Soccer World Cup 2019 / Sweden

Football Women's World Cup 2019 : Sweden
Trainer	Peter Gerhardsson
captain	Caroline Seger
Qualified as	Group 4 winner
World rankings before the tournament	9
Tournament result	3rd place
Games won	5
Games tie	0
Games lost	2
Gates	12: 6

This article is about the Swedish women's national football team at the 2019 Women's World Cup in France . Sweden took part in the final round for the eighth time and is one of the three European teams, along with Germany and Norway, that have always qualified. The Swedes finished third, up three places in the FIFA world rankings.

qualification

Opponents in the qualification were runner-up European champions Denmark , for the first time Croatia , Ukraine and Hungary . The group winners could qualify directly, the group runner-up would be qualified for the playoff games for another World Cup starting place if he were one of the four best runners-up in the group.

The Swedes were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2017 European Championships . After that, record goalscorer Lotta Schelin , who had suffered a neck injury shortly before the European Championship and could only play under pain medication at the European Championship, ended her career.

They started the qualification with a 2-0 win in Croatia. Then the game against European champions Denmark was on. As the Danish players refused to play due to a disagreement with the association, the Danish association canceled the game and UEFA subsequently scored it 3-0 for Sweden. After two wins against Hungary (5: 0 and 4: 1) and another win against Croatia (4: 0), the Swedes lost 0: 1 in Ukraine. The second leg was then won 3-0, but since the Danes only lost a point in their home game against Croatia, apart from the defeat at the Green Table, the last game between the two opponents was decisive for the group victory. With a goal by Sofia Jakobsson immediately after the start of the second half, the Swedes won 1-0 and qualified as group winners for the World Cup. Denmark reached the playoffs of the four best runners-up in the group as fourth-best group runner-up, but was eliminated in the semifinals against European champions Netherlands after two defeats.

A total of 24 players were used, 15 of whom were already in the squad for the 2017 European Championship. Of these, six players took part in all seven games played. Anna Anvegård and Julia Karlenäs made their first international appearance in qualifying. The most goals for the Swedish team were scored by Kosovare Asllani (4). Stina Blackstenius scored three goals. A total of ten Swedish players scored 19 goals in qualifying. Hanna Folkesson and Elin Rubensson scored their first international goals in qualifying.

Games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sweden	8th	7th	0	1	022: 200	+20	21st
2.	Denmark	8th	5	1	2	022: 800	+14	16
3.	Ukraine	8th	4th	1	3	009:100	−1	13
4th	Hungary	8th	1	1	6th	008:260	−18	04th
5.	Croatia	8th	0	3	5	005:200	−15	03

09/19/2017	Varaždin	Croatia	-	Sweden	0: 2 (0: 0)	Asllani , hurtig
October 20, 2017	Gothenburg	Sweden	-	Denmark	3-0	Evaluation at the Green Table
	Borås	Sweden	-	Hungary	5: 0 (4: 0)	Asllani (2), Fischer , Hurtig, Seger
04/05/2018	Szombathely	Hungary	-	Sweden	1: 4 (0: 2)	Blackstenius , Jakobsson , Larsson , Seger; Vágó
07.06.2018	Gothenburg	Sweden	-	Croatia	4: 0 (1: 0)	Blackstenius (2), Folkesson , Rubensson
	Lviv	Ukraine	-	Sweden	1: 0 (1: 0)	Apanashenko
08/30/2018	Gothenburg	Sweden	-	Ukraine	3: 0 (2: 0)	Asllani, Eriksson , Rubensson
04.09.2018	Viborg	Denmark	-	Sweden	0: 1 (0: 0)	Jakobsson

preparation

In preparation for the World Cup, the Swedes played against Norway in early October 2018 and won 2-1 in Helsingborg . Five days later they lost 1-0 to Italy in Cremona . In November they won 2-0 against England in Rotherham . In January they lost in Cape Town in a game without spectators over 3 × 30 minutes with 0: 4 against World Cup newcomer South Africa and came in an official game to a goalless draw against the German World Cup opponents. At the end of February / beginning of March Sweden took part in the Algarve Cup again. After a 4-1 win against Switzerland , they lost 2-1 to Portugal , which has not been lost since 1997. With Portugal losing to Switzerland, the three teams were tied, but Sweden had the best goal difference and were therefore group winners. However, the Swedes were the worst group winners and therefore met the third best group winners Canada in the third-place match . Since neither scored a goal in 90 minutes, it was a penalty shoot-out , which the Swedes lost 5-6. In April the Swedes lost 2-1 to Germany in Solna and then won their first international match against Austria 2-0 in Maria Enzersdorf . Here came Sofia Jakobsson to her 100th international. Shortly before the World Cup, the Swedes won 1-0 against World Cup participants South Korea in Gothenburg on May 31, with Madelen Janogy's first international goal , which she scored 13 minutes after being substituted on in stoppage time.

Squad

The squad for the World Cup was announced on May 16.

No.	Player	birth date	debut	society	Country games	Country goals	Last use	World Cup games, goals	World Cup 2019
									Sp.
goal
12	Jennifer Falk	04/26/1993		Kopparbergs / Gothenburg FC	000	00
01	Hedvig Lindahl	04/29/1983	2002	Chelsea LFC	158	00	05/31/2019	13 (2007, 2011, 2015)	7th		1
21st	Zecira Musovic	05/26/1996	2018	FC Rosengård	002	00	09.10.2018
Defense
02	Jonna Andersson	01/02/1993	2015	Chelsea LFC	041	00	05/31/2019		2
15th	Nathalie Bjorn	05/04/1997	2016	FC Rosengård	009	02	05/31/2019		4th
06th	Magdalena Eriksson	09/08/1993	2013	Chelsea FC	049	05	05/31/2019		6th		1
05	Nilla Fischer	08/02/1984	2001	VfL Wolfsburg	176	23	05/31/2019	11.2 (2007, 2011, 2015)	6th
04th	Hanna Glas	04/16/1993	2017	Paris Saint-Germain	022nd	00	05/31/2019		7th
13	Amanda Ilestedt	01/17/1993	2013	1. FFC Turbine Potsdam	026th	02	05/31/2019	4 (2015)	3
03	Linda Sembrant	05/15/1987	2008	HSC Montpellier	110	08th	05/31/2019	5.2 (2011, 2015)	7th	1
Midfield and attack
19th	Anna Anvegård	05/10/1997	2018	Växjö DFF	009	01	05/31/2019		3
09	Kosovars Asllani	07/29/1989	2008	Linköpings FC	126	32	05/31/2019	3 (0)	7th	3	1
11	Stina Blackstenius	02/05/1996	2015	Linköpings FC	044	10	05/31/2019		6th	2
08th	Lina Hurtig	05.09.1995	2014	Linköpings FC	018th	03	05/31/2019		7th	1
10	Sofia Jakobsson	04/23/1990	2011	HSC Montpellier	101	17th	05/31/2019	6.1 (2011, 2015)	6th	2
07th	Madelen Janogy	11/12/1995	2019	Piteå IF	004th	01	05/31/2019		3	1
20th	Mimmi Larsson	04/09/1994	2016	Eskilstuna United	020th	06th	04/06/2019		2
14th	Julia Roddar	02/16/1992	2017	Kopparbergs / Gothenburg FC	006th	00	01/22/2019
18th	Fridolina Rolfö	11/24/1993	2014	Bayern Munich	035	08th	05/31/2019		6th	1	2
23	Elin Rubensson	05/11/1993	2012	Kopparbergs / Gothenburg FC	063	02	05/31/2019	4 (2015)	5	1
22nd	Olivia Schough	03/11/1991	2014	Kopparbergs / Gothenburg FC	072	09	04/09/2019	1 (2015)	2
17th	Caroline Seger	March 19, 1985	2005	FC Rosengård	193	27	04/09/2019	10 (2007, 2011, 2015)	7th
16	Julia Zigiotti	12/24/1997	2018	Kopparbergs / Gothenburg FC	007th	00	05/31/2019		2		1
Coaching staff
Förbundskapten	Peter Gerhardsson	08/22/1959	2017	SvFF					7th
Remarks: ↑ Numbers according to the FIFA squad list ↑ As of May 2019 ↑ a b Status: May 31, 2019

draw

Nice (VR) Le Havre (VR) Rennes (VR + VF) Paris (AF) Lyon (HF)

The Swedish team's venues

For the World Cup group draw that took place on December 8, 2018, Sweden was allocated Pot 2 based on its placement in the FIFA world rankings of December 7, 2018. The team could thus meet world champions USA, Germany or hosts France in the group games. Ultimately, the group F team with defending champions USA was drawn, where they will also meet Chile and Thailand for the first time.

The USA is the third most popular opponent of the Swedes after Denmark and Norway. In World Cup tournaments alone, they met each other more often than any other team. So far there have been five World Cup games against the USA, all in the group stage at the tournaments in 1991, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. The Swedes could only win in 2011, but in 2015 they parted without a goal. The Americans won three times. Overall, the Swedes were able to win six normal games and two on penalties out of 38 games, including one in the quarter-finals of the last Olympic Games . Nine more ended without a winner and 21 games went to the USA.

Group games

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	United States	3	3	0	0	018: 000	+18	09
2.	Sweden	3	2	0	1	007: 300	+4	06th
3.	Chile	3	1	0	2	002: 500	−3	03
4th	Thailand	3	0	0	3	001:200	−19	00

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 in Rennes
Chile	-	Sweden	0: 2 (0: 0)
Sun 16 June 2019 in Nice
Sweden	-	Thailand	5: 1 (3: 0)
Thursday, June 20, 2019 in Le Havre
Sweden	-	United States	0: 2 (0: 1)

Knockout round

In the round of 16, the Swedes met Canada for the 23rd time and were able to win for the 14th time, but only 1-0. In the quarter-finals there will be the 29th game against Germany, against which there are only seven wins so far, the last at the Algarve Cup 2015 with 4: 2 after 0: 2 deficit. Then there were four defeats and one draw. At World Cup tournaments, the balance is even: the Swedes won the more important games in 1991 and 1995, the Germans in 2003 and 2015. The Swedes were already behind in the 16th minute, but six minutes later Sofia Jakobsson equalized and Stina Blackstenius scored the winning goal three minutes after the half-time break , whereby the Swedes won a competitive game against the German team after 24 years. By reaching the semi-finals, they also qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games . In the semi-finals, they will meet European champions Netherlands, who survived the round of 16 for the first time ever and against whom the Swedes were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the European Championships.

Mon., June 24, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in Paris
Sweden	-	Canada	1: 0 (0: 0)
Sat., June 29, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. (CEST) in Rennes
Germany	-	Sweden	1: 2 (1: 1)
Wed., July 3, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. (CEST) in Lyon
Netherlands	-	Sweden	1: 0 a.d.
July 6, 2019 Nice
England	-	Sweden	1: 2 (1: 2)

Awards

• Kosovare Asllani - player of the game against Chile and Thailand
• Sofia Jakobsson - player of the game against Germany and England
• Hedvig Lindahl - player of the game against Canada

Individual evidence

1. ↑ fifa.com: USA way ahead, Netherlands and Sweden on the up
2. ↑ Chronic headache - Lotta Schelin has to end her career. August 30, 2018, accessed August 30, 2018 . 
3. ↑ dbu.dk: Spillernes afbud Forer til aflysning af VM kvalkamp
4. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: UEFA-beslut i Danmarksfrågan
5. ↑ dfb.de: "Testing World Cup opponents: Only China wins"
6. ↑ Sweden vs. Korea Republic 1 - 0
7. ↑ svenskfotboll.se: Gerhardssons VM troop presenterad
8. ↑ fifa.com: Pot allocation for World Cup draw according to the latest world rankings