the Swedish national team.

2021

2022

As of 28 March 2021

Chairmen of the Selection Committee

Head coaches

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The following 25 players were called up for the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches against Slovenia on 2 June 2022, Norway on 5 June 2022, Serbia on 9 June 2022 and Norway on 12 June 2022.

Caps and goals are correct as of 12 June 2022 after the match against Norway.

The following 42 players have also been called up to the Sweden squad within the last twelve months.

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Coach: Janne Andersson

Sweden's final squad was announced on 15 May 2018.

Head coach: Lars Lagerbäck

Head coaches: Lars Lagerbäck and Tommy Söderberg

Head coach:  Tommy Svensson

Head coach: Olle Nordin

Head coach: Georg Ericson

Head coach: Georg Ericson

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Manager: Janne Andersson

Sweden announced their final squad on 18 May 2021. Martin Olsson withdrew injured and was replaced by Pierre Bengtsson on 31 May. Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on 8 June, and were isolated while remaining in the squad.

Manager: Erik Hamrén

Sweden announced their final squad on 11 May.

Manager: Erik Hamrén

Erik Hamrén announced Sweden's 23-man squad on 14 May 2012.

Manager: Lars Lagerbäck

Managers: Lars Lagerbäck & Tommy Söderberg

Sweden named their squad on 6 May 2004. Southampton full-back Michael Svensson was ruled out of the tournament on 26 May after failing to recover from a knee injury; he was replaced by Hammarby defender Alexander Östlund.

Managers: Lars Lagerbäck and Tommy Söderberg

Manager: Tommy Svensson

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Head coach:  George Raynor

Tore Svensson, Lars Carlsson, Karl-Erik Andersson, Sven Hjertsson, Åke Jönsson, Lars Eriksson, Nils-Åke Sandell and Egon Jönsson were all named in Sweden's squad, but did not play in any matches:

Head coach:  George Raynor

Head coach: John Pettersson

Head coach:  József Nagy

Head coach: Anton Johanson

The following players were also named as reserves, but did not play in any matches: Fritz Carlsson, Erik Dahlström, Einar Halling-Johansson, Erik Hjelm, Nils Karlsson, Sven Klang, Vidar Stenborg, Henning Svensson, John Torstensson and Rune Wenzel.

As of 29 March 2022

Players in bold are still active with Sweden.

Oldest player

40 years, 5 months and 26 days – Zlatan Ibrahimović (0–2 against Poland on 29 March 2022)

Youngest debutante

17 years, 2 months and 11 days  – Gunnar Pleijel (5–2 against Finland on 22 October 1911)

Oldest debutante

34 years, 9 months and 1 day – Stendy Appeltoft (3–0 against Finland on 28 August 1955)

Longest national career

21 years, 1 month and 29 days – Zlatan Ibrahimović (from 31 January 2001 until 29 March 2022)

Oldest goalscorer

37 years, 11 months and 26 days – Gunnar Gren (two goals in a 4–4 draw against Denmark on 26 October 1958)

Youngest goalscorer

17 years, 3 months and 22 days – Alexander Isak (one goal in a 6–0 win against Slovakia on 12 January 2017)

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.

The order for this list is by most appearances as captain, then chronological order of first captaincy.

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Summer Olympics Football was first played in 1908. The Olympiads between 1896 and 1980 were only open for the amateur players. The 1984 and 1988 tournaments were open to players with no appearances in the FIFA World Cup. After the 1988 Olympics, the football event was changed into a tournament for U23 teams with a maximum of 3 older players.