European Football Championship 2016 / Sweden

The Swedish team before the qualifying match against Russia on September 5, 2015

This article covers the Swedish national team at the 2016 European Football Championship in France . For Sweden it was the sixth participation and since Sweden was allowed to host the European Championship finals in 1992, the Swedes only missed the first edition with 16 teams in 1996.

qualification

Zlatan Ibrahimović , Sweden's top scorer in the qualifying matches and the second top scorer overall

Sweden, which was set at the group draw in Pot 2, completed the qualification for the European Championship in the group G . The Swedes began qualifying with two 1-1 draws in Austria and against Russia, with captain Zlatan Ibrahimović missing due to injury. Then they were able to achieve a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein without him, but again only played 1-1 in Montenegro, with Zlatan Ibrahimović giving the Swedes the lead in the ninth minute. After two victories, defeats in Russia and against Austria followed, making Austria group winners early. With two wins in the last two games, third place was achieved behind Austria and Russia, so that the Swedes were qualified for the play-offs of the group third. Here they met permanent opponents Denmark and initially won the home game 2-1. In the second leg they then brought Ibrahimović 2-0 lead, so they could absorb the two goals in the closing stages.

Erik Hamrén used a total of 30 players, of which only goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson was used in all twelve games. Andreas Granqvist , Kim Källström and Sebastian Larsson were each absent . Six players were able to enter the goalscorer list, as the best Swedish goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimović with eleven goals, three of them in the play-off games. Ibrahimović was the second best scorer in the qualification. In the first qualifying game against Austria he played his 100th international match , four days earlier he had scored his 50th international goal in a friendly against Estonia, surpassing Sven Rydell's 82-year-old record . In the first game against Montenegro with Isaac Thelin and in the 1: 4 against Austria with Abdul Khalili another newcomer came to his first international appearance. In contrast, Andreas Isaksson played their 125th international match in the last group game and Kim Källström in the second playoff game.

In the FIFA world rankings , the Swedes fell from 29th to 45th place during qualifying, but in the end managed to climb to 35th place thanks to the playoff games.

Games

All results from a Swedish point of view.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
09/08/2014	Ernst Happel Stadium , Vienna ( AUT )	Austria	1: 1 (1: 1)	0: 1 David Alaba (7th / penalty), 1: 1 Erkan Zengin (12th)
09/10/2014	Friends Arena , Solna	Russia	1: 1 (0: 1)	0: 1 Alexander Kokorin (10th), 1: 1 Ola Toivonen (49th)
10/12/2014	Friends Arena , Solna	Liechtenstein	2: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Erkan Zengin (34th), 2-0 Jimmy Durmaz (46th)
11/15/2014	Pod Goricom Stadium , Podgorica ( MNE )	Montenegro	1: 1 (1: 0)	1: 0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (9th), 1: 1 Stevan Jovetić (80th / penalty)
03/27/2015	Stadionul Zimbru , Chișinău ( MDA )	Moldova	2: 0 (0: 0)	1: 0, 2: 0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (46th, 84th)
06/14/2015	Friends Arena , Solna	Montenegro	3: 1 (3: 0)	1-0 Marcus Berg (37th), 2-0, 3-0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (40th, 44th), 3-1 Dejan Damjanović (64th / penalty)
05.09.2015	Otkrytije Arena , Moscow ( RUS )	Russia	0: 1 (0: 1)	0: 1 Artyom Djuba (38th)
09/08/2015	Friends Arena , Solna	Austria	1: 4 (0: 2)	0: 1 David Alaba (9th / penalty), 0: 2 Martin Harnik (38th), 0: 3 Marc Janko (77th), 0: 4 Martin Harnik (88th), 1: 4 Zlatan Ibrahimović (90th) +1 ′)
09/10/2015	Rheinpark Stadium , Vaduz ( LIE )	Liechtenstein	2: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Marcus Berg (18th), 2-0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (55th)
October 12, 2015	Friends Arena , Solna	Moldova	2: 0 (1: 0)	1-0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (23rd), 2-0 Erkan Zengin (47th)

table

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Austria	10	9	1	0	022: 500	+17	28
2.	Russia	10	6th	2	2	021: 500	+16	20th
3.	Sweden	10	5	3	2	015: 900	+6	18th
4th	Montenegro	10	3	2	5	010:130	−3	11
5.	Liechtenstein	10	1	2	7th	002:260	−24	05
6th	Moldova	10	0	2	8th	004:160	−12	02
Status: October 12, 2015

As one of the group thirds, the Swedes then had to compete in the play-offs and met Denmark.

date	Venue	opponent	Result	Goal scorers
11/14/2015	Friends Arena , Solna	Denmark	2: 1 (1: 0)	1-0 Emil Forsberg (45th), 2-0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (50th / penalty), 2-1 Nicolai Jørgensen (80th)
11/17/2015	Telia Parken , Copenhagen ( DNK )	Denmark	2: 2 (1: 0)	1: 0, 2: 0 Zlatan Ibrahimović (19th, 76th), 2: 1 Yussuf Poulsen (82nd), 2: 2 Jannik Vestergaard (90th + 1 ′)

preparation

In January 2016, Sweden played two games in Abu Dhabi against Estonia (1: 1) and Finland (3: 0), but with Gustav Svensson and Anton Tinnerholm only two players were used, who also played two and one EM qualifier have denied. Most of the players came to their first international appearances and play in the Swedish league. Players from top European teams were not used. As more than six players were substituted on, the matches are not taken into account by FIFA. On March 24, 2016, they lost 2-1 to European Championship participants Turkey in Antalya without Zlatan Ibrahimović, with a newcomer Victor Lindelöf being used. With Ibrahimović it was then enough on the 29th in Solna only to a 1: 1 against the Czech Republic . In the immediate preparation, the Swedes first played their 1000th international match against Slovenia on May 30 in Malmö , in which they only came to a 0-0 without Zlatan Ibrahimovic. On June 5, EM newcomer Wales was defeated 3-0 in the final test match in Solna , with John Guidetti scoring his first international goal. The team will then move into their EM quarters in Pornichet .

Squad

National coach Erik Hamrén announced his 23-player squad on May 11th. Mikael Antonsson , who had played nine qualifying games but suffered a broken jaw in the Danish Cup final on May 5th, could not be considered . Players from 21 clubs from 13 leagues were nominated, only the Danish champions and cup winners FC Copenhagen had more than one player with three players. Only three players were under contract with Swedish clubs, the remaining 20 were employed by foreign clubs.

Jersey no.	Surname	society	birth date	International matches	Länderspiel- gates	debut	Last use	EM games
goalkeeper
23	Patrik Carlgren	AIK Solna (I)	0Jan. 8, 1992	1	0	2016	Jan. 10, 2016
01	Andreas Isaksson	Kasımpaşa Istanbul (I)	0Oct 3, 1981	130	0	2002	05th June 2016	4 (2004), 3 (2008), 3 (2012)	3
12	Robin Olsen	FC Copenhagen (I (M, P))	0Jan. 8, 1990	4th	0	2015	05th June 2016
Defense
17th	Ludwig Augustinsson	FC Copenhagen (I (M, P))	Apr 21, 1994	4th	0	2015	05th June 2016
04th	Andreas Granqvist	FK Krasnodar (I)	Apr 16, 1985	52	3	2006	05th June 2016	3 (2012)	3
13	Pontus Jansson	FC Turin (I)	Feb 13, 1991	8th	0	2012	May 30, 2016
03	Erik Johansson	FC Copenhagen (I (M, P))	Dec. 30, 1988	9	0	2014	05th June 2016		3		1
02	Mikael Funny	Celtic Glasgow (I (M))	Dec 13, 1986	52	3	2008	05th June 2016	2 (2012)	1
14th	Victor Lindelof	Benfica Lisbon (I (M))	17th July 1994	3	0	2016	May 30, 2016		3		1
05	Martin Olsson	Norwich City (I ▼ )	May 17, 1988	35	5	2010	05th June 2016	3 (2012)	3		1
midfield
21st	Jimmy Durmaz	Olympiacos Piraeus (I (M))	22 Mar 1989	32	2	2011	05th June 2016		2
08th	Albin Ekdal	Hamburger SV (I)	July 28, 1989	22nd	0	2011	05th June 2016		3		1
06th	Emil Forsberg	RB Leipzig (II ▲ )	Oct 23, 1991	17th	2	2014	05th June 2016		3
15th	Oscar Hiljemark	US Palermo (I)	June 28, 1992	10	1	2012	May 30, 2016
09	Kim Källström	Grashoppers Zurich (I)	Aug 24, 1982	128	16	2001	05th June 2016	4 (2004), 2 (2008), 3 (2012)	3
07th	Sebastian Larsson	Sunderland AFC (I)	0June 6, 1985	84	6th	2008	05th June 2016	1 (2008), 3 (2012)	3
18th	Oscar Lewicki	Malmo FF (I)	17th July 1992	10	0	2014	05th June 2016		2
16	Pontus Wernbloom	CSKA Moscow (I (M))	June 25, 1986	51	2	2007	May 30, 2016	1 (2012)
22nd	Erkan Zengin	Trabzonspor (I)	0Aug 5, 1985	20th	3	2013	May 30, 2016		1
attack
11	Marcus Berg	Panathinaikos Athens (I)	07th Mar 1988	38	10	2008	05th June 2016		3
20th	John Guidetti	Celta Vigo (I)	Apr 15, 1992	9	1	2012	May 30, 2016		3
10	Zlatan Ibrahimović (LT)	Paris SG (I (M, P))	0Oct 3, 1981	113	62	2001	05th June 2016	4 (2004), 3 (2008), 3 (2012)	3
19th	Emir Kujovic (LT)	IFK Norrköping (I (M))	June 22, 1988	4th	1	2016	05th June 2016
Trainer
	Erik Hamrén		June 27, 1957			2009		3 (2012)	3

1. ↑ In brackets personal successes of the 2015/16 season, LT = top scorer of the league (Sweden 2015)
2. ↑ League status 2015/16 in brackets, M = champions (Sweden in 2015), P = cup winners
3. ↑ ^{a b} Status: June 5, 2016
4. ↑ Status: Before the start of the European Championship finals

Finals

St-Denis Toulouse Nice Pornichet

Venues (yellow = draw, red = lost), quarters (blue)

When the six final groups were drawn on December 12, 2015, the Swedes were only placed in pot 3, so there was a risk that they would face hosts France, defending champions Spain or world champions Germany in the group stage. Ultimately, they were drawn to Group E with Belgium, the new FIFA world number one . Italy and Ireland were drawn into this group as further opponents, making this group the most balanced. There were previously 14 games against Belgium, five of which were won, two ended in a draw and seven were lost, most recently in the home game on June 1, 2014 with 0-2, when the Belgians were preparing for the 2014 World Cup , for which Sweden did not qualify. The balance against Italy is also negative: In 22 games there were only six wins and six draws, but ten defeats. The last win against the Italians came in June 1998 when the Italians were preparing for the 1998 World Cup , for which Sweden had not qualified either. Italy and Belgium were opponents of the Swedish team in the group stage of the EM 2000 , the Belgians in the opening game. The Swedes met Italy in the group stage of the 2004 European Championship . Against Ireland, however, the record is positive: In ten games there were five wins, two draws and three defeats, the last on March 1, 2006 with 0: 3 was also the highest against the Irish. Most recently they both faced each other in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup , but both missed them.

The Swedes started with a 1-1 draw against Ireland, with the goal being caused by an Irish defender. Against Italy they then lost 1-0 as well as against Belgium in the last game when they played more offensively than before. They were eliminated as the bottom of the group and were the only team besides the Ukraine that couldn't score a goal themselves. After the last game, Zlatan Ibrahimović , who had announced this a few days beforehand, Andreas Isaksson , who had already announced this in March, and Kim Källström ended their national team careers . On July 12th, Pontus Wernbloom ended his national team career .

As a result of the European Championship games, Sweden lost 79 points and five places in the FIFA world rankings and is the worst placed European Championship participant after the European Championship in 40th place.

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Italy	3	2	0	1	003: 100	+2	06th
2.	Belgium	3	2	0	1	004: 200	+2	06th
3.	Ireland	3	1	1	1	002: 400	−2	04th
4th	Sweden	3	0	1	2	001: 300	−2	01

Mon., June 13, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. in Saint-Denis
Ireland	-	Sweden	1: 1 (0: 0)
Friday 17th June 2016 at 3:00 p.m. in Toulouse
Italy	-	Sweden	1: 0 (0: 0)
Wed., June 22, 2016 at 9:00 p.m. in Nice
Sweden	-	Belgium	0: 1 (0: 0)

particularities

On February 1, 2016, national coach Erik Hamrén announced that he would not renew his contract, which would expire after the European Championship.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ uefa.com: "Austria wins the group early"
2. ↑ Montenegro - Sweden 1: 1
3. ↑ Sweden - Austria 1: 4
4. ↑ Sweden - Moldova 2-0
5. ↑ Denmark - Sweden 2:
6. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (August 14, 2014)
7. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (5th November 2015)
8. ↑ FIFA World Ranking (December 3, 2015)
9. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: "Mållöst i landskamp nr 1000"
10. ↑ Herrlandslaget
11. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: "Svensk EM-bas på Atlantkusten"
12. ↑ EM troops uttagen
13. ↑ dfb.de: "EM-Out and nine months break for Welbeck"
14. ↑ uefa.com: "UEFA EURO 2016 final draw"
15. ↑ Affirmation: Isaksson slutar i landslaget
16. ↑ Tre enastående spelare att sakna
17. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: "Pontus Wernbloom slutar i landslaget"
18. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: "Hamrén lämnar efter EM"