Life after Ibrahimovic: Sweden search for a new star

The Swedish national team has a proud tradition at international level and has always had really good players. Now, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic retired from international football, Sweden were left without a single star in their squad. The Blue-Yellow urgently needed a new hero.

The Scandinavian side has a great record at major tournaments. Sweden finished second at the 1958 FIFA World Cup and won bronze medals at the World Cups of 1950 and 1994, reaching the semi-finals on one other occasion as well. Sweden also reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1992. Their only victory at a major international tournament came in 1948, when Sweden won the Olympic Games in the UK.

Several players stand out as key figures for Sweden in the modern history of football. Patrik Andersson is a legendary defender who played at Euro 1992, Euro 2000 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. A former Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern Munich and Barcelona player, Andersson won 96 caps for Sweden and scored 4 goals for his country.

Thomas Ravelli is another emblematic figure for Sweden. The goalkeeper began his international career in 1981 and retired 16 years later. He played at two World Cups (including the third-place finish in 1994) and at Euro 1992. Over his long career Ravelli won 143 caps for Sweden and became a national legend.

The attackers Tomas Brolin and Martin Dahlin were the personification of classy goalscorers. Both were in the squad when Sweden finished third at the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Both had clinical finishing and very good club careers, and English fans still remember Brolin’s magnificent finish against England in 1992.

Since the turn of the millennium, Sweden have had even more explosive players in attack. The trio of Henrik Larsson, Fredrik Ljungberg and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was unstoppable. Larsson is one of the most successful Swedish footballers of all time; he began his international career in 1993 and retired in 2009, scoring 37 goals in 106 matches for Sweden. Ljungberg was part of the great Arsenal side that went unbeaten through the 2003/04 season. Ibrahimovic became Sweden’s all-time top scorer with 62 goals in 116 appearances for his country.

Now, however, there was no magic left in Sweden’s squad, and the football world was waiting for the country’s next generation.

The end of the Ibrahimovic era at Euro 2016

Ibrahimovic's last tournament for his country was a disappointment. Sweden were drawn in Group E at Euro 2016 in France and opened with a 1-1 draw against the Republic of Ireland on 13 June. A 1-0 defeat by Italy on 17 June followed, and a 1-0 loss to Belgium on 22 June ended their campaign. Sweden finished bottom of the group with one point, having scored once and conceded three times.

A team without a star

The new generation answered the question sooner than expected, and it did so as a collective rather than through a single hero. In the qualifying play-off for the 2018 World Cup, Sweden beat Italy 1-0 in the first leg and then drew 0-0 away to Italy on 13 November 2017, winning 1-0 on aggregate and keeping the Italians out of the tournament.

In Russia, Sweden opened with a 1-0 win over South Korea, narrowly lost to Germany and then beat Mexico 3-0 to finish top of their group. Germany, the holders, went out in last place. In the round of 16 a goal from Emil Forsberg gave Sweden a 1-0 win over Switzerland and their first World Cup quarter-final since 1994. The run ended there with a 2-0 defeat to England.

Ibrahimovic himself did not stay away for good. He was called up again in 2021, for the first time in almost five years, after his retirement from international football at the end of Euro 2016. At Euro 2020, played in 2021, Sweden went unbeaten through a group containing Spain, Slovakia and Poland, drawing 0-0 with Spain and beating Poland 3-2, before losing to Ukraine in the round of 16 to a header from Artem Dovbyk in the 120th minute.