Group: F — Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia

How they Qualified: Sweden took one of the strangest routes in the field. They were awful in regular UEFA qualifying, finishing bottom of Group B with no wins in six matches, but their 2024-25 Nations League group win kept a playoff path alive. Under new coach Graham Potter, they then beat Ukraine 3-1 in the playoff semifinal and Poland 3-2 in the final, with Viktor Gyökeres scoring the 88th-minute winner to send them through.

Best World Cup Finish: 2nd Place (1958)

Transfermarkt Roster Value: $584.93 M

FIFA Rank: 38

Odds to Win Group: +350

Odds to Advance: -250

Odds to Win Cup: 100-1

Key Players:

  • Alexander Isak — Striker — Liverpool (Premier League). Isak is still Sweden’s biggest star and most valuable player. Transfermarkt lists him at $117.93m, and although he missed the playoffs through injury, he is back in partial training for Liverpool and could return this weekend.
  • Viktor Gyökeres — Striker — Arsenal (Premier League). Gyökeres was the man of the playoffs, scoring a hat trick against Ukraine and the late winner against Poland. Coming off an excellent performance to help propel Arsenal to the Champions League Final, Gyökeres will be instrumental if Sweden is to make a run in this tournament.
  • Anthony Elanga — Winger — Newcastle United (Premier League). Elanga gives Sweden pace and directness that can make their front line dangerous beyond just the two strikers. He scored in the playoff final against Poland.

Playing Style and Outlook

Sweden are one of the harder teams in the tournament to pin down because the version that qualified is not really the same as the version that slogged through the group stage. Under Potter, the playoff matches against Ukraine and Poland showed a clear shift toward a back-three / wing-back setup. The lineups in both matches point strongly to a 3-4-2-1, with Lindelöf organizing the back line, Gudmundsson and Svensson/Johansson giving width, and Elanga and Nygren supporting Gyökeres.

The stats from the Poland match also tell you this is not a classic possession-heavy Sweden side. They had only 32.9% possession and were outshot 15-9, but still won 3-2 because they were direct, efficient, and dangerous once the game opened up.

Sweden has quite the attacking ceiling. If Isak is healthy enough to join Gyökeres, this suddenly looks like a team with one of the better striker pairings outside the elite contenders. That gives them a different profile from a lot of teams in this range. They are not just hoping to nick a goal from a set piece. They can actually threaten good teams with real talent up front. Dejan Kulusevski and Isak missed the playoffs but are hopeful of returning before the tournament, which raises the ceiling even more. Netherlands are the clear favorite in the group and Japan are the 2nd favorites, but Sweden has the top end talent to surprise in this group and certainly should expect to advance at least as a third place qualifier.