Sweden national football team
Encyclopedia
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association
Swedish Football Association
The Swedish Football Association is the governing body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA...

, the governing body for Football in Sweden
Football in Sweden
In Sweden, the most popular sport is association football, with over 240,000 licensed players—of which 56,000 are women—plus another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which are playing on the 7,900 pitches available in the country...

. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium
Råsunda Stadium
Råsunda Fotbollstadion, also Råsundastadion, Råsunda Stadium or just Råsunda, is a Swedish national football stadium. It is located in Solna Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm and named after Råsunda, a zone of Solna.-History:...

 in Stockholms län
Stockholm County
Stockholm County is a county or län on the Baltic sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. Stockholm County is divided by the historic provinces of Uppland and Södermanland...

 and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 appearance in 1934
1934 FIFA World Cup
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

. Since then, Sweden has made eleven World Cup appearances and four appearances in the European Championships. They finished second in the 1958 World Cup, and third in both 1950
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

 and 1994. Sweden's accomplishments also include a gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics
Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Olympic Games title was won by Sweden, managed by Englishman George Raynor.-Summary:Sweden, whose Football Association forbade professionalism within domestic football, ran out as winners and only used 12 players throughout the entire tournament but there were exceptional performances put...

, and bronze medals in 1924
Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the Football tournament winning the Gold.-Amateur Status:In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work; in the months that followed four other Associations permitted similar...

 and 1952
Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Olympic football tournament signalled the arrival of the 'Golden Team'; the 'Magical Magyars': Hungary. Ferenc Puskás, the great Hungarian known as the 'Galloping Major' for his military title, said of the 1952 competition: "It was during the Olympics that our football first started to...

. They reached the semi-finals in UEFA Euro 1992.

Traditionally, Sweden are rivals with Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 and Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...

, although other rivalries have developed over the years. Sweden failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

 in the group qualification stage, having been edged out by Portugal. As a result, team manager Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player, currently managing Iceland....

 quit and Erik Hamrén was appointed the new manager. Sweden's current captain is Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 with Anders Svensson as vice captain.

History

Sweden has traditionally been a strong team in international football, with eleven World Cup appearances and three medals in the Olympics
Football at the Summer Olympics
Association football, usually known simply as football or soccer, has been included in every Olympiad except 1896 and 1932 as a men's competition sport. Women's football was added to the official programme in 1996.-Early history:...

. The Swedish team finished second in the 1958 World Cup, when it was the host team, being beaten by Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 5–2 in the final. Sweden has also finished third twice, in 1950 and 1994. In 1938, they finished fourth.

Early history

Sweden played its first international game against Norway, on 12 July 1908, and won it 11–3.
Other games in 1908 were against England, Great Britain, Netherlands (twice) and Belgium. Sweden lost all five games.

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 and Northern Ireland Olympic football team
The Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage players...

 with 1–12 and it became the biggest loss in the Swedish national team's history.

From 1910 to 1930 Sweden exclusively played friendly games; in 1916 Sweden beat Denmark for the first time.

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 World Cup

The 1938 World Cup was Sweden's second qualification for the world cup. In the first round, they were scheduled to play against Austria, but after the Germans occupied the nation of Austria
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....

 could not continue playing in the tournament. Instead, Sweden went straight to the quarterfinal match against Cuba
Cuba national football team
The Cuba national football team is the national team of Cuba and is controlled by the Asociación de Fútbol de Cuba. They are affiliated to the Caribbean Football Union of CONCACAF....

. They beat Cuba 8–0 with both harry Andersson
Harry Andersson
Harry Andersson was a Swedish football striker.He played for IK Sleipner and was the top scorer of the 1934–35 Allsvenskan. Andersson also played for the Sweden national football team, for whom he appeared in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, at which he scored one goal.-References:...

 (on his debut) and Gustav Wetterström
Gustav Wetterström
Gustav Wetterström was a Swedish football striker.He played for IK Sleipner Norrköping and the Sweden national football team, for whom he appeared in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. He scored a hat trick in Sweden's 8-0 victory over Cuba, although many sources outside of FIFA have credited him with...

 scoring hat trick
Hat Trick
Hat trick, hat-trick or hattrick may refer to:* hat-trick — in various sports, achieving three goals, wickets, etc. in a single match* Hattrick — online football management game** Hattrick Limited — producers of this game...

s.
In the semi-final match against Hungary, Sweden lost 1–5. Sweden's next match was the 3rd place match against Brazil. In that game the
Swedes lost 2–4, and ended in 4th place for the first and only time in Swedish football history.

1948 Summer Olympics

In the first round Sweden played against Austria
Austria national football team
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....

. 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
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 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 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
Gunnar Gren
Gunnar Gren was a Swedish football player and coach. He is best known for playing for IFK Gothenburg and AC Milan. He was part of the famous "Gre-No-Li" trio of forwards at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team...

 (24', 67'), Stjepan Bobek
Stjepan Bobek
Stjepan Bobek was a football striker from Yugoslavia, and later a football manager. An ethnic Croat, Bobek started playing at a very young age and had spells with several clubs in Zagreb but is mainly remembered for his time at the Serbian side Partizan Belgrade, where he moved to following the...

 (42') and Gunnar Nordahl
Gunnar Nordahl
Gunnar Nordahl was a Swedish football player, best known for his play in AC Milan 1949-1956.-Sweden:...

 (48'). This was Sweden's first championship win in any international football tournament.

1950 World Cup

In the 1950 World Cup
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

, the Swedish football association did not allow any professional Swedish football players to take part. Sweden consequently 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 game, Sweden beat the Italians, 3–2, in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

. The second game 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 host nation, Brazil. It was played at the Maracanã
Estádio do Maracanã
The Estádio do Maracanã , officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final...

 with a total attendance of more than 138,000, to this day the record attendance for the Swedish national team. The game ended 7–1 to Brazil and it is rumored that almost everyone in the Brazilian audience waved the Swedes good bye 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 (34') and Karl-Erik Palmér
Karl-Erik Palmér
Karl-Erik Palmér, also known as Calle Palmér is a retired Swedish professional football player.-External links:*...

 (79'). Sweden finished 3rd in the group and took their first World Cup medal.

1958 World Cup

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
1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

. 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
Råsunda Fotbollstadion, also Råsundastadion, Råsunda Stadium or just Råsunda, is a Swedish national football stadium. It is located in Solna Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm and named after Råsunda, a zone of Solna.-History:...

, Solna
Solna Municipality
Solna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....

, 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 Hamrin
Kurt Roland Hamrin is a former Swedish footballer. He is currently the seventh highest goalscorer of all-time in Italy's Serie A with 190 goals. He was best known as goal scoring winger with incredible dribbling ability.-Career:Hamrin first played for AIK in Sweden, whom he joined in the 1952-53...

. In the next match, against Wales, Sweden drew 0–0.

Making it through to the quarter-final, playing at Råsunda for the fourth time in this tournament, Sweden were up against the USSR
USSR national football team
The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

 and won 2–0.

The semifinal at Ullevi
Ullevi
Ullevi is a stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. The stadium was built for the 1958 FIFA World Cup, but since then Ullevi has also hosted the 1995 World Championships in Athletics and the 2006 European Championships in Athletics, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals in 1983 and 1990, the UEFA Euro 1992...

, Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

, 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
Erich Juskowiak
Erich Juskowiak was a former football player for the German national team between 1951 and 1959. He earned 31 caps and 4 goals for Germany. His position was left back...

 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
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

 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. 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 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 quarterfinal, 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.

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 #4 Uruguay, and did not advance to the elimination round, however. The winner of Sweden's group was eventual world runner-up Italy.

1974 World Cup

In the qualification of the 1974 FIFA World Cup
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

, 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
Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....

, and advanced to the World Cup finals in Germany.

The group Sweden drew into included Uruguay, the 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
Roland Sandberg
Roland Sandberg is a former Swedish footballer.He started his career at Swedish club Åtvidabergs FF, and moved to German club 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1973. During his four years there he played 118 matches and scored 61 goals...

 (74') and Ralf Edström
Ralf Edström
Ralf Sigvard Edström is a former Swedish footballer.Starting his career in Degerfors IF, a club known to produce many young talents, Edström moved to Åtvidabergs FF and became national champion in 1972....

 (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
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

, in order to finish second in the group.

The game against West Germany was played in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

 with an attendance of 66,500 people. The Swedish 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 equalizer 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.

1979–1990

After the successful 70's, reaching all three World Cups. Sweden changed their coach from Georg "Åby" Ericson
Georg Ericson
Georg 'Åby' Ericson , also nicknamed Jojje, was a Swedish football player and coach.During his playing career he played for IFK Norrköping in the 1940s. Later he became a coach with IFK Norrköping, and led the Sweden national football team to two FIFA World Cups: 1974 and 1978.-External links:*...

 to Lars "Laban" Arnesson
Lars Arnesson
Lars "Laban" Arnesson was the coach of the Sweden national football team from 1980 to 1986.Arnesson had great success as a trainer for Östers IF and got the job as coach for the national team 1980. He didn't take the team to any World Cup, and resigned in 1986.He also played for Djurgårdens IF in...

. Arnesson had been a successful coach for Östers IF
Östers IF
Östers IF is a Swedish football club located in Växjö. The club, formed 20 April 1930 , is currently playing in the second Swedish league called Superettan. In 1968, Öster won Allsvenskan as newcomers. The club is affiliated to the Smålands Fotbollförbund...

 before becoming national coach. After the failed qualification for the '86 World Cup, Olle Nordin
Olle Nordin
Olle Nordin is a Swedish football coach and former player. He was capped 19 times for the national team and played at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, but he is best remembered for his coaching merits. As national team coach, he led Sweden to the 1990 FIFA World Cup — its first World Cup since Nordin...

 took over the team. Sweden failed to qualify for every World Cup and European Championship during the 1980s, but 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.

1992 European Championship

As the host of the 1992 European Championship, Sweden played in their first European Championship tournament. They were drawn in the group 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 2–3. The place in the semi-final is Sweden's best result in a European Championship to date.

1994 World Cup

Sweden qualified for the World Cup
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

 at the top of their qualifying group ahead of Bulgaria. Sweden was placed in Group B with Brazil, Cameroon, and Russia. The first game against Cameroon looked to be yet another 1–2 loss, (after the 1990 World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

 fiasco with losses of 1–2 in all three games), but in the 75th minute Martin Dahlin
Martin Dahlin
Martin Nathaniel Dahlin is a former Swedish football player.-Early life:He is the son of an Afro-Venezuelan father, who was a musician, and a Swedish mother who both decided to name him after Martin Luther King. He was born in Uddevalla, but lived as a child in Lund.-Career:In 1988, he became the...

 scored the equalizer from a rebound shot off of Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

 and the match finished 2–2. In the next game against Russia, Russia was handed an early penalty and made it 1–0. Sweden managed to come back, with a penalty goal from Tomas Brolin
Tomas Brolin
Per Tomas Brolin is a Swedish former professional football player who had a successful period with A.C. Parma during the early nineties winning the 1992 Coppa Italia, the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup, the 1993 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 UEFA Cup.Brolin also played for the Swedish national team,...

 and two goals from Martin Dahlin the final result was written 1–3. In the last group stage match against Brazil, they tied 1–1 after goals by Kennet Andersson
Kennet Andersson
Bernt Kennet Andersson is a Swedish former football player and a key member of the Swedish national team that finished third in the 1994 World Cup....

 ('23) and Romário
Romário
Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown...

 ('47).

In the first knockout stage match, Sweden faced Saudi Arabia and won 3–1 after two goals from Kennet Andersson and one from Martin Dahlin. The quarter-final match against Romania has become a memorable match for Swedish football fans. After Sweden had scored late in the second half, Romania managed to equalize in the dying minutes of the match, sending it into extra time. Romania's Florin Raducioiu
Florin Raducioiu
Florin Valeriu Răducioiu is a former Romanian football striker, who played for Dinamo Bucureşti, A.C. Milan, Brescia Calcio, West Ham United, RCD Espanyol, VfB Stuttgart and A.S...

 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
Håkan Mild
Stig Håkan Mild is a former Swedish football midfielder and current director of sports of IFK Göteborg, his main club as player, with which he won four Swedish Championships...

 of Sweden, but Thomas Ravelli
Thomas Ravelli
Thomas Ravelli is a retired Swedish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His 21-year professional career was almost exclusively associated with Öster and Göteborg, for whom he amassed Allsvenskan totals of 430 games....

 managed to save two penalties from Dan Petrescu
Dan Petrescu
Daniel Vasile Petrescu is a Romanian football manager and former player, currently the manager of Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League....

 and Miodrag Belodedici
Miodrag Belodedici
Miodrag Belodedici is a Romanian former football player.Nicknamed The deer due to his elegant tackles, he won the European Cup twice, in 1986 with Steaua Bucureşti and 1991 with Red Star Belgrade, thus becoming the first player to win the trophy with two different clubs...

 giving Sweden the win and making himself a hero. Sweden went through to face Brazil in the semi-finals. 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 Bulgaria who had lost to Italy in their semi-final match. Sweden scored 4 goals in the first half, but the second half went goal-less. Sweden won the bronze medal, the best placing for the national team in a World Cup play-off since the 1958 silver medal. This led Sweden to the second place of the FIFA World Rankings
FIFA World Rankings
The FIFA World Rankings is a ranking system for men's national teams in association football, currently led by Spain. The teams of the member nations of FIFA , football's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results with the most successful teams being ranked highest...

 for one month, in November 1994.

They finished as the top scorers of the tournament, with 15 goals.

2000 European Championships

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 against the host Belgium 1–2. Johan Mjällby
Johan Mjällby
Johan Mjällby is a Swedish former footballer. He made his debut for the national team in 1997, and played 49 matches and scored 4 goals as a defender or midfielder. Mjällby was the team captain during the 2002 World Cup. He also took part in Euro 2000 and Euro 2004...

 scored the goal for Sweden in the 53rd minute after a mess-up by the Belgian goalkeeper Filip De Wilde
Filip De Wilde
Filip Alfons de Wilde is a retired Belgian football goalkeeper, who played mainly with R.S.C. Anderlecht.-Club career:...

 while Belgium won via goals from Bart Goor
Bart Goor
Bart Goor is a Belgian football left winger currently playing for Westerlo.-Geel:Goor began his professional career representing K.F.C. Verbroedering Geel in 1991 having risen through the club's youth ranks...

 in the 43rd minute and Emile Mpenza
Émile Mpenza
Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza is a Belgian footballer who plays for Neftchi Baku as a striker. He has been capped at international level by Belgium. His older brother, Mbo, was also a footballer who represented Belgium....

 in the 46th one. Then Sweden played 0–0 against Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...

 and lost 2–1 to Italy. The goal was scored by Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

 while Italy won via goals from Luigi Di Biagio
Luigi Di Biagio
Luigi Di Biagio , is an Italian former football defensive midfielder, who last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 .Di Biagio was born in Rome. Prior to joining Ascoli, he played for Lazio , Monza , Foggia , Roma , Internazionale , and Brescia Calcio . He was capped 31 times for Italy, scoring two goals...

 and Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain....

. Sweden finished the group last behind Belgium with only 1 point. Italy finished first and Turkey second.

2002 World Cup

Sweden was part of the Group of Death, Group F also including big favourites Argentina, England and Nigeria. The first match was against England. Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's...

 gave England the lead in the first half by heading in a left side corner from David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...

. In the second half, Sweden took over completely and dominated the game, creating numerous chances. The equalizing goal was scored by midfielder Niclas Alexandersson, a powerful left-foot shot from outside the box past David Seaman
David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury...

. This gave the result 1–1. In the next game, Sweden played Nigeria. Julius Aghahowa gave Nigeria the lead by heading in a cross from the right. But Sweden managed to equalize with a fine goal by Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

. 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, Sweden played Argentina, who needed to win after losing 0–1 to England in the previous game. However, midfielder Anders Svensson scored a great freekick goal from 30 meters. Andreas Andersson
Andreas Andersson
Andreas Claes Andersson is a Swedish footballer. He retired in 2005, but has started playing for lower league side FC Andrea Doria in Sweden. He was capped 42 times and scored 8 goals for Sweden, and he played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup...

 then had a shot off the crossbar and out. Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson is a Swedish former professional football player, who played as a midfielder for Swedish club Djurgårdens IF in the Allsvenskan championship...

 committed a foul in the penalty area and Argentina got a penalty. Ariel Ortega shot straight on Magnus Hedman
Magnus Hedman
Magnus Carl Hedman is a Swedish former football goalkeeper. He played 58 matches for the Sweden national football team, and represented his country at two FIFA World Cup and two European Championship tournaments....

, the Swedish keeper, but Hernán Crespo
Hernán Crespo
Hernán Jorge Crespo is an Argentine footballer who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A. Crespo has scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 18 years. His honors include an Olympic Games silver medal, a Copa Libertadores, an English Premier League title and three Scudettos. He was topscorer in...

 rushed into the box and shot the rebound from Hedman between the keepers legs. This was a controversial goal because Crespo began running into the box at the same time as Ortega stepped up to shot. 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, Sweden played Senegal. Henrik Larsson gave Sweden an early lead by heading in a corner from Anders Svensson. But Senegal equalized through Henri Camara
Henri Camara
Henri Camara is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a striker for Greek Superleague side Panetolikos.-Early career:Camara was born in Dakar to a Guinean father and a Senegalese mother...

. Senegal also had a goal disallowed for offside. The game came to sudden death golden goal. Rising star Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 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 Senegals keeper Tony Sylva
Tony Sylva
Tony Mario Sylva is a Senegalese footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently unattached. Sylva has played for AC Ajaccio, AS Monaco, Lille and Trabzonspor.- AS Monaco :...

. Ibrahimović had Larsson and Svensson in excellent positions for a pass, but shot instead. Then Anders Svensson made a great spin past a defender and hit the post with a powerful shot. Sylva had no chance of saving that strike. Henri Camara then took a weak shot which went past Hedman, off the post and went into the goal. Consequently, Sweden were eliminated.

UEFA Euro 2004

Sweden came into the tournament in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 with low expectations. But after a dazzling 5–0 win against Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 they became one of the favorites. Fredrik Ljungberg began the goal-fest after a well done pass by Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

. Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

 scored 2–0 and 3–0 in the second half. His first goal was done by a nice header after that he received a perfectly taken crossball by Erik Edman
Erik Edman
Erik Edman, is a Swedish footballer, currently playing for Helsingborgs IF. He is a left back, but has also established himself as a centre back.-Early career:...

. 4–0 was scored by Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 on a penalty and the substitute Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Christian Allbäck , is a Swedish legend and coach, who currently is assistant coach for the Sweden national football team and plays as striker for the Division 1 Södra club Örgryte IS. He is a well-travelled striker known for his sharp finishing ability...

 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 they were set up against Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, who would prove themselves as a very hard opponent. After 36 minutes Antonio Cassano
Antonio Cassano
Antonio Cassano is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan as a striker. Nicknamed Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia , he is known for his short temper as much as his ability on the pitch, which led to the coining of the neologism Cassanata by his former coach, Fabio Capello, in November...

 scored the first goal of the game for Italy after a cross by Christian Panucci
Christian Panucci
Christian Panucci is a retired Italian footballer. He was a member of the Italian national team. Panucci is a right back, but can also play as a centre back.-Early career:...

. A great game by Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson
Andreas Isaksson
Andreas Isaksson is a Swedish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven and for the Swedish national team.-Club career:...

 made Sweden survive the rest of the game and after 84 minutes Sweden finally managed to score a goal. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 made an amazing backheel shot which found the back of the net.

Sweden's last game of the group was held against Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. 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 a long time. But at the end of the game, Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson
Mattias Jonson is a Swedish former professional football player, who played as a midfielder for Swedish club Djurgårdens IF in the Allsvenskan championship...

 scored the equalizer after a dozen of rebounds. Italy was eliminated and both Denmark and Sweden was qualified for the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Sweden had to face Holland. The game became goalless after full time, but not without a lot of chances. The closest Sweden came to scoring was through Fredrik Ljungberg
Fredrik Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a right winger for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan. Ljungberg was captain of the Swedish national team until he announced his international retirement after UEFA Euro 2008.Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear...

 but he hit the post with a well taken shot. But the game was ended goalless in normal time and went to a penalty shootout. After a long run of penalties were taken, it was Olof Mellberg
Olof Mellberg
Erik Olof Mellberg is a Swedish international footballer currently playing for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague. He generally plays as a central defender or right-back.-Early years:...

's turn to take a shot. The Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar OON is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AFC Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history...

 saved Mellberg's shot and Holland won the game. Sweden was eliminated and Holland was through to the next round.

2006 World Cup

Sweden competed in Group B
2006 FIFA World Cup - Group B
Play in Group B of the 2006 FIFA World Cup completed on 20 June 2006. England won the group, and advanced to the second round, along with Sweden. Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago failed to advance.Detailed results of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Group B...

 at the 2006 World Cup. Their squad for the tournament features players who play club football in eleven different nations.
Sweden started the World Cup slowly, recording a scoreless tie against unheralded Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago national football team
The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed The Soca Warriors, is the national team of Trinidad and Tobago and is run by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation. It reached the first round of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals...

, despite playing with a one-man advantage for most of the game. The second game, against Paraguay
Paraguay national football team
The Paraguay national football team is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association and represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions. The team has reached the second round of the World Cup on four occasions . The 2010 trip also featured their first appearance in the...

, looked to be another goal-less draw until Fredrik Ljungberg
Fredrik Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a right winger for Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan. Ljungberg was captain of the Swedish national team until he announced his international retirement after UEFA Euro 2008.Ljungberg was a model for Calvin Klein underwear...

 scored in the 89th minute to give Sweden a 1–0 victory. Sweden then rallied to tie England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

, 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 a 2–0 defeat to the host team, Germany
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

.

2008 European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Sweden finished second in Group F behind Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...

, thus qualifying for the finals. The campaign included an abandoned match away to Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

, for which Sweden were awarded a 3–0 win by UEFA.

In their first match in Euro 2008, they beat the reigning European champions, Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...

, by a score of 2–0 with goals from Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 and Petter Hansson
Petter Hansson
Petter Hansson ; born December 14, 1976 in Söderhamn) is a Swedish footballer who is currently playing in the French Ligue 2 at AS Monaco.- Söderhamns FF and Halmstads BK :...

. Their next game was against Spain, who they played in qualifying. The game looked like a draw until a 92nd minute strike from David Villa
David Villa
David Villa Sánchez , nicknamed , is a Spanish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. He can also operate as a winger....

, which put the Spaniards ahead. In the final group match, the Swedes went on to lose 2–0 to the Russians, eliminating them from the tournament.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
The qualification competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament...

 ended disastrously for Sweden. In the first game in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...

, 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
Kim Källström
Kim Källström is a left-footed Swedish midfielder playing for the Swedish national team and Olympique Lyonnais.-Early career:Källström's first professional club in Sweden was BK Häcken from Gothenburg but his big breakthrough in Sweden came when he moved to Djurgårdens IF in 2002, where he won the...

 and Samuel Holmén
Samuel Holmén
Samuel Holmén is a Swedish professional football midfielder, currently playing for the Turkish League side İstanbul BB.-Elfsborg:...

. They would go on to tie with Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 twice, both in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 and in Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...

. Both games ended 0–0. Sweden would lose to Denmark on home ground with a early strike from Thomas Kahlenberg
Thomas Kahlenberg
Thomas Kahlenberg is a Danish footballer, who plays as an attacking midfielder for German team Wolfsburg. He started his career with Brøndby IF, winning two Danish Superliga championship, and played four seasons at French club AJ Auxerre...

 after a defensive mistake. Sweden had defeated Denmark, 3–0, 2 years earlier. 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
Parken Stadium
Parken Stadium is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990–1992. It currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home ground of F.C. Københaven and the Danish national football team...

 in Copenhagen after a late goal from Jakob Poulsen
Jakob Poulsen
Jakob Bendix Uhd Poulsen is a Danish professional football player in the midfielder position, playing for FC Midtjylland. Poulsen started his senior career with Esbjerg fB, before moving to Dutch side SC Heerenveen in 2006. He joined AGF Aarhus in the summer of 2008...

. Meanwhile, Portugal defeated Hungary, 3–0, putting the Portuguese team ahead in the standings. Sweden would hammer Albania, 4–1; however, Sweden was eliminated by Portugal's 4–0 defeat of Malta. Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player, currently managing Iceland....

 resigned and Erik Hamrén was appointed the next head coach.

Euro 2012 qualifiers

Sweden's Euro 2012 campaign with their new coach, Erik Hamrén, started well with two consecutive wins in Group E
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group E
This page shows the standings and results for Group E of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament.-Standings:*Note: Sweden qualified directly for the finals as the best runners-up.- Results and fixtures :...

 against Hungary
Hungary national football team
The Hungary national football team represents Hungary in international football and is controlled by the Hungarian Football Federation....

 and San Marino
San Marino national football team
The San Marino national football team is the national football team of San Marino, controlled by the San Marino Football Federation...

. 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 Chişinău 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 stall as head coach. The Swedish 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.

Supporters

Swedish supporters showed up first during the 1912 Summer Olympics, where they chanted "Heja Sverige Friskt humör, det är det som susen gör" (roughly meaning "Go 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 Sweden had one of the largest group of supporters during a tournament, especially during the group stage match against Paraguay with around 50,000 Swedish supporters in attendance, plus an additional 50,000 fans watching the game outside the stadium. The Swedish fans were also voted the best fans during the 2006 World Cup, due to their massive numbers, friendly attitude and love for the game.

Stadium

The Swedish national stadium is called the Råsunda Fotbollsstadion
Råsunda Stadium
Råsunda Fotbollstadion, also Råsundastadion, Råsunda Stadium or just Råsunda, is a Swedish national football stadium. It is located in Solna Municipality in Metropolitan Stockholm and named after Råsunda, a zone of Solna.-History:...

, but it will be replaced in 2012 by the new national stadium Swedbank Arena.
According to FIFA, Råsunda Stadion is a classic stadium, one of only two stadiums in the world, the other one being the Rose Bowl Stadium
Rose Bowl (stadium)
The Rose Bowl is an outdoor athletic stadium in Pasadena, California, U.S., in Los Angeles County. The stadium is the site of the annual college football bowl game, the Rose Bowl, held on New Year's Day. In 1982, it became the home field of the UCLA Bruins college football team of the Pac-12...

 in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, which hosted both the men's and women's World Cup final (1958 FIFA World Cup final
1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

 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 Swedish football.
The stadium was expanded during 1937, to a capacity of 40000 people.
The stadium was used for the football tournament in the 1912 Summer Olympics held in Stockholm, and hosted 8 games during the FIFA World Cup 1958. In the UEFA European Championship in 1992, the stadium hosted 4 games and in the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup it hosted only the final game. But Råsunda stadium is still the only stadium in Scandinavia that has hosted 4 big tournaments.
Ullevi in Gothenburg is used for some games which Sweden plays, such as the 100 years celebration game of the Swedish football association, against England in 2004.
Even other stadiums, such as Malmö stadion in Malmö, are used for the national team.

FIFA World Cup Record

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
  1930
1930 FIFA World Cup
The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 July to 30 July 1930...

Did not enter
  1934
1934 FIFA World Cup
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

Quarter Final 8 2 1 0 1 4 4
  1938
1938 FIFA World Cup
The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.-Host selection:...

Fourth place 4 3 1 0 2 11 9
  1950
1950 FIFA World Cup
The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

Third place 3 5 2 1 2 11 15
  1954
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...

Did not qualify
  1958
1958 FIFA World Cup
The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

Runners-up 2 6 4 1 1 12 7
  1962
1962 FIFA World Cup
The 1962 FIFA World Cup, the seventh staging of the World Cup, was held in Chile from 30 May to 17 June. It was won by Brazil, who retained the championship by beating Czechoslovakia 3–1 in the final...

Did not qualify
  1966
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...

  1970
1970 FIFA World Cup
The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...

Group Stage 9 3 1 1 1 2 2
  1974
1974 FIFA World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup, the tenth staging of the World Cup, was held in West Germany from 13 June to 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the current trophy, the FIFA World Cup Trophy, created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, was awarded...

Group Stage 2 5 6 2 2 2 7 6
  1978
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

Group Stage 1 13 3 0 1 2 1 3
  1982
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

Did not qualify
  1986
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

  1990
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

Group Stage 21 3 0 0 3 3 6
  1994
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

Third place 3 7 3 3 1 15 8
  1998
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

Did not qualify
   2002
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...

Round of 16 13 4 1 2 1 5 5
  2006
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

Round of 16 14 4 1 2 1 3 4
  2010
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

Did not qualify
Total 11/19 46 16 13 17 74 69

UEFA European Championship Record

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
  1960 Did not enter
  1964 Did not qualify
  1968
  1972
  1976
  1980
  1984
  1988
  1992 Semi Final 4 4 2 1 1 6 5
  1996 Did not qualify
   2000 Group Stage 14 3 0 1 2 2 4
  2004 Quarter Final 7 4 1 3 0 8 3
   2008 Group Stage 9 3 1 0 2 3 4
   2012 Qualified 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5/16 14 4 5 5 19 16

Olympic Games

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
  1908
Football at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Bohemia were forced to withdraw before the tournament started after losing their FIFA membership.-Semi-finals:-Bronze medal match:The French were so shocked by their humiliating 17-1 defeat against Denmark that they declined to play for the bronze medal; therefore, the Netherlands played Sweden for...

Fourth place 4 2 0 0 2 1 14
  1912
Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics
Football at the 1912 Summer Olympics was one of the 102 events at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. It was the fourth time football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested between 11 nations, all of them from Europe, with Great Britain winning the gold medals...

Round of 16 9 2 0 0 2 3 5
  1920
Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
The football at the 1920 Summer Olympics, was one of the 154 events at the 1920 Summer Olympics, held in Antwerp. It was the fifth time football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested by 14 teams, with host country Belgium winning the gold medals...

Quarter Finals 6 3 1 0 2 14 7
  1924
Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the Football tournament winning the Gold.-Amateur Status:In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work; in the months that followed four other Associations permitted similar...

Third place 3 5 3 1 1 18 5
  1928
Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics
Football at the 1928 Summer Olympics tournament, won by Uruguay against Argentina, would be the precursor to the first FIFA World Cup held in 1930 in Uruguay.-Medalists:-Background:...

Did not enter
  1936
Football at the 1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Olympic football tournament, won by Italy, has come to share an affinity with the political backdrop against which it was being played; in terms of the history of football, however, the tournament suffered as a reaction to the development of the FIFA World Cup.The introduction of the first...

Round of 16 9 1 0 0 1 2 3
  1948
Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Olympic Games title was won by Sweden, managed by Englishman George Raynor.-Summary:Sweden, whose Football Association forbade professionalism within domestic football, ran out as winners and only used 12 players throughout the entire tournament but there were exceptional performances put...

Champions 1 4 4 0 0 22 3
  1952
Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Olympic football tournament signalled the arrival of the 'Golden Team'; the 'Magical Magyars': Hungary. Ferenc Puskás, the great Hungarian known as the 'Galloping Major' for his military title, said of the 1952 competition: "It was during the Olympics that our football first started to...

Third place 3 4 3 0 1 9 8
  1956
Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Olympic Games football tournament with just 11 competing nations suffered from cancellations. It was an undistinguished tournament that featured mis-matches and walkovers.-Background:...

Did not enter
  1960
Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics
The football tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics was held from 26 August to 10 September in 1960 throughout Italy.-Venues:-Medalists:-Group A:---------------------Group B:---------------------Group C:--------...

  1964
Football at the 1964 Summer Olympics
The football competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics started on October 11 and ended on October 23. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested...

Did not qualify
  1968
Football at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Final results for the football competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics.-Medalists:-Group A:-------------------------Group B:-------------------------Group C:Ghana replaced Morocco, who refused to play Israel.----...

Did not enter
  1972
Football at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Final results for the Football competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Augsburg, Ingolstadt, Nürnberg, Passau, and Regensburg.-Medalists:-Group A: ---- -----------------Group B: ---- ----------------...

  1976
Football at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Final results for the Football competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and Sherbrooke. Groups A, C and D had only three teams instead of four, as Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia national teams adhered to African-led boycott of the Games against the participation of New...

  1980
Football at the 1980 Summer Olympics
thumb|right|Official Programme of the match [[USSR]] vs [[Venezuela]]The football tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics started on July 20 and ended on August 2. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested...

  1984
Football at the 1984 Summer Olympics
The football tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics started on July 29 and ended on August 11. It featured only a men's tournament, as women's football had yet to become an Olympic event. It was the first Olympic football competition in which professionals were allowed...

  1988
Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Final results for the football competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The tournament was held from September 17, 1988 to October 1, 1988.-Medal summary:...

Quarter Finals 6 4 2 1 1 7 5
Total 8/17 25 13 2 10 76 50


After the 1988 Olympics, the football event was changed into a tournament for U23 or U21 teams with a maximum of three older players.

Nordic Football Championship

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
1924–28 Runners-up 2 10 6 1 3 31 19
1929–32 Runners-up 2 12 6 1 5 35 31
1933–36 Champions 1 12 7 2 3 31 22
1937–47 Champions 1 12 9 0 3 41 16
1948–51
1948-51 Nordic Football Championship
The 1948–51 Nordic Football Championship was the fifth Nordic Football Championship staged. Four Nordic countries participated: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Sweden won the tournament, its third Nordic Championship win...

Champions 1 12 7 2 3 36 22
1952–55 Champions 1 12 8 4 0 44 14
1956–59 Champions 1 12 9 2 1 45 17
1960–63 Champions 1 12 7 3 2 24 10
1964–67 Champions 1 12 5 4 3 22 14
1968–71 Champions 1 12 10 2 0 32 10
1972–77 Champions 1 12 8 2 2 24 9
1978–80
1978-80 Nordic Football Championship
The 1978–80 Nordic Football Championship was the 12th Nordic Football Championship staged. Four Nordic countries participated: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Denmark won the tournament, its second Nordic Championship win.-1978:-1979:...

Runners-up 2 6 3 0 3 7 6
1981–83
1981-83 Nordic Football Championship
The 1981–83 Nordic Football Championship was the 13th Nordic Football Championship staged. Four Nordic countries participated: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden...

Runners-up 2 5 2 1 2 6 4
2000–01 Fifth place 5 5 1 2 2 3 4
Total 14/14 146 88 26 32 381 198

Minor tournaments

Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
  1939 DBU 50 years
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...

Semi Finals 3 1 0 0 1 0 1
   1947 FBF 40 years
Football Association of Finland
The Football Association of Finland is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in 1907, and was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until the bandy association, Suomen Jääpalloliitto, was founded in 1972....

Winners 1 2 2 0 0 11 2
  1952 NFF 50 years
Football Association of Norway
The Football Association of Norway is the governing body of football in Norway. Current FIFA World Champions It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the Norwegian Premier League.The team are enjoying their best ever spell thanks to World Player of the...

Runners-up 2 2 1 0 1 3 3
  1954 SFF 50 years
Swedish Football Association
The Swedish Football Association is the governing body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA...

Winners 1 2 2 0 0 9 0
  1957 FBF 50 years
Football Association of Finland
The Football Association of Finland is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in 1907, and was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until the bandy association, Suomen Jääpalloliitto, was founded in 1972....

Winners 1 2 1 1 0 5 1
  1988 Maspalomas
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

Winners 1 2 2 0 0 5 1
  1988 West Berlin Tourn.
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

Winners 1 2 1 1 0 3 1
  1989 DBU 100 years
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Association is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in the city of Brøndby and is a founding member of both FIFA...

Runners-up 2 2 1 0 1 2 7
  1991 Scania 100
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

Third place 3 2 1 0 1 6 3
  1994 Joe Robbie Cup
Joe Robbie Cup
The Joe Robbie Cup was a United States Soccer Federation sponsored invitational tournament held in Miami, Florida in February 1994. All four nations used the tournament as preparation for the 1994 FIFA World Cup to be held later that year in the United States....

Winners 1 2 1 1 0 3 1
    1994 Nordic Cup
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

Winners 1 2 1 0 1 2 1
  1995 Umbro Cup
Umbro Cup
The Umbro Cup was a minor international football competition, which took place in the summer of 1995 in England. The trophy was sponsored by the sports brand Umbro, and two of the participating teams had their kits manufactured by them....

Third place 3 3 0 2 1 5 6
1996 Carlsberg Cup Winners 1 2 1 1 0 2 1
  1997 King's Cup
King's Cup
The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. It has been played annually since 1968, with the exception of 1983, 1985 and 2008. In some years, the competition has featured club or invitational teams as well as international sides....

Winners 1 4 3 1 0 6 1
  2001 King's Cup
King's Cup
The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. It has been played annually since 1968, with the exception of 1983, 1985 and 2008. In some years, the competition has featured club or invitational teams as well as international sides....

Winners 1 4 2 2 0 9 3
  2003 King's Cup
King's Cup
The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. It has been played annually since 1968, with the exception of 1983, 1985 and 2008. In some years, the competition has featured club or invitational teams as well as international sides....

Winners 1 4 3 1 0 12 4
  2004 Carlsberg Cup
2004 Carlsberg Cup
The 2004 Lunar New Year Cup was a football tournament held in Hong Kong over the first and fourth day of the Chinese New Year holiday ....

Third place 3 2 1 0 1 3 3
  2010 King's Cup
2010 King's Cup
The 40th King's Cup finals was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 17 January until 23 January. The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. This edition featured four teams and reverted back to a round robin group stage....

Withdrew
  2011 Cyprus Cup
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

Runners-up 2 2 1 1 0 3 1
Total 42 24 11 7 89 40

  • Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks
    Penalty shootout (football)
    A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...

    .
    • Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Major titles

  • FIFA World Cup
    FIFA World Cup
    The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

  • Runner-up (1): 1958
    1958 FIFA World Cup
    The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 June to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. To date, this marks the only occasion that a World Cup staged in Europe was not won by a European...

  • Third place (2): 1950
    1950 FIFA World Cup
    The 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July, was the fourth FIFA World Cup. It was the first World Cup since 1938, the planned 1942 and 1946 competitions having been canceled owing to World War II...

    , 1994
    1994 FIFA World Cup
    The 1994 FIFA World Cup, the 15th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in nine cities across the United States from June 17 to July 17, 1994. The United States was chosen as the host by FIFA on July 4, 1988...

  • Fourth place (1): 1938
    1938 FIFA World Cup
    The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third staging of the World Cup, and was held in France from 4 June to 19 June. Italy retained the championship, beating Hungary 4–2 in the final.-Host selection:...


  • UEFA European Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

  • Semi-finals (1): 1992

  • Olympic football tournament
    Football at the Summer Olympics
    Association football, usually known simply as football or soccer, has been included in every Olympiad except 1896 and 1932 as a men's competition sport. Women's football was added to the official programme in 1996.-Early history:...

  • Gold Medal (1): 1948
    Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
    The 1948 Olympic Games title was won by Sweden, managed by Englishman George Raynor.-Summary:Sweden, whose Football Association forbade professionalism within domestic football, ran out as winners and only used 12 players throughout the entire tournament but there were exceptional performances put...

  • Bronze Medal (2): 1924
    Football at the 1924 Summer Olympics
    At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, Uruguay dominated the Football tournament winning the Gold.-Amateur Status:In 1921, the Belgium Football Association first allowed for payments to players for time lost from work; in the months that followed four other Associations permitted similar...

    , 1952
    Football at the 1952 Summer Olympics
    The 1952 Olympic football tournament signalled the arrival of the 'Golden Team'; the 'Magical Magyars': Hungary. Ferenc Puskás, the great Hungarian known as the 'Galloping Major' for his military title, said of the 1952 competition: "It was during the Olympics that our football first started to...


Minor titles

  • Nordic Football Championship
    Nordic Football Championship
    The Nordic Football Championship was an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of the Nordic countries...

  • Winners (9): 1933–36, 1937–47, 1948–51
    1948-51 Nordic Football Championship
    The 1948–51 Nordic Football Championship was the fifth Nordic Football Championship staged. Four Nordic countries participated: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Sweden won the tournament, its third Nordic Championship win...

    , 1952–55, 1956–59, 1960–63, 1964–67, 1968–71, 1972–77

  • 1947 FBF 40 years
    Football Association of Finland
    The Football Association of Finland is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in 1907, and was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until the bandy association, Suomen Jääpalloliitto, was founded in 1972....

  • Winners (1): 1947

  • 1954 SFF 50 years
    Swedish Football Association
    The Swedish Football Association is the governing body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA...

  • Winners (1): 1954

  • 1957 FBF 50 years
    Football Association of Finland
    The Football Association of Finland is the governing body of football in Finland. It was founded in 1907, and was also the governing body of bandy in Finland until the bandy association, Suomen Jääpalloliitto, was founded in 1972....

  • Winners (1): 1957

  • Maspalomas
    Exhibition game
    An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

  • Winners (1): 1988

  • West Berlin Tourn.
    Exhibition game
    An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

  • Winners (1): 1988

  • Joe Robbie Cup
    Joe Robbie Cup
    The Joe Robbie Cup was a United States Soccer Federation sponsored invitational tournament held in Miami, Florida in February 1994. All four nations used the tournament as preparation for the 1994 FIFA World Cup to be held later that year in the United States....

  • Winners (1): 1994

  • Nordic Cup
    Exhibition game
    An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

  • Winners (1): 1994

  • Carlsberg Cup
  • Winners (1): 1996

  • King's Cup
    King's Cup
    The King's Cup is an international football competition held in Thailand. It has been played annually since 1968, with the exception of 1983, 1985 and 2008. In some years, the competition has featured club or invitational teams as well as international sides....

  • Winners (3): 1996, 2001, 2003

All-time team record

The following table shows Sweden's all-time international record, correct as of 2 September 2011.
Against Played Won Drawn* Lost GF GA GD
5 3 1 1 10 5 +5
4 3 1 0 9 1 +8
2 1 1 0 4 3 +1
5 1 2 2 2 2 0
32 12 5 15 50 47 +3
2 2 0 0 4 0 +4
1 1 0 0 4 0 +4
3 3 0 0 8 2 +6
13 5 2 6 30 20 +10
1 1 0 0 4 2 +2
1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
14 2 3 9 17 32 −15
14 10 2 2 26 8 +18
1 0 1 0 2 2 0
1 0 1 0 1 1 0
2 1 1 0 5 2 +3
2 0 2 0 2 2 0
2 1 0 1 2 2 0
3 0 0 3 1 4 −3
1 1 0 0 8 0 +8
6 5 1 0 19 3 +16
2 1 1 0 5 4 +1
16 3 4 9 21 36 −15
1 0 0 1 0 1 −1
103 45 18 40 183 173 +10
6 2 1 3 8 9 −1
2 0 1 1 2 3 −1
4 2 0 2 10 3 +7
23 6 9 8 27 47 −20
14 13 1 0 50 15 +35
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
84 64 11 9 287 93 +194
17 4 5 8 16 25 −9
22 9 4 9 37 40 −3
Great Britain
Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team
The Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic football team represents Great Britain and Northern Ireland in international football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three overage players...

 
1 0 0 1 1 12 −11
7 2 3 2 17 8 +9
45 16 11 18 77 91 −14
13 9 2 2 30 13 +17
12 7 4 1 26 9 +17
22 6 6 10 24 27 −3
2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
5 1 3 1 7 7 0
1 0 1 0 0 0 0
17 11 4 2 54 12 +42
2 2 0 0 6 1 +5
5 5 0 0 22 3 +19
4 3 1 0 7 1 +6
2 2 0 0 3 1 +2
1 1 0 0 3 1 +2
11 11 0 0 42 2 +40
9 4 3 2 8 5 +3
4 4 0 0 14 2 +12
1 1 0 0 2 1 +1
22 7 5 10 44 42 +2
2 2 0 0 5 2 +3
2 1 1 0 5 1 +4
7 3 1 3 7 10 −3
104 59 21 24 272 143 +129
1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
3 1 1 1 4 4 0
26 14 4 8 56 37 +19
15 6 6 3 24 14 +10
2 1 1 0 3 2 +1
8 4 1 3 14 12 +2
9 4 3 2 20 10 +10
6 3 2 1 11 7 +4
3 3 0 0 17 0 +17
3 2 1 0 6 3 +3
12 6 1 5 19 14 +5
1 0 0 1 1 2 −1
1 0 0 1 0 2 −2
1 1 0 0 5 0 +5
3 2 1 0 4 1 +3
1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
2 1 0 1 3 1 +2
  South Africa Development
South Africa national development football team
The South Africa national development football team, is a development football team, which represents South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association, the governing body for football in South Africa. The team's main objective is to give international exposure to fringe...

1 0 1 0 1 1 0
4 2 2 0 17 3 +14
18 5 6 7 21 37 −16
13 3 4 6 15 21 −6
28 10 7 11 46 42 +4
1 0 1 0 1 1 0
5 4 1 0 13 4 +9
2 1 1 0 5 0 +5
4 2 1 1 3 2 +1
8 2 4 2 9 8 +1
3 1 1 1 2 2 0
2 1 0 1 3 2 +1
8 4 0 4 13 10 +3
3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
1 0 0 1 0 2 −2
6 5 1 0 13 3 +10
13 4 4 5 18 21 −3
11 4 2 5 17 19 −2
Total 937 461 203 273 1925 1267 +658

  • Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks
    Penalty shootout (football)
    A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...

    .

Results by round

Fixtures

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

----

Goalscorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Tobias Hysén
Tobias Hysén
Glenn Tobias Hysén is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Allsvenskan side IFK Göteborg and the Swedish national team. He is the son of Glenn Hysén.-Early life:...

  IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg
IFK Göteborg is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, the club has won 18 national championship titles, five national cup titles, and two UEFA Cups....

4
2 Johan Elmander
Johan Elmander
Johan Erik Calvin Elmander is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Galatasaray and the Sweden national football team. He joined in a free transfer after his contract with English club Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League expired...

  Galatasaray
Galatasaray S.K. (football team)
Galatasaray Anonim Şirketi is a Turkish football club, part of the Galatasaray S.K. multi-sport club of Istanbul. Galatasaray is a major sports club in Turkey, holding 17 Turkish Super League titles and the highest number of Turkish Cups....

3
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

  Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

3
Kim Källström
Kim Källström
Kim Källström is a left-footed Swedish midfielder playing for the Swedish national team and Olympique Lyonnais.-Early career:Källström's first professional club in Sweden was BK Häcken from Gothenburg but his big breakthrough in Sweden came when he moved to Djurgårdens IF in 2002, where he won the...

  Lyon
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...

3
Sebastian Larsson
Sebastian Larsson
Sebastian Bengt Ulf Larsson is a Swedish footballer who plays for Premier League club Sunderland and the Sweden national team. Larsson is renowned for being a set piece specialist.-Arsenal:...

  Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...

3
Christian Wilhelmsson   Al-Ahly Doha 3
7 Alexander Gerndt
Alexander Gerndt
Alexander Gerndt is a Swedish footballer who currently plays as a striker for FC Utrecht of the Eredivisie. He is best known for his pace, hardworking attitude, skill on set pieces and always showing good character.-AIK:...

  Utrecht 2
Martin Olsson
Martin Olsson
Martin Tony Waikwa Olsson is a Swedish footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers and the Sweden national football team. He signed from Högaborgs BK for a nominal fee in January 2006 after a trial period.-Högaborgs BK:...

  Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

2
Ola Toivonen
Ola Toivonen
Ola Toivonen is a Swedish footballer who plays for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. He plays as a striker...

  PSV 2
10 Marcus Berg
Marcus Berg
Marcus Berg is a Swedish football striker who currently plays for German Bundesliga club Hamburger SV. He is nicknamed Svarte-Marcus due to scoring a lot of goals in the junior teams, in reference to Filip "Svarte-Filip" Johansson....

  Hamburg
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...

1
Emir Bajrami
Emir Bajrami
Emir Bajrami is a Swedish footballer of Kosovo Albanian descent playing for FC Twente and the Swedish national team. He scored his first Allsvenskan goal against Örebro SK in April 2007....

  Twente
FC Twente
FC Twente is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, playing in the Eredivisie. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Eredivisie Champions, Sportclub Enschede and Enschedese Boys...

1
Mikael Lustig
Mikael Lustig
Carl Mikael Lustig is a Swedish footballer playing for Rosenborg BK in the Norwegian Premier League. His favoured position is right back but due to his height he can also play as a central defender.-Early career:...

  Rosenborg 1
Anders Svensson   Elfsborg
IF Elfsborg
IF Elfsborg is a Swedish football club located in Borås. The club has won five national championship titles, the latest in 2006, and two national cup titles. Currently playing in the highest Swedish league, Allsvenskan. Elfsborg is based at Borås Arena...

1

Own goals

Player Club Own goals Playing against
Daniel Majstorović
Daniel Majstorovic
Daniel Majstorović is a Swedish footballer of Serbian origin who plays as a centre back for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Swedish national team....

  Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

1

UEFA Euro 2012

Current squad

The following 22 players were called up for the friendly matches
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...

 against Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 on 11 November 2011 and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 on 15 November 2011.


Not players who withdrew from the squad due to injury. Caps and goals updated as of 15 November 2011.
|-----
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|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |

|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |

Recent call-ups

The following 29 players have been selected by Sweden in the past 12 months. Only players available for call-up, not retired players.
|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
|-----
! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
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! colspan="9" bgcolor="#B0D3FB" align="left" |
|----- bgcolor="#DFEDFD"
|}

Previous squads

FIFA World Cup:
  • World Cup 1934 squad
  • World Cup 1938 squad
  • World Cup 1950 squad
  • World Cup 1958 squad
  • World Cup 1970 squad
  • World Cup 1974 squad
  • World Cup 1978 squad
  • World Cup 1990 squad
  • World Cup 1994 squad
  • World Cup 2002 squad
  • World Cup 2006 squad

Olympic Games:
  • Olympics 1908 squad
  • Olympics 1912 squad
  • Olympics 1920 squad
  • Olympics 1924 squad
  • Olympics 1936 squad
  • Olympics 1948 winning squad
  • Olympics 1952 squad
  • Olympics 1988 squad

UEFA European Championship:
  • Euro 1992 squad
  • Euro 2000 squad
  • Euro 2004 squad
  • Euro 2008 squad

Coaching staff

Head Coach  Sweden Erik Hamrén
Assistant Coach   Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Christian Allbäck , is a Swedish legend and coach, who currently is assistant coach for the Sweden national football team and plays as striker for the Division 1 Södra club Örgryte IS. He is a well-travelled striker known for his sharp finishing ability...

Goalkeeper Coach   Lars Eriksson
Lars Eriksson
Lars Eriksson is a former football goalkeeper from Sweden. He participated in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1994 FIFA World Cup and Euro 1992. He played for Hammarby, Norrköping, Charleroi and FC Porto.-International career:...

Players manager   Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Christian Allbäck , is a Swedish legend and coach, who currently is assistant coach for the Sweden national football team and plays as striker for the Division 1 Södra club Örgryte IS. He is a well-travelled striker known for his sharp finishing ability...

Team manager   Lars Richt

Top 10 most appearances (caps)

Players in bold text are still active with Sweden.
# Player Career Caps Goals
1 Thomas Ravelli
Thomas Ravelli
Thomas Ravelli is a retired Swedish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His 21-year professional career was almost exclusively associated with Öster and Göteborg, for whom he amassed Allsvenskan totals of 430 games....

1981–1997 143 0
2 Anders Svensson 1999– 123 18
3 Roland Nilsson
Roland Nilsson
Roland Nilsson is a Swedish football manager and the current manager of FC Copenhagen. As a player, Nilsson played 116 games for Sweden, making him second only to Thomas Ravelli in international appearances for Sweden...

1986–2000 116 2
4 Björn Nordqvist
Björn Nordqvist
Björn Nordqvist is a former football defender from Sweden. During the 1960s and '70s he was the Swedish national team captain. He played at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, 1974 FIFA World Cup and 1978 FIFA World Cup and in total amassed 115 international matches, and as such held the world record for...

1963–1978 115 0
5 Olof Mellberg
Olof Mellberg
Erik Olof Mellberg is a Swedish international footballer currently playing for Olympiacos in the Greek Superleague. He generally plays as a central defender or right-back.-Early years:...

2000– 111 7
6 Niclas Alexandersson 1993–2008 109 7
7 Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

1993–2009 106 37
8 Patrik Andersson 1992–2002 96 3
9 Orvar Bergmark
Orvar Bergmark
Orvar Bergmark , born in Bureå south of Skellefteå, was a Swedish football defender and manager, as well as bandy player....

1951–1965 94 0
10 Andreas Isaksson
Andreas Isaksson
Andreas Isaksson is a Swedish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven and for the Swedish national team.-Club career:...

2002– 90 0

Last updated: 15 November 2011

Top 10 most goals

Players in bold text are still active with Sweden.
# Player Career Goals Caps
1 Sven Rydell
Sven Rydell
Sven Åke Albert Rydell was a Swedish football player, the all-time leading scorer for the Swedish national team....

1921–1932 49 43
2 Gunnar Nordahl
Gunnar Nordahl
Gunnar Nordahl was a Swedish football player, best known for his play in AC Milan 1949-1956.-Sweden:...

1942–1948 43 33
3 Henrik Larsson
Henrik Larsson
Henrik Edward Larsson MBE is a retired Swedish footballer and current manager of Landskrona BoIS.Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. He moved to Helsingborg, where he was one of the key players when they qualified to Allsvenskan 1993. Larsson then moved to Feyenoord for four years before...

1993–2009 37 106
4 Gunnar Gren
Gunnar Gren
Gunnar Gren was a Swedish football player and coach. He is best known for playing for IFK Gothenburg and AC Milan. He was part of the famous "Gre-No-Li" trio of forwards at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team...

1939–1958 32 57
5 Kennet Andersson
Kennet Andersson
Bernt Kennet Andersson is a Swedish former football player and a key member of the Swedish national team that finished third in the 1994 World Cup....

1990–2000 31 83
6 Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Allbäck
Marcus Christian Allbäck , is a Swedish legend and coach, who currently is assistant coach for the Sweden national football team and plays as striker for the Division 1 Södra club Örgryte IS. He is a well-travelled striker known for his sharp finishing ability...

1999–2008 30 74
7 Martin Dahlin
Martin Dahlin
Martin Nathaniel Dahlin is a former Swedish football player.-Early life:He is the son of an Afro-Venezuelan father, who was a musician, and a Swedish mother who both decided to name him after Martin Luther King. He was born in Uddevalla, but lived as a child in Lund.-Career:In 1988, he became the...

1991–1997 29 60
8 Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

2001– 28 74
9 Agne Simonsson
Agne Simonsson
Agne Simonsson is a former Swedish footballer. He played for the Sweden national football team, earning 51 caps and scoring 27 goals. He was a participant in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, scoring 4 goals, when Sweden reached the final on home soil, losing the game 5-2 to Brazil...

1956–1961 27 51
10 Tomas Brolin
Tomas Brolin
Per Tomas Brolin is a Swedish former professional football player who had a successful period with A.C. Parma during the early nineties winning the 1992 Coppa Italia, the 1993 Cup Winners' Cup, the 1993 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 UEFA Cup.Brolin also played for the Swedish national team,...

1990–1995 26 47

Last updated: 15 November 2011

Managers

  • 1908 Ludvig Kornerup
    Ludvig Kornerup
    Christian Ludvig Kornerup was a football referee and a pioneer in Swedish football. He was born in Denmark and lived in Scotland for a while before moving to Sweden in 1899. He then gained Swedish citizenship in 1905...

  • 1909–11 Wilhelm Friberg
    Wilhelm Friberg
    Wilhelm Friberg was a Swedish football manager and pioneer in Swedish football. He was one of the founders of Örgryte IS, the dominating club in early Swedish football. He was chairman of the club from the start in 1887 to 1926...

  • 1912 John Ohlson
  • 1912–13 Ruben "Massa" Gelbord
  • 1914–15 Hugo Levin
  • 1916 Frey Svenson
  • 1917–20 Anton Johanson
    Anton Johanson
    Anton Johanson was a Swedish football player and manager as well as a pioneer in Swedish football. He played for IFK Köping and IFK Stockholm during his career. He was one of the founders of the Swedish Football Association, of which he also was secretary from 1905 to 1922 and chairman from 1923...

  • 1921–36 John "Bill" Pettersson (not 1924 OG, 1934 WC)
  • 1924–27   József Nagy
    József Nagy (footballer born 1892)
    József Nagy was an Hungarian footballer and manager from Budapest. He is most noted for his career as a footballing manager; Nagy managed the Swedish national football team and Swedish clubs and then he moved onto Serie A where he managed three clubs, Pro Vercelli, Bologna and Genoa. He also...

  • 1934   József Nagy
    József Nagy (footballer born 1892)
    József Nagy was an Hungarian footballer and manager from Budapest. He is most noted for his career as a footballing manager; Nagy managed the Swedish national football team and Swedish clubs and then he moved onto Serie A where he managed three clubs, Pro Vercelli, Bologna and Genoa. He also...


  • 1937 Carl "Ceve" Linde
  • 1938–42 Gustaf "Gurra" Carlson (not 1938 World Cup)
  • 1938   József Nagy
    József Nagy (footballer born 1892)
    József Nagy was an Hungarian footballer and manager from Budapest. He is most noted for his career as a footballing manager; Nagy managed the Swedish national football team and Swedish clubs and then he moved onto Serie A where he managed three clubs, Pro Vercelli, Bologna and Genoa. He also...

  • 1942 Selection Committee
  • 1943–56 Rudolf "Putte" Kock
    Putte Kock
    Rudolf "Putte" Kock was a Swedish football, ice hockey and bridge player who won a bronze medal in the 1924 Summer Olympics as a football player, being voted the World's best left winger after the tournament...

     (not 1948 OG, 1950 WC)
  • 1946–54   George Raynor
  • 1956–58   George Raynor
  • 1957–61 Eric Person (not 1958 World Cup)
  • 1961   George Raynor (only friendly matches)
  • 1962–65 Lennart Nyman

  • 1966–70 Orvar Bergmark
    Orvar Bergmark
    Orvar Bergmark , born in Bureå south of Skellefteå, was a Swedish football defender and manager, as well as bandy player....

  • 1971–79 Georg 'Åby' Ericson
    Georg Ericson
    Georg 'Åby' Ericson , also nicknamed Jojje, was a Swedish football player and coach.During his playing career he played for IFK Norrköping in the 1940s. Later he became a coach with IFK Norrköping, and led the Sweden national football team to two FIFA World Cups: 1974 and 1978.-External links:*...

  • 1980–85 Lars 'Laban' Arnesson
    Lars Arnesson
    Lars "Laban" Arnesson was the coach of the Sweden national football team from 1980 to 1986.Arnesson had great success as a trainer for Östers IF and got the job as coach for the national team 1980. He didn't take the team to any World Cup, and resigned in 1986.He also played for Djurgårdens IF in...

  • 1986–90 Olle Nordin
    Olle Nordin
    Olle Nordin is a Swedish football coach and former player. He was capped 19 times for the national team and played at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, but he is best remembered for his coaching merits. As national team coach, he led Sweden to the 1990 FIFA World Cup — its first World Cup since Nordin...

  • 1990 Nils Andersson
  • 1991–97 Tommy Svensson
  • 1998–99 Tommy Söderberg
  • 2000–04 T. Söderberg & L. Lagerbäck
    Lars Lagerbäck
    Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player, currently managing Iceland....

  • 2004–09 Lars Lagerbäck
    Lars Lagerbäck
    Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck is a Swedish football manager and former player, currently managing Iceland....

  • 2009– Erik Hamrén


See also

  • Football in Sweden
    Football in Sweden
    In Sweden, the most popular sport is association football, with over 240,000 licensed players—of which 56,000 are women—plus another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which are playing on the 7,900 pitches available in the country...

  • Sweden women's national football team
    Sweden women's national football team
    Sweden women's national football team are a football team officially representing Sweden in women's football. They won the unofficial European Championships in 1984, a success the team has not managed to repeat, it has however won one World Cup-silver as well as three European Cup-silvers...

  • Sweden national under-21 football team
    Sweden national under-21 football team
    The Swedish U-21 national football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-21 year old players. Sweden U21's current captain is Jiloan Hamad with Jakob Johansson as vice captain.-UEFA European U-21 Championship Record:...

  • Sweden national under-19 football team
    Sweden national under-19 football team
    The Swedish U-19 national football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-19 year old players. Sweden U19's current captain for Team 1992 is Niklas Maripuu with Niklas Bärkroth as vice captain, for Team 1993 Carlos Garcia Ambrosiani and for Team 1994 Jacob Une...

  • Sweden national under-17 football team
    Sweden national under-17 football team
    The Swedish U-17 national football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-17 year old players. Sweden U17's current captain for Team 1994 is Jacob Une Larsson with Filip Pivkovski as vice captain and for Team 1995 Robert Mirosavić with Melker Hallberg as vice...

  • Sápmi football team
  • Gotland official football team
  • Denmark–Sweden football rivalry

External links

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