Sweden's World Cup Journey: From Struggles to Potter's Effect

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June.

The plan

Sweden’s attempts to qualify for the World Cup could hardly have gone worse, picking up just one point from the first four games under Jon Dahl Tomasson before, in October 2025, the Dane was sacked after a 1-0 defeat against Kosovo.

In came Graham Potter, who had his breakthrough in coaching at Swedish side Östersund between 2011 and 2017, taking them from the fourth tier to the Allsvenskan, winning the cup and beating Arsenal in the Europa League.

Under Potter’s leadership the focus shifted to more traditional values associated with the Swedish national team with a stubborn defence coupled with effective counterattacks. Having initially said he prefers a back four he set up with a 5-3-2 in the playoffs, with a focus on keeping things quiet at the back.

With the Nations League having offered Sweden a route back into the World Cup qualifying process, they put in an impressive performance against Ukraine in Spain in the semi-finals, winning 3-1 after a Viktor Gyökeres hat-trick. The final, against Poland, was much tougher to watch with the visitors better for much of the game but Gyökeres again stepped up, scoring an 88th-minute winner in a 3-2 thriller.

“It’s hard to explain, hard to describe,” said a delighted Potter. “Just an incredible evening, just so proud to be part of that and obviously proud to experience it. It was just the best night I’ve had in football. Incredible, like I was having some sort of out-of-body experience. I’m looking at the goal and suddenly all our bench is running and you’re thinking: ‘Am I here?’ I’m just grateful to be part of that.”

So Sweden made it to the World Cup despite collecting two points from six games in their qualifying group. They now face Tunisia, Netherlands and Japan with hope of getting into the knockout stages – that’s the Potter effect for you.

Injury wise they are without captain Dejan Kulusevski, whose influence on this team cannot be overstated. They will miss him in North America. There are also huge question marks over Alexander Isak’s form and fitness, although he did score in a worryingly one-sided 3-1 defeat against Norway on 1 June after coming on as a substitute.

The coach

In October 2025 Graham Potter gave an interview to Fotbollskanalen that was not so much expressing an interest in becoming Sweden coach, but more of a come-and-get-me plea. “I have feelings for Sweden,” he said. “I love the country and I love Swedish football. Coaching the national team would be an incredible opportunity for me, absolutely.” A few days later he was in the job and, despite not winning either of his first two games, the Swedish FA was so smitten by him that they offered him a contract extension to 2030 in March. Potter speaks very good Swedish and for him it was the perfect job after difficult spells with Chelsea and West Ham.

Star player

Alexander Isak became the most expensive transfer in Premier League history last year when he moved from Newcastle to Liverpool for £125 but after a tough first season at Anfield there is no question about who the talisman is for the national team: Viktor Gyökeres. The Arsenal forward also struggled initially at his new club but has hit form recently and scored four of Sweden’s six goals in the two playoff ties. His popularity took another upturn after the late goal against Poland with people from all over the country posting their own versions of his goal celebration, which is taken from Bane, the character played by Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises film.

One to watch

Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren aside, one player that might play a bigger role than expected for Sweden in North America is Gustaf Lagerbielke. The Braga defender put in a crucial performance in the playoff final against Poland, scoring with a thunderous header and keeping Robert Lewandowski quiet at the back. The fact that the former Celtic defender is a baron and 254th in line to the Swedish throne only adds to the intrigue. There are talks of a move to a big-five league this summer and a good showing at the World Cup will only increase his chances.

Unsung hero

If Sweden are to succeed this summer, they will have to win battles against a very technical side in the Netherlands and a very tenacious and technical Japan side. Jesper Karlström will have to play a big part. Captain of Serie A side Udinese, Karlström is a late bloomer who took time to establish himself at Djurgården before a move to Polish side Lech Poznan. He has talked about how he struggled with a gambling addiction at Djurgården but that the club and his family helped him beat it. Karlström possesses all the classical traits of a deep-lying midfielder, being solid in the tackle and capable of dictating play. The 30-year-old’s calming presence will be key in North America as he is surrounded by youngsters such as Yasin Ayari and Lucas Bergvall in midfield.

Probable starting XI

What to expect from fans at games?

Swedish supporters have a reputation of coming in large numbers for tournaments and making themselves heard. Fans of Blågult (blue and yellow) tend to be friendly and full of banter, interacting with opposition fans. The go-to song of the supporters is “Kanna på”, a song referencing beer pitchers that keep on arriving. Yes, the Swedes like a beer or six. The song also states: “We are coming with 100,000 men” and, while there might not be another Viking invasion expected in America, there will be a large yellow-and-blue delegation at the World Cup.

Relationship with the US/Trump?

“Look what happened in Sweden last night.” Those were the words of president Trump in 2017, when talking about problems with large scales of immigration and subsequent terrorist attacks. The only problem was that nothing of any dramatic nature had happened in Sweden the night before. Trump said later he had been referring to a TV report on Fox News, which did not clarify things greatly. Swedish paper Aftonbladet then summed up what had happened in the country on the day Trump was referring to:

Famous singer Owe Thörnqvist suffered technical problems in rehearsals

A man set himself on fire at a plaza in central Stockholm

There were road closures in northern Sweden due to “harsh weather”