Sweden Men's National Football Team
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The Sweden men's national football team () represents
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in men's international
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and it is controlled by the
Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a ...
, the governing body of
football in Sweden Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240,000 licensed players (approximately 56,000 women and 184,000 men) with another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, whic ...
. Sweden's home ground is
Strawberry Arena Nationalarenan, known as Strawberry Arena since 2024 for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the Stockholm City Centre, City Centre, i ...
in
Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...
and the team is coached by
Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Sweden national team. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he wo ...
. From 1945 to the late 1950s, they were considered one of the greatest teams in Europe. Sweden has made twelve appearances at the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
with their first coming in
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
. They have also made six appearances at the
European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...
. Sweden finished second at the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...
, which they hosted, and third in both
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
and
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
. Sweden's other accomplishments also include a gold medal at the
1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...
, and bronze medals in
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
and
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
. They also reached the semi-finals at
UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...
, while hosting the tournament.


History

Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with 12
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
appearances and 3 medals in the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...
. Sweden national team finished second in the
1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...
, when it was the host team, being beaten by
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
5–2 in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
. Sweden has also finished third twice, in
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
and
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
. In
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
, they finished fourth.


Early history

Sweden played its first international game against
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
on 12 July 1908, an 11–3 victory at Idrottsplatsen in
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
. Other matches in 1908 were played against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Great Britain, the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
(twice) and
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
; 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 the
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
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.


1938 FIFA World Cup

The
1938 World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the 3rd edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in France from 4 to 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beating Hungar ...
was Sweden's second qualification for the World Cup. In the first round, they were scheduled to play against
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, but after Germany's occupation of Austria, the Austrian team could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the quarter-finals match against
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. They beat Cuba 8–0 with both Harry Andersson (on his debut) and Gustav Wetterström scoring
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
s. In the semi-final match against
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, Sweden lost 1–5. Sweden's next match was the third-place match against
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. 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.


1948 Summer Olympics

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 at
White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
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 their archrivals from Denmark beating them 4–2. The final was played at legendary
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
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 by
Gunnar Gren Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional association football, football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and AC Milan. A second striker, creative forward, known f ...
(24', 67'),
Stjepan Bobek Stjepan Bobek (; 3 December 1923 – 22 August 2010) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football striker and later football manager. Usually a forward or attacking midfielder, Bobek was renowned for his technique, vision and goalscoring ...
(42') and
Gunnar Nordahl Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...
(48'). This was Sweden's first championship win in any international football tournament.


1950 FIFA World Cup

In the
1950 World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first World Cup tournament in ...
, 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 beat
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
3–2 in
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. 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 the
Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...
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 by Stig Sundqvist (15'),
Bror Mellberg Bror Lars Astley Mellberg (9 December 1923 − 8 September 2004) was a Swedish footballer who played as a forward. He played for the Sweden national team at the 1950 FIFA World Cup and 1958 FIFA World Cup where Sweden finished third and seco ...
(34') and
Karl-Erik Palmér Karl-Erik "Calle" Palmér (17 April 1929 – 2 February 2015) was a Swedish professional football player who played as a midfielder. He spent the majority of his club career in Italy, and earned 14 caps for Sweden, scoring 10 goals. Career Pa ...
(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 in
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
, 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.


1958 FIFA World Cup success

In 1956, the Swedish football federation allowed the professional footballers to play for the national team again, giving Swedish football fans hope for the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...
. 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 Råsunda Stadium (; also known as Råsunda Fotbollsstadion, Råsundastadion, Råsunda Football Stadium or just Råsunda) was the Swedish national football stadium. It was located in Solna Municipality in Stockholm and named after the district ...
,
Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...
, 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 by
Kurt Hamrin Kurt Roland "Kurre" Hamrin (; 19 November 1934 – 4 February 2024) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a winger. He began his career in his home country with AIK, but later played for several Italian clubs, most notably Fioren ...
. 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 the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and won 2–0. The semi-final at
Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...
,
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, 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 when Erich Juskowiak was sent off in the 59th minute. Sweden won 3–1. The final was played at Råsunda between host nation Sweden and the
1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...
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.


1960s

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 against
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
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.


1970s

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 the
1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
, 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 snowy
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 25th-most populous city of Germany and the 11th-most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher, Emscher River (a tribu ...
, and advanced to the World Cup finals in Germany. During the World Cup, the team released Vi är svenska fotbollsgrabbar, a fight song written by Georg 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 by
Roland Sandberg Ernst Roland Sandberg (born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Starting off his career with Kalmar FF in 1966, he went on to represent Åtvidabergs FF, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and BK Häcken bef ...
(74') and
Ralf Edström Ralf Sigvard Edström (born 7 October 1952) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as Sweden's best player in the 1970s, he started off his career with Degerfors IF in the late 1960s and went on ...
(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 West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, to finish second in the group. The game against West Germany was played in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
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 the
1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...
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.


1980s

After the successful 1970s, reaching all three World Cups, Sweden changed their coach from Georg "Åby" Ericson to Lars "Laban" Arnesson. Arnesson had been a successful coach for
Östers IF Östers Idrottsförening, commonly known as Östers IF or simply Öster, is a Swedish sports club located in Växjö, specializing in Association football, football. For the 2025 Allsvenskan, 2025 season the club is back in the top tier, Allsve ...
before becoming national team coach. Sweden failed to qualify for the
UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...
after only managing to win against
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
in qualifying in a group that also included
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, and the
1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...
, 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 the
UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...
, despite defeating the then-reigning world champions Italy 3–0 in Naples, including two goals by
Glenn Strömberg Glenn Peter Strömberg (; born 5 January 1960) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in 1979 with IFK Göteborg, he helped the club win the 1981–82 UEFA Cup before signing with Benfica in ...
, but were unable to prevail against Romania in the battle for the top spot, losing both away and at home against the ''Tricolours''. The Sweden setbacks continued. After the failed qualification for the
1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...
,
Olle Nordin Carl Jan Olof "Olle" Nordin (born 23 November 1949) is a Swedish former football coach and former player. He represented IFK Norrköping, IFK Sundsvall, and IFK Göteborg during a playing career that spanned between 1970 and 1980. A full intern ...
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 the
UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...
in West Germany.


1990s

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 until
Tommy Svensson Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden men's national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 199 ...
took over in 1991. As the host of the
UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...
, 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 the
1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
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 the
1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...
fiasco with losses of 1–2 in all three games) but in the 75th minute,
Martin Dahlin Dan Martin Nataniel Dahlin (; born 16 April 1968) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. In his prime, he was considered one of the world's best strikers. Starti ...
scored the equaliser from a rebound shot off of
Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...
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 from Tomas 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 by Kennet Andersson ('23) and Romário ('47). In the first knockout-stage match, Sweden faced Saudi Arabia national football team, Saudi Arabia in the extreme heat and humidity of Dallas, 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 against Romania national football team, Romania 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's Florin 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 from Håkan Mild of Sweden, but Thomas Ravelli managed to save two penalties from Daniel Prodan and Miodrag 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 a Bulgaria national football team, Bulgaria 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 the FIFA 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 the UEFA Euro 1996, Euro 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 the 1998 FIFA World Cup, France 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 and Tommy Söderberg took over.


2000s

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 host
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
1–2. Johan Mjällby scored the goal for Sweden in the 53rd minute after an error by Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, while Belgium won via goals from Bart Goor in the 43rd minute and Émile Mpenza in the 46th. Then on 15 June Sweden played 0–0 against Turkey national football team, Turkey. On 19 June, Sweden lost 2–1 to eventual runners-up
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
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 Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...
equalised to 1–1. But after Daniel Andersson (footballer, born 1977), Daniel 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 the 2002 FIFA World Cup, ahead of eventual third placed Turkey. Sweden was drawn in the "group of death", 2002 FIFA World Cup Group F, Group F, which also featured big favourites Argentina national football team, Argentina,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and Nigeria national football team, Nigeria. 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 from David Beckham. The equalising goal was scored by midfielder Niclas Alexandersson, a powerful left-foot shot from outside the box past David 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 midfielder Anders Svensson scored a freekick goal from 30 meters. Andreas Andersson (footballer, born 1974), 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 on Magnus Hedman, the Sweden national team keeper, but Hernán 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 played Senegal national football team, Senegal. Henrik Larsson gave Sweden an early lead by heading in a corner from Anders Svensson. Senegal equalised through Henri Camara. They also had a goal disallowed for offside. The game came to sudden death golden goal. Rising star Zlatan 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 keeper Tony 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 against Bulgaria national football team, Bulgaria 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 by Erik Edman. 4–0 was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimović on a penalty and the substitute Marcus 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 minutes Antonio Cassano scored the first goal of the game for Italy after a cross by Christian Panucci. A great game by Sweden national team goalkeeper Andreas 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 against Denmark national football team, Denmark. 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 was Olof Mellberg's turn to take a shot. The Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved Mellberg's shot and Sweden lost the penalty shoot out after Arjen Robben converted the following penalty. Sweden qualified for the World Cup as the best runner-up, behind Croatia national football team, Croatia, who won their qualifying group. At the World Cup draw in December 2005, Sweden were drawn in 2006 FIFA World Cup Group B, Group B together with England, Paraguay national football team, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Trinidad 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. When Steven 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 national football team, Germany in Munich, after two early goals by Lukas Podolski. Defender Teddy Lučić was controversely sent off by referee Carlos Eugênio Simon, Carlos 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 in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying#Group F, Group F behind Spain men's national football team, Spain, and qualified for the UEFA Euro 2008, Euro 2008 finals as the best runner up. The qualifying campaign included an Denmark v Sweden (UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying), abandoned 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 national football team, Greece, by a score of 2–0 with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović and Petter Hansson. Their next game was against Spain on 14 June. The game looked like a draw until a 92nd-minute strike from David 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.


2010s

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification ended disastrously for Sweden. In the first game in Tirana, 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 from Kim Källström and Samuel Holmén. They would go on to tie with Portugal twice, both in Stockholm and in Porto. Both games ended 0–0. Sweden would lose to Denmark on home ground with an early strike from Thomas Kahlenberg after a defensive mistake by Mikael Nilsson (footballer, born 1978), Mikael 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 at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen after a late goal from Jakob 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 and Erik Hamrén was appointed the next head coach. Several veteran players chose to retire after Sweden failed to reach the World Cup, including Daniel Andersson (footballer, born 1977), Daniel Andersson, Mikael Nilsson and
Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (; born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional association football, football coach and former player who played many times for the Sweden men's national football team, Swedish national team. A Striker (association f ...
, 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's UEFA Euro 2012, Euro 2012 campaign with their new coach, Erik Hamrén, started well with two consecutive wins in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E, Group E against
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and San Marino national football team, San 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 in Chișinău 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 from Christian 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 alongside
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, Ukraine national football team, Ukraine and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the Euro 2012 competition. 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. 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 by Glen Johnson and took the lead when Olof Mellberg scored 2–1 in the 59th minute. However, England turned the game around with goals by Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. The two losses meant that Sweden were already eliminated from the next stage. 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 and Sebastian 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 in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C, Group C of the 2014 FIFA World Cup 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, qualifiers, Sweden finished second behind Germany national football team, Germany, and was one of eight teams to move on to the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round, second 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 the Olympiastadion (Berlin), Olympiastadion, and was widely regarded as one of the most memorable comebacks in football history. Sweden's new national stadium Friends 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 the FIFA Puskás Award for goal of the year. A key win in their group was the home game against
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
on 11 October 2013, as Martin Olsson and Zlatan Ibrahimović both scored in the second half to secure the win at the Friends Arena. Using the October 2013 FIFA 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 face Portugal national football team, Portugal, 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 in Lisbon on 15 November. The return match was played on 19 November at Friends Arena in
Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...
. 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 the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
. Due to this, Sweden's most capped player of all time Anders Svensson decided to end his international career. Competing in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying Group G, Group G of the UEFA Euro 2016 UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, qualifiers, Sweden picked up their first point on the road against Austria with a 1–1 draw on 8 September 2014. After a 1–1 draw against Russia national football team, Russia at the Friends Arena, Sweden then picked up their first win in their next match with a 2–0 result against Liechtenstein national football team, Liechtenstein. 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-placed Montenegro national football team, Montenegro. 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 rivals Denmark national football team, Denmark 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 an own goal by Ciaran Clark). On 25 July 2015, Sweden were drawn in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A, Group A of 2018 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 to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
at the San 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 over South Korea national football team, South Korea in the first match on 18 June, through a penalty goal by Andreas Granqvist, decided by the new Video assistant referee, VAR technology. Their second match on 23 June was against Germany. Ola Toivonen scored 1–0 for Sweden by lobbing the ball over the German goalkeeper Manuel 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 by Jimmy Durmaz. Despite this loss, Sweden advanced to the knockout stage top of the group with a 3–0 win over Mexico national football team, Mexico, while Germany were knocked out bottom of the group with a 2–0 loss to South Korea. On 3 July 2018, Sweden played
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
in the round of 16, beating them 2018 FIFA World Cup knockout stage#Sweden vs Switzerland, 1–0 with a goal by Emil Forsberg, and advancing to the quarter finals for the first time since 1994. In the quarter-finals, Sweden suffered a 2–0 defeat to England and was thus knocked out. Sweden were drawn with Turkey national football team, Turkey and Russia in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League B, League 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 the 2020–21 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 the UEFA Euro 2020, should they not qualify directly via the regular qualification process.


2020s

The draw for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying saw Sweden placed in Group F with Spain men's national football team, Spain,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, Romania national football team, Romania, Faroe Islands national football team, Faroe Islands and Malta national football team, Malta. On 15 November, Sweden defeated Romania 2–0 in Bucharest. The win meant that Sweden had secured second place in the group and a spot at UEFA Euro 2020, their sixth consecutive European championship. For UEFA Euro 2020, Sweden were drawn in Group E together with Spain, Poland national football team, Poland, and Slovakia national football team, Slovakia. At the delayed final tournament, held in 2021, Sweden opened their campaign with an impressive 0–0 draw with Spain in Seville. Four days later, Sweden would face off against Slovakia in Saint 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. On 23 June, Sweden finished their group campaign with a 3–2 win against Poland. Sweden would face off against Ukraine national football team, Ukraine in the round of 16 on 29 June in Glasgow. The match finished 1–1 in normal time. Late in extra time, a header from Artem Dovbyk in the 120th-minute would eliminate the Swedes. 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 the 2022 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. On 11 November, Sweden suffered a shock 2–0 loss against Georgia, the lowest ranked team to have ever defeated Sweden. 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 after Álvaro Morata scored on a rebound in the 86th minute. 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 against Czech Republic national football team, Czech 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. On 29 March, Sweden lost 2–0 to Poland at the Stadion Śląski due to goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zieliński and thus failed to qualify for the World Cup. 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 the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League. Their terrible Nations League form meant that Sweden realistically must qualify directly for UEFA Euro 2024 by finishing in the top two. They were drawn in Group F with Belgium, Austria, Azerbaijan national football team, Azerbaijan, and Estonia national football team, Estonia for UEFA 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, leading to Sweden failing to qualify for Euro 2024 after Austria beat Azerbaijan 1–0 in Baku, marking their first failure to qualify for the European Championship since UEFA Euro 1996, 1996. As a result, Janne Andersson announced he would resign as Sweden's head coach, doing so after the final match against Estonia. On 26 February 2024, the Swedish FA announced that former Danish player
Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Sweden national team. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he wo ...
has been appointed as manager of the Sweden national team, effective from 1 March 2024. Tomasson's contract includes the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification and will be extended if Sweden qualifies for the World Cup. Tomasson is Sweden's first foreign manager since George Raynor who led Sweden in the 1950 and 1958 World Cups.


Team image


Supporters

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. Since 2004, ''Camp Sweden'' has organised gatherings around matches. In 2017, another organisation, ''Gula väggen'' (), also started organising gatherings. 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. Gula väggen, which had been a common term used by different supporter groups for the Swedish fans, registered their name as a trademark. It was found Gula väggen profiles such as "Kannan", "GV-Sara", "Hasse Kongo", and "Jan-Tommy" were paid to support Sweden. Camp Sweden stopped using the term Gula väggen to refer to their activities.


Rivalry

Sweden's main rival is Denmark national football team, Denmark. 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 of
UEFA Euro 1992 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark won the 1992 championship, having been inv ...
. Both teams advanced from the group stage and Denmark went on to win the tournament. In UEFA Euro 2004 the teams drew 2–2 in the last group stage match, ensuring that both teams advanced at the expense of
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. In the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, Sweden Denmark v Sweden (UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying), were 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 the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA), qualification for the 2010 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 the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, qualification for UEFA 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.


Kit sponsorship

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 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.


Home stadium

Since 2012, the Swedish national stadium is
Strawberry Arena Nationalarenan, known as Strawberry Arena since 2024 for sponsorship reasons, is a retractable roof multi-purpose stadium in Stockholm, Sweden. Located next to the lake Råstasjön in Solna, just north of the Stockholm City Centre, City Centre, i ...
, replacing Råsunda Stadium, Råsunda Fotbollsstadion which was demolished. According to FIFA, Råsunda Stadion was a classic stadium, one of only two stadiums in the world, the other one being the Rose Bowl (stadium), Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, which hosted both the men's and women's World Cup final (1958 FIFA World Cup, 1958 FIFA World Cup final and the 1995 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 the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, and hosted eight games during the 1958 FIFA World Cup. At the 1992 UEFA European Championship, the stadium hosted four games and in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup it hosted only the final game.
Ullevi Ullevi, sometimes known as Nya Ullevi (, ''New Ullevi''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then has also hosted the World Allround Speed Skating Championships six times; the ...
in
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
is used for some home games, such as the centennial game of the Swedish Football Association against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in 2004. Even other stadiums, such as Stadion, Malmö, Stadion in Malmö, are used for the national team.


Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.


2024


2025


Management


Organisation


Coaching staff


Manager history

; Chairmen of the Selection Committee * 1908 Ludvig Kornerup * 1909–1911 Wilhelm Friberg * 1912 John Ohlson * 1912–1913 Ruben Gelbord * 1914–1915 Hugo Levin * 1916 Frey Svenson * 1917–1920 Anton Johanson * 1921–1936 John Pettersson (football manager), John Pettersson * 1937 Carl Linde (football manager), Carl Linde * 1938–1942 Gustaf Carlson (footballer), Gustaf Carlson * 1942 Selection Committee (caretaker) * 1943–1956 Putte Kock, Rudolf Kock * 1957–1961 Eric Persson ; Head coaches * 1962–1965 Lennart Nyman * 1966–1970 Orvar Bergmark * 1971–1979 Georg Ericson * 1980–1985 Lars Arnesson * 1986–1990
Olle Nordin Carl Jan Olof "Olle" Nordin (born 23 November 1949) is a Swedish former football coach and former player. He represented IFK Norrköping, IFK Sundsvall, and IFK Göteborg during a playing career that spanned between 1970 and 1980. A full intern ...
* 1990 Nisse Andersson (caretaker) * 1991–1997
Tommy Svensson Leif Tommy Svensson (born 4 March 1945) is a Swedish former football manager and player. He is best known for playing for Östers IF and the Sweden men's national football team. He won the Guldbollen in 1969. He managed Sweden between 1991 and 199 ...
* 1998–1999 Tommy Söderberg * 2000–2004 Lars Lagerbäck & Tommy Söderberg * 2004–2009 Lars Lagerbäck * 2009–2016 Erik Hamrén * 2016–2023 Janne Andersson * 2024 Daniel Bäckström (footballer), Daniel Bäckström (caretaker) * 2024–
Jon Dahl Tomasson Jon Dahl Tomasson (; born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player. He is the current manager of the Sweden national team. A forward, his most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he wo ...


Players


Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for Exhibition game#Association football, friendly matches against
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and Algeria national football team, Algeria on 6 and 10 June 2025, respectively. ''Caps and goals are correct as of 10 June 2025, after the match against Algeria national football team, Algeria.''


Recent call-ups

The following 27 players have also been called up to the Sweden squad within the last twelve months. ;Notes *WD = Player withdrew from the squad


Previous squads

;FIFA World Cup: * 1934 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1934 World Cup squad * 1938 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1938 World Cup squad * 1950 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1950 World Cup squad * 1958 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1958 World Cup squad * 1970 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1970 World Cup squad * 1974 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1974 World Cup squad * 1978 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1978 World Cup squad * 1990 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1990 World Cup squad * 1994 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 1994 World Cup squad * 2002 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 2002 World Cup squad * 2006 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 2006 World Cup squad * 2018 FIFA World Cup squads#Sweden, 2018 World Cup squad ;UEFA European Championship: * UEFA Euro 1992 squads#Sweden, Euro 1992 squad * UEFA Euro 2000 squads#Sweden, Euro 2000 squad * UEFA Euro 2004 squads#Sweden, Euro 2004 squad * UEFA Euro 2008 squads#Sweden, Euro 2008 squad * UEFA Euro 2012 squads#Sweden, Euro 2012 squad * UEFA Euro 2016 squads#Sweden, Euro 2016 squad * UEFA Euro 2020 squads#Sweden, Euro 2020 squad ;Olympic Games: * Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1908 Olympics squad * Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1912 Olympics squad * Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1920 Olympics squad * Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1924 Olympics squad * Football at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1936 Olympics squad * Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1948 Olympics squad * Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's team squads#Sweden, 1952 Olympics squad


Player records

:''Players in bold are still active with Sweden.''


Most capped players


Top goalscorers


Age-related records

Age-related records of the Swedish national football team. ; Oldest player: 41 years, 5 months and 21 days – Zlatan Ibrahimović (0–3 against
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
on 24 March 2023) ; Youngest debutante: 17 years, 2 months and 11 days  – Gunnar Pleijel (5–2 against Finland national football team, Finland on 22 October 1911) ; Oldest debutante: 34 years, 9 months and 1 day – Stendy Appeltoft (3–0 against Finland national football team, Finland on 28 August 1955) ; Longest national career: 22 years, 1 month and 24 days – Zlatan Ibrahimović (from 31 January 2001 until 24 March 2023) ; Oldest goalscorer: 37 years, 11 months and 26 days –
Gunnar Gren Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional association football, football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and AC Milan. A second striker, creative forward, known f ...
(two goals in a 4–4 draw against Denmark national football team, 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 national football team, Slovakia on 12 January 2017)


Notable captains

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.


Competitive record

Champions   Runners-up   Third place   Fourth place   Tournament held on home soil  


FIFA World Cup


UEFA European Championship


UEFA Nations League


Olympic Games

Football at the Summer Olympics was first played officially in Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics, 1908. 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 the FIFA World Cup. Since Football at the 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992 Olympics, the football event was changed into a tournament for under-23 teams with a maximum of three List of overage players in Olympic football, overage players. See Sweden Olympic football team for competition record from 1984 until present day.


Nordic Football Championship


Minor tournaments


Head-to-head record

The following table shows Sweden's all-time international record. The Denmark v Sweden (UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying), abandoned match against Denmark on 2 June 2007 here counts as a draw. List of men's national association football teams#Defunct national football teams, Former national teams are included in their respective successor team. However, note that matches against
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
are included in the statistics for Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic, not Slovakia national football team, Slovakia. ''Statistics updated as of 10 June 2025.''


Honours


Major competitions

* FIFA World Cup ** Runners-up (1): 1958 FIFA World Cup, 1958 ** Third place (2):
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
,
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
* Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games ** Gold Medal (1): Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics, 1948 ** Bronze Medal (2):
1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...
,
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...


Regional

* Nordic Football Championship ** Champions (9): 1933–36 Nordic Football Championship, 1933–36, 1937–47 Nordic Football Championship, 1937–47, 1948–51 Nordic Football Championship, 1948–51, 1952–55 Nordic Football Championship, 1952–55, 1956–59 Nordic Football Championship, 1956–59, 1960–63 Nordic Football Championship, 1960–63, 1964–67 Nordic Football Championship, 1964–67, 1968–71 Nordic Football Championship, 1968–71, 1972–77 Nordic Football Championship, 1972–77


Summary


See also

* Denmark–Sweden football rivalry * Football in Sweden * Gotland official football team * Sápmi football team * Sweden national football B team (defunct) * Sweden men's national under-17 football team * Sweden men's national under-19 football team * Sweden national under-21 football team * Sweden Olympic football team * Sweden women's national football team


Notes


References


External links

* of the
Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a ...

Sweden
at FIFA
Sweden
at UEFA
National team statistics
by
Swedish Football Association The Swedish Football Association (, SvFF) is the governing and body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues – Allsvenskan for men and for women – and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a ...

National team statistics
by SFS-Bolletinen

by Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation, RSSSF
Most capped players and top goalscorers
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