Sweden History

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Description

Nickname(s): Blågult ("The Blueyellow")
Association: Svenska Fotbollförbundet
Confederation: UEFA (Europe)
Head coach: Lars Lagerbäck, 2000-
Captain: Fredrik Ljungberg
Most caps: Thomas Ravelli (143)
Top scorer: Sven Rydell (49)
Home stadium: Råsunda Stadium


 

Overview

Football is the unrivalled sport in Sweden. The national football team of Sweden is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. The association has 24 district organizations, which have various clubs as their members. The district organizations, together with the elite clubs vote at the association’s general meeting. The headquarters of the association is the National Arena Rasunda Stadium, located in the community of Solna. The stadium, which has had a record attendance of 52,943, has been the venue for the 1958 World Cup Final, the 1995 Women’s World Cup Final, and the 1998 Cup Winners’ Cup Final. The stadium is undergoing renovation to add 50,000 seats by 2011.


 

History

The 1938 World Cup marked the second time that Sweden had qualified for the position. Despite showing good performances against teams like Hungary, Cuba and Brazil, they ended the tournament in fourth place. The 1948 Summer Olympics was Sweden’s first championship win in the international circuit. The team also participated during the 1950 and 1958 World Cup. During the 1950 World Cup, the team played alongside teams such as Paraguay and Italy. After advancing to the first round, their first game was played against Brazil but they lost the match by 7-1. However, the team finished third in the group and earned a medal.

The 1958 World cup was hosted by Sweden. The final was played between Brazil and Sweden at the Råsunda Stadium. Brazil defeated the host nation by 5-2 and won the World Cup while Sweden was the runner-up. After experiencing the World Cup success, Sweden has since participated in several championships. They were also close to winning the European Championship in 1964. Although they did not qualify during the 1962 and 1966 World Cups, they had good chances of qualifying and winning the 1974 World Cup. The team had to play matches against some of the good teams such as Austria, Hungary, Uruguay, Netherlands and Bulgaria. The team ended the tournament in 5th place.

The team also qualified for the 1994 World Cup. Sweden was placed alongside teams such as Cameroon, Russia and Brazil. They played their first game against Cameroon which was won by Cameroon. Their second game was against Russia while the last match was tied against Brazil. In the next round, Sweden played against Saudi Arabia and won 3-1. However, the most memorable match was the quarter final match against Romania which was won by Sweden and the team advanced through to the semi-finals.

 
 
World Cup 1994 - Sweden vs Romania
 
Created on: 5/27/2008
 
By: dank
 
Tags:
Sweden,  
 

The semi-final was played between Brazil and Sweden however Sweden lost the match by 1-0. After losing the Semi-finals, Sweden played against Bulgaria in the third place match which Sweden won.

 
 
Sweden World Cup 1994
 
Created on: 5/27/2008
 
By: dank
 
Tags:
Sweden,  
 

The team also participated during the 2006 World Cup but was eliminated from the tournament following their 2-0 defeat to Germany.


 

Statistics

The team’s record at the FIFA World Cup includes:

•    1930 – Did not enter
•    1934 – Quarterfinals
•    1938 – Fourth place
•    1950 – Third place
•    1954 – Did not qualify
•    1958 – Runner-up
•    1962 – Did not qualify
•    1966 – Did not qualify
•    1970 – First round
•    1974 – Ground second round
•    1978 – First round
•    1982 – Did not qualify
•    1986 – Did not qualify
•    1990 – First round
•    1994 – Third place
•    1998 – Did not qualify
•    2002 – Second round
•    2006 – Second round

Sweden’s participation in the European Championship has been as given below.

•    1960 – Did not enter
•    1964-1988 – Did not qualify
•    1992 – Semifinals
•    1996 – Did not qualify
•    2000 – First round
•    2004 – Quarterfinals
•    2008 - Qualified

Some important events in the history of Swedish football include:

•    1904 – Formation of “NSF section for hockey and football” – which is now the Swedish Football Association. Sweden is one of the 7 countries founding FIFA.
•    1906 – The name “Swedish Football Association” becomes official.
•    1907 – Swedish Football Association is voted into FIFA.
•    1908 – First international match.
•    1934 – First World Cup tournament.
•    1937 – Inauguration of the Rasunda Stadium.
•    1938 – Fourth place in the World Cup, facing defeat to Hungary in the semifinals.
•    1948 – Gold medal at the Olympic Games by beating Yugoslavia 3-1.
•    1952 – Bronze medal at the Olympic Games.
•    1958 – Host for the World Cup, and reaches the final losing 5-2 to Brazil.
•    1973 – Women’s team plays its first international match.
•    1974 – Fifth place in the World Cup.
•    1979 – European Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.
•    1990 – Lennart Johansson is elected UEFA’s President.
•    1992 – Host for EURO 1992.
•    1994 – Bronze at the World Cup.
•    1995 – Host for the second Women’s World Cup.
•    1996 – Number of licensed players grows by 25 percent compared to 1992, reaching a record number of over 200,000.
•    1997 – Co-host for the UEFA Women’s Championship along with Norway.
•    2002 – Progress to the last 16 in the World Cup by winning the “Group of Death” that consisted of England, Argentina, and Nigeria.
•    2003 – Silver medal in the Women’s World Cup Final.
•    2005 – Number of licensed players increases to a record 2,42,794, of which 56,225 are women.


 

Facts & Figures

•    Governing body – Swedish Football Association
•    Affiliation – UEFA (Europe)
•    Home stadium – National Arena Rasunda Stadium
•    Major international tournaments – World Cup, European Championship, Olympic Games
•    National team – Nicknamed Blagult (The Blueyellow)
•    First international match – Against Norway in July 1908
•    Best performance in World Cup in men’s category – Runners-up in 1958
•    Best performance in European Championship in men’s category – Semifinals in 1992
•    Best performance in Olympic Games in men’s category – Gold in 1948; Silver in 1924, 1952
•    Best performance in World Cup in women’s category – Silver in 2003
•    Best performance in European Cup in women’s category – Silver in 1987, 1995, 2001


Squad
NamePositionGrade FansGroups
Sebastian Benet Larsson
Midfield
17
 0
Daniel Majstorovic
Defense
5
 0
Christian Ulf Wilhelmsson
Midfield
15
 0
Johan Erik Calvin Elmander
Offense
17
 0
Ola Toivonen
Offense
10
 0
Andreas Isaksson
Goal
24
 0
Kim Källström
Midfield
23
 0
Anders Svensson
Midfield
11
 0
Emir Bajrami
Midfield
4
 0
Last edited by:
On: August 29, 2009
Version: 9