As the World Cup edges closer, we continue our run down of all 32 competing nations in Russia.
After kick starting our previews of Group F with defending champions Germany, it’s time to delve into Sweden.
Janne Andersson’s side are gearing up for their first World Cup campaign since 2006, where they fell to Germany in the first round of knockout matches.
Sweden will have the chance to avenge that defeat in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, but they will realistically have their eye on second place.
The Scandinavian outfit face competition from Mexico and South Korea for second spot and it’s really a toss up between those three sides.
Despite a relatively underwhelming squad, Sweden have qualified for this month’s World Cup the hard way.
The Blagult were drawn in a qualification group along with France and the Netherlands but managed to finish between those two teams in second place.
A tally of 19 points and a superior goal difference over Holland granted Sweden a playoff place and they managed to upset Italy over two legs, claiming a narrow 1-0 aggregate victory.
Their unlikely progression to the World Cup even led mercurial striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to consider reversing his international retirement, but he was eventually left out of the squad.
Even though Ibrahimovic is 36 and still feeling the effects of a career-threatening injury suffered 12 months ago, Sweden have lost personality and star quality without him.
It’s also a concern that Sweden’s best players are out of form. Victor Lindelof’s first season at Manchester United was nothing short of a disaster, while Emil Forsberg’s stock fell tremendously over the course of last season.
Nevertheless, Andersson will hope Forsberg can rediscover his verve in Russia and inspire Sweden through to the knockout stage of the World Cup.
The RB Leipzig midfielder is particularly deadly over set-pieces and that could prove key in what will likely be tight group games across the board. In fact, no Bundesliga player has created more goalscoring opportunities from setpieces than Forsberg in the last two campaigns (57).
The absence of Ibrahimovic will be a miss in that respect, as none of their other options have particularly intimidating international goalscoring records.
Sweden don't always qualify for the World Cup, but when they do, they usually go well. They finished third in the 1994 edition, while getting out of the groups in their last two outings. It would be a real achievement for Andersson's side if they can get beyond the round of 16, however.
