Football General Manager
England are certainly feeling better now about their European Championship title defence, having got over the concerning defeat to France which kicked their tournament off. Thumping wins over the Netherlands and Wales, with 10 goals scored across the two results, have the Lionesses heading into the quarter-finals with plenty of confidence, epitomised by Ella Toone’s message to Sweden. “I think they should be scared,” she said on ITV asked about Thursday’s opponents.
But cross over to the other side and the feeling is similar. Peter Gerhardsson’s team won all three of their group stage matches, battered Germany and conceded just once to win Group C and set up a rematch of their Euro 2022 semi-final. Three years ago, England convincingly won that meeting by a 4-0 scoreline but, in the words of Chelsea winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd, something feels “different” this time. “Maybe we’ve always been a bit of an underdog, but winning 4-1 against Germany still says a lot,” she said. “I definitely think that teams are starting to realise that we’re not the underdogs and maybe they don’t want to play us.”
After so many near misses, so many close calls and some seriously heartbreaking moments, might this finally be the year that this incredible generation of Swedish talent delivers that first major title? They have every right to believe.
Women’s Euro 2025 tickets were made available through official UEFA channels atu0026nbsp;womenseuro.com and ticketcorner.ch and demand has been high with over 500,000 sold. Close collaboration with each national association following the final tournament draw, helped process the sale of tickets to fans of the participating teams.
For years, Sweden have been as safe a bet as it comes to make the final stages of these big events. Since 2016, they’ve reached the semi-finals in six of their last seven major tournaments, with the only miss their quarter-final exit at Euro 2017. Under current head coach Peter Gerhardsson, it’s five semi-finals out of five, including two Olympic finals. They are always a factor when it comes to the business end of the biggest competitions.
At the heart of that consistent success is a talented and continuous group of players representing clubs of the highest stature. This is not a group that has changed much over the years, with there still seven names in Gerhardsson’s squad today that were part of the team that won Olympic silver in 2016. That’s quite a big number from an event that took place nine years ago and requires a smaller squad of 18 players, as opposed to 23.
Looking at Gerhardsson’s first squad at a major tournament, at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, there are 13 names that remain today – a number that would have been 14, but for goalkeeper Zecira Musovic expecting her first child. It’s no wonder England boss Sarina Wiegman described Sweden as “a team that is really together”.
As well as Gerhardsson’s eight-year tenure adding further familiarity, it feels like another reason for that chemistry is the lack of superstars in the squad. While many members of the squad represent elite clubs, there’s no big egos to manage, no global icons, just a group of extremely talented players with plenty of experience who have rarely, if ever, made headlines for disharmony within the group or raised suspicions that such a thing might exist.
That it might be the last time for the bulk of this group to get their hands on a major title, too, contributes another element to their Euro 2025 campaign. Sweden have the oldest squad, by average age, at this tournament, with only four players under the age of 26 and nine in their 30s. Vice-captain Linda Sembrant is 38, skipper Kosovare Asllani is 35, as is forward Sofia Jakobsson. All three have silver and bronze medals to their names from the last few years but, with it not certain that they will be around at the World Cup in 2027, they’d love to add a gold to the collection in Switzerland.
That Gerhardsson will leave his role as head coach this summer only adds to it. When former Australia boss Tony Gustavsson takes over, there could well be a few imposed changes on this squad too, as well as players maybe deciding it’s time to call it a day on the international front. Whatever happens, the core group of players who have made up this squad over the best part of the last decade is sure to have shrunk by the time the next tournament comes around.
Fortunately, there is reason to believe this could really be Sweden’s year, regardless of who’s ‘last dance’ it turns out to be. Gerhardsson’s side were fantastic in the group stages, quietly going about their business with wins over Denmark and Poland before really sending a message to the rest of the tournament with a 4-1 thumping of Germany.
Jennifer Falk appears to be relishing the opportunity to be Sweden’s No.1 at a major tournament for the first time, while Nathalie Bjorn is leading the defence imperiously to form the team’s solid foundations; Filippa Angeldahl and Kosovare Asllani, two of the best midfielders on show at Euro 2025, have been excellent on both sides of the ball in an energetic engine room; and that has helped set the attack up to thrive, with Johanna Rytting Kaneryd flying, Fridolina Rolfo back from injury and Stina Blackstenius full of confidence after her Champions League-winning strike.
“I have a really good feeling,” Rytting Kaneryd said, and understandably so, after the win over Germany. “You can see it in the squad, something different this year.”
Whatever came next was always going to be tough for Sweden. “France or England? Plague or cholera?” – that was the pondering by Sportbladet, the esteemed Swedish newspaper, after it was confirmed that Gerdhardsson’s side had won their group. “No opposition would be easy for Sweden in a quarter-final, the hurdle that awaits is tough regardless,” the article continued, before adding: “It will be difficult and possibly messy – but it is manageable.” And that’s exactly it. Either opponent would be tough but Sweden are in that bracket as contenders, too.
For Magdalena Eriksson, the former Chelsea captain, the preference was the Lionesses. “I think we stood up better against England than France,” she explained, having been in the same Euro 2025 qualifying group as both. “If you look at both games when we play them, I think we are close against England in both game one and two. So those I feel we have a little bit of momentum on, without being too cocky,” she added.
There are reasons to believe the match-up suits Sweden, too. They have a direct game – “that’s not something we’ve really come across in the group stage,” Keira Walsh, the Lionesses midfielder, noted – and their good wing play could be a nightmare for England’s defence, which can be exposed down the sides given Lucy Bronze’s attack-minded approach and the well-documented left-back issue. It’s sure to be an interesting meeting.
If the Lionesses are to be upended by Sweden, it certainly won’t be because they’ve not taken note of their quality. “Sweden are a fantastic team,” Leah Williamson, the England captain, said. “They are ruthless in the way they approach matches. It feels like they always go under the radar in terms of expectations, that nobody really talks about them. It’s a bit disrespectful in my opinion, because they always do well, can threaten most teams and get a medal or get to the semi-finals.”
That might even put a little bit of a chip on Sweden’s shoulder. Asked if she felt the team was underestimated, Rytting Kaneryd replied: “Yes and no. You can never count Sweden out of a championship. We have done well in the past and everyone knows that. A championship is special in many ways and we are strong there. But of course, a team like Spain, for example, has played some fantastic games and scored some goals.”
Winning Group C, though, puts Sweden on the other side of the draw to La Roja, with them not able to meet the world champions until the final. That’s not to say there wouldn’t be challenges en route to that point, with England, as holders, the obvious obstacle before a potential semi-final meeting with Norway or Italy. But just as it feels like the draw has opened up for the Lionesses, it has for Sweden, too. They’re a serious contender for this title.
