Sweden Soccer Team - Sweden Soccer

Sweden Team General Information

Country - Sweden
Capital City - Stockholm
Continent - Europe
Manager - Lars Lagerback
Captain - Olof Mellberg
Star Man - Zlatan Ibrahimovic - very skilled and powerful to match, his only weakness being his notable temper.

Sweden Team History
Founded 1904
Affiliated 1904

WC participations 10 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002)
WC honours Runners-up (1958)

World Cup Record:
Year Host Performance
1930 Uruguay -
1934 Italy Quarter finals
1938 France Fourth place
1950 Brazil Third place
1954 Switzerland -
1958 Sweden Runners up
1962 Chile -
1966 England -
1970 Mexico Third, Group Two
1974 West Germany Second Group phase
1978 Argentina Fourth, Group Three
1982 Spain -
1986 Mexico -
1990 Italy Fourth, Group C
1994 U.S.A. Third place
1998 France -
2002 S.Korea/Japan Second Round (last 16)
2006 Germany in Group B with England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago
SWEDEN Football Team for 2006 FIFA World Cup

Coach:
Lars Lagerback

Goalkeepers:
Andreas Isaksson, John Alvbage, Rami Shaaban.

Defenders:
Mikael Nilsson, Olof Mellberg, Teddy Lucic, Erik Edman, Petter Hansson, Fredrik Stenman, Karl Svensson.

Midfielders:
Tobias Linderoth, Niclas Alexandersson, Anders Svensson, Freddie Ljungberg, Kim Kallstrom, Johan Elmander, Mattias Jonson, Daniel Andersson, Christian Wilhelmsson.

Forwards:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Marcus Allback, Markus Rosenberg.

Sweden Statistics in Group B with England, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago

Jersey No. Name of the Player
1 Andreas Isaksson
2 Mikael Nilsson
3 Olof Mellberg
4 Teddy Lucic
5 Erik Edman
6 Tobias Linderoth
7 Niclas Alexandersson
8 Anders Svensson
9 Freddie Ljungberg
10 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
11 Henrik Larsson
12 John Alvbage
13 Petter Hansson
14 Fredrik Stenman
15 Karl Svensson
16 Kim Kallstrom
17 Johan Elmander
18 Mattias Jonson
19 Daniel Andersson
20 Marcus Allback
21 Christian Wilhelmsson
22 Markus Rosenberg
23 Rami Shaaban

Sweden Team is playing in Group B along with England, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago. Sweden has participated in the World Cup ten times. This time the Sweden Team qualified as one of the two best runners-up in European qualifying. Sweden won eight out of their ten qualifying matches. They were a part of Group 8. They averaged exactly three goals a game and conceded just four goals. They suffered two defeats from Croatia and had to settle for the second place.

Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic played a crucial role in Sweden's qualification. He scored seven goals. His four-goal haul in the 7-0 victory in Malta was outstanding. Fredrik Ljungberg scored seven goals and Henrik Larsson scored four goals.

In its past World Cup appearances, Sweden Team has celebrated notable success. In the 1938 finals, they were the semi-finalists. They also won the Olympic Football Gold in 1948. The trio of Gunnar Gren, Nils Liedholm and Gunnar Nordahl led their team to the finals of the 1958 World Cup hosted in Sweden, but Brazil defeated them in the finals.

The Swedes put forth a decent performance at USA 94, where they came third. In South Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup, they reached the second round where they topped the group including England and Argentina.

Coach Lars Lagerback is associated with the Swedish team since 1998 when Coach Tommy Soderberg made him the assistant coach. In 2000 he was made co-coach and after EURO 2004 when Soderberg stepped down, Lagerback became the sole coach of the Swedish team.

Captain Olof Mellberg, Ljungberg, Larrson, Ibrahimovic and Christian Wilhelmsson are the players to watch.