by Camilia Lane (10/7/23)
Above: Sweden will be hoping for plenty of celebrations in July and August at the World Cup. Photo: Naomi Baker.
Ranked third in the world, Sweden always seen to produce strong performances when a major tournament comes around. Peter Gerhardsson will manage the team for his sixth year after taking over after the 2017 European Championships. This side is a creative attacking team with great depth.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Tove Enblom, Jennifer Falk, Zećira Mušović.
Defenders: Jonna Andersson, Nathalie Björn, Magdalena Eriksson, Amanda Ilestedt,
Hanna Lundkvist, Anna Sandberg, Linda Sembrant.
Midfielders and Forwards: Filippa Angeldahl, Kosovare Asllani, Hanna Bennision,
Stina Blackstenius, Rebecka Blomqvist, Lina Hurtig, Sofia Jakobsson, Madelen Janogy,
Fridolina Rolfö, Elin Rubensson, Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, Olivia Schough, Caroline Seger
Head Coach
Peter Gerhardsson has been Sweden’s head coach since 2017, taking over from Pia Sundhage. He has led the team through three major competitions bringing out consistent performance from the team placing no lower than the quarter-final in any of those tournaments. The squad he picks always brings out a wealth of experience. Before he took over, Gerhardsson had a successful spell in charge of BK Häcken’s men’s team.
World Cup Record
Sweden have qualified for every World Cup so far. Their best run in the tournament came in 2003 when they were beaten by a golden goal in extra-time of the final as Germany’s Nia Künzer gave her side a 2-1 win after Hanna Ljungberg gave the Swedes the lead just before half-time in Carson. The Scandinavians can also boast third-placed finishes at the first tournament in 1991 as well as 2011 and 2019 when they denied England a bronze medal.
How they qualified
Sweden finished top of European Group A after achieving seven wins and a draw from their eight matches.
Strengths
Sweden have a consistently strong team full of players from the top leagues in Europe. After last year’s Euros where they got knocked out by an on-form England in the semi-final, they will want to top that off by hopefully getting at least one stage further in Australia and New Zealand.
Development Areas
Being ranked third in the world Sweden will be one of the teams people want to beat. This will put pressure on the Scandinavians to perform. Whilst they regularly make the final stages of tournaments, going that final step and lifting trophies has been a challenge in recent years.
Key Players
Magdalena Eriksson – Making her national team debut in 2014, Eriksson is a key to Sweden’s backline. Captaining one of the top teams in Europe, Eriksson will bring much experience and will be up for this tournament after a successful season at Chelsea. Eriksson’s footballing intelligence and tactical thinking have been praised by her head coaches consistently down the years.
Stina Blackstenius – Following her lack of playing time in the 2022 Euros due to coming back from an injury, Blackstenius will be leading the front line of this Sweden team. In the 22/23 season for Arsenal, she has been in frightening form making 39 appearances and scoring 18 goals in all competitions. This will be vital for the team creating a big threat for the opposition to deal with.
One to watch
Filipa Angeldahl – Angeldal made her national team debut in 2018 and comes into this World Cup off the back of a great season at English club Manchester City. Angedahl made 26 appearances for Gareth Taylor’s side and strongly showed her presence in midfield.
Success Would Be
Reach the semi-final and keep their consistent record of making the latter stages of major tournaments.
Prediction
Semi-Finals
Group G Fixtures
23rd July – South Africa, Sky Stadium, Wellington.
29th July – Italy, Sky Stadium, Wellington.
2nd August – Argentina, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton.
This is Camilia Lane‘s debut article for Impetus. To read her writer’s bio, and those of all our contributors, click on this link: https://impetusfootball.org/about-our-contributors/
To read the other World Cup nation previews published so far, click on this link: https://impetusfootball.org/international-football/
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