Sweden national football team
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Nickname | Blågult ("blue-yellow") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Association | Svenska Fotbollförbundet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach | Lars Lagerbäck, 2000- | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Captain | Fredrik Ljungberg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most caps | Thomas Ravelli (143) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top scorer | Sven Rydell (49) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIFA code | SWE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIFA ranking | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest FIFA ranking | 2 (November 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lowest FIFA ranking | 31 (August 1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elo ranking | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest Elo ranking | 2 (June 1950) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lowest Elo ranking | 49 (Sept 1980) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Sweden 11 - 3 Norway (Gothenburg, Sweden; 12 July 1908) |
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Largest win Sweden 12 - 0 Latvia (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 May 1927) |
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Worst defeat England Amateur 12 - 1 Sweden (London, England; 20 October 1908) |
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World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 11 (First in 1934) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best result | Runners-up, 1958 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appearances | 3 (First in 1992) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Best result | Semi-finals, 1992 |
Olympic medal record | |||
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Men's Football | |||
Bronze | 1924 Paris | Team | |
Gold | 1948 London | Team | |
Bronze | 1952 Helsinki | Team |
The Sweden national football team is the national football team of Sweden and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association.
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[edit] History
After qualifying for World Cup 2006, Sweden has now reached four major championship finals in a row.
Sweden competed in Group B at the 2006 World Cup. Their squad for the tournament features players who play club football in eleven different nations. In Euro 2008 qualifying they are competing in Group F.
[edit] World Cup record
Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in world football, with eleven World Cup appearances and three medals. The Swedish team finished second in 1958, when it was the host team, being beaten by Brazil 5-2 in the final (Brazil's first finals success). Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994. In 1938, they finished fourth.
Year | Finish | Matches | Wins | Draws* | Losses | Goals Scored | Goals Against |
1930 | Did not enter | ||||||
1934 | Quarterfinals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
1938 | Fourth place | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 9 |
1950 | Third place | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 15 |
1954 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1958 | Runners-up | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 |
1962 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1966 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1970 | Round 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
1974 | Round 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 |
1978 | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
1982 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1986 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1990 | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
1994 | Third place | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 |
1998 | Did not qualify | ||||||
2002 | Round 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
2006 | Round 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Total | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 74 | 69 |
Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
[edit] European Championship record
Sweden's best performance in the European Championships was reaching the semi-finals as hosts at Euro 92.
Year | Finish | Matches | Wins | Draws* | Losses | Goals Scored | Goals Against |
1960 | Did not enter | ||||||
1964 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1968 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1972 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1976 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1980 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1984 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1988 | Did not qualify | ||||||
1992 | Semi-Finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
1996 | Did not qualify | ||||||
2000 | Round 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
2004 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
Total | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 12 |
[edit] Other achievements
Sweden won the Olympic Soccer gold at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
[edit] Swedish national team 2006
[edit] Current Squad
Head coach: Lars Lagerbäck
[edit] 2006 World Cup
Sweden started the World Cup slowly, recording a scoreless tie against unheralded Trinidad and Tobago, despite playing with a one-man advantage for much of the game. Wilhelmsson and Alexandersson were later referred to as "The unsung heroes of the match" by American newscasters. The second game, against Paraguay, threatened to produce the same result until Fredrik Ljungberg scored in the 89th minute to give Sweden a 1-0 victory. Sweden then rallied to tie England, 2-2, to finish group play with five points - enough to finish second in its group and advance to the second round. There, the team's World Cup run came to an end with 2-0 defeat to the host team, Germany.
[edit] 2008 European Championship Qualifying
Sweden was drawn into a qualifying group with fellow Scandinavian rivals Denmark and Iceland, both of which are currently represented by, arguably, one of their best squads in ever. Also drawn into the group was the squads of Northern Ireland, Spain, Latvia, and Liechtenstein. In the first qualification game, Sweden squared off against Latvia in Riga on September 2, 2006, walking away with a 1-0 victory. Next Sweden welcomed visitors Leichtenstein to Gothenburg on September 6, 2006. Sweden managed to secure a 3-1 victory thanks to two late goals via Marcus Allbäck. A hard match against Spain awaited at Råsunda, Solna in October 7. Though most people believed in a horrible defeat, Sweden made success with a 2-0 victory. At October 11, Sweden played Iceland in Reykjavík winning 2-1. At the moment, Sweden is the team with most points in the whole qualifying (12 points), through victory in all played matches.
[edit] Famous past players
- See also: List of Sweden international footballers
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[edit] Sweden managers
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[edit] Past squads and campaigns
- World Cup 1978 squad
- Euro 1992 squad
- World Cup 1994 squad
- Euro 2000 squad
- World Cup 2002 squad
- Euro 2004 squad and campaign
- World Cup 2006 squad
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- RSSSF archive of results 1908-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches
- World Cup history at Planet World Cup
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Competitions in Swedish football | ||||||||
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International football
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2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
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