Sweden at the FIFA World Cup

This is a record of Sweden's results at the FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.[1]

Sweden have been one of the more successful national teams in the history of the World Cup, having reached 4 semi-finals, and becoming runners-up on home ground in 1958. They have been present at 11 out of 20 World Cups by 2014. Sweden failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, having lost the two-legged UEFA play-offs against Portugal.

Throughout the World Cup history, Brazil became Sweden's historical rival. The two countries have met each other seven times but Sweden never managed to win, with five victories for the Brazilian side and two draws.[2] Another historical opponent of Sweden in the finals is (West) Germany: four encounters, with three wins for Germany and one for Sweden.[3]

Records

Sweden in the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final.
Team formations of Brazil (blue) and Sweden (yellow) at the start of the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final.
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D * L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter No qualification
Italy 1934 Quarter-final 8th 2 1 0 1 4 4 2 2 0 0 8 2
France 1938 Fourth place 4th 3 1 0 2 11 9 3 2 0 1 11 7
Brazil 1950 Third place 3rd 5 2 1 2 11 15 2 2 0 0 6 2
Switzerland 1954 Did not qualify 4 1 1 2 9 8
Sweden 1958 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 12 7 Qualified as hosts
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 5 3 0 2 11 5
England 1966 4 2 1 1 10 3
Mexico 1970 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 2 2 4 3 0 1 12 5
West Germany 1974 Second group stage 5th 6 2 2 2 7 6 7 4 2 1 17 9
Argentina 1978 First group stage 13th 3 0 1 2 1 3 4 3 0 1 7 4
Spain 1982 Did not qualify 8 3 2 3 7 8
Mexico 1986 8 4 1 3 14 9
Italy 1990 Group stage 21st 3 0 0 3 3 6 6 4 2 0 9 3
United States 1994 Third place 3rd 7 3 3 1 15 8 10 6 3 1 19 8
France 1998 Did not qualify 10 7 0 3 16 9
South Korea Japan 2002 Round of 16 13th 4 1 2 1 5 5 10 8 2 0 20 3
Germany 2006 Round of 16 14th 4 1 2 1 3 4 10 8 0 2 30 4
South Africa 2010 Did not qualify 10 5 3 2 13 5
Brazil 2014 12 6 2 4 21 18
Russia 2018 To be determined
Qatar 2022
Total Best: runners-up 11/20 46 16 13 17 74 69 119 73 19 27 240 112
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won.
***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

By match

Sweden playing against Germany in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Year Round Against Score Scorers
1934Round 1 Argentina3–2Jonasson (2), Kroon
Quarter-final Germany1–2 Dunker
1938Round 1 Austriaw/o
Quarter-final Cuba8–0H. Andersson (3), Wetterström (3), Keller, Nyberg
Semi-final Hungary1–5Nyberg
Bronze final Brazil2–4Jonasson, Nyberg
1950Group 3 Italy3–2Jeppson (2), S. Andersson
Group 3 Paraguay2–2Sundqvist, Palmér
Final round Brazil1–7S. Andersson
Final round Uruguay2–3Palmér, Sundqvist
Final round Spain3–1Sundqvist, B. Mellberg, Palmér
1958Group 3 Mexico3–0Simonsson (2), Liedholm
Group 3 Hungary2–1 Hamrin (2)
Group 3 Wales0–0
Quarter-final Soviet Union2–0Hamrin, Simonsson
Semi-final West Germany3–1Skoglund, Gren, Hamrin
Final Brazil2–5Liedholm, Simonsson
1970Group 2 Italy0–1
Group 2 Israel1–1Turesson
Group 2 Uruguay1–0Grahn
1974Group 3 Bulgaria0–0
Group 3 Netherlands0–0
Group 3 Uruguay3–0Edström (2), Sandberg
Group B Round 2 Poland0–1
Group B Round 2 West Germany2–4Edström, Sandberg
Group B Round 2 Yugoslavia2–1Edström, Torstensson
1978Group 3 Brazil1–1Sjöberg
Group 3 Austria0–1
Group 3 Spain0–1
1990Group C Brazil1–2Brolin
Group C Scotland1–2Strömberg
Group C Costa Rica1–2Ekström
1994Group B Cameroon2–2Ljung, Dahlin
Group B Russia3–1Dahlin (2), Brolin
Group B Brazil1–1K. Andersson
Round of 16 Saudi Arabia3–1Dahlin, K. Andersson (2)
Quarter-final Romania2–2 (AET)Brolin, K. Andersson
Semi-final Brazil0–1
Bronze final Bulgaria4–0Brolin, Mild, Larsson, K. Andersson
2002Group F England1–1Alexandersson
Group F Nigeria2–1Larsson (2)
Group F Argentina1–1Svensson
Round of 16 Senegal1–2 (AET)Larsson
2006Group B Trinidad and Tobago0–0
Group B Paraguay1–0Ljungberg
Group B England2–2Allbäck, Larsson
Round of 16 Germany0–2

Top goalscorers

Henrik Larsson, Sweden's joint all-time top scorer (alongside with Kennet Andersson) at the World Cup
No. Name Goals World Cups
1Kennet Andersson51994
Henrik Larsson51994, 2002, 2006
2 Agne Simonsson41958
Kurt Hamrin41958
Ralf Edström41974
Tomas Brolin41990, 1994
Martin Dahlin41994
8 Sven Jonasson31934, 1938
Harry Andersson31938
Gustav Wetterström31938
Arne Nyberg31938
Stig Sundqvist31950
Karl-Erik Palmér31950

References

  1. ↑ 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 June 2007.
  2. ↑ "Head-to-Head: Sweden v Brazil". FIFA.com.
  3. ↑ "Head-to-Head: Sweden v Germany". FIFA.com.

External links