Sweden at the FIFA World Cup

Participation of Sweden's national football team in the FIFA Men's World Cup

For the women's team, see Sweden at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

This is a record of Sweden's results at the FIFA Men’s World Cup. The FIFA World Cup, sometimes called the Football World Cup or the Soccer World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 32 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup Finals is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.[1]

Sweden have been one of the more successful national teams in the history of the World Cup, having reached the top four on four occasions, and becoming runners-up on home ground in 1958. They have been present at 12 out of 21 World Cups by 2018.

Throughout the World Cup history, Brazil became Sweden's historical rival. The two countries have met each other seven times but Sweden never won, with five victories for the Brazilian side and two draws.[2] Another historical opponent of Sweden in the finals is (West) Germany: four encounters, with three wins for Germany and one for Sweden.[3]

## Overall record

[edit]

Sweden in the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final Team formations of Brazil (blue) and Sweden (yellow) at the start of the 1958 FIFA World Cup Final FIFA World Cup record  |  | FIFA World Cup qualification record

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Year  | Round  | Position  | Pld | W | D*  | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA
1930 | Did not enter | No qualification
1934 | Quarter-finals  | 8th  | 2  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 4  | 4  | 2  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 8  | 2
1938 | Fourth place | 4th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 3  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 11  | 7
1950 | Third place | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 2  | 2  | 0  | 0  | 6  | 2
1954 | Did not qualify | 4  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 9  | 8
1958 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | Qualified as hosts
1962 | Did not qualify | 5  | 3  | 0  | 2  | 11  | 5
1966 | 4  | 2  | 1  | 1  | 10  | 3
1970 | Group stage  | 9th  | 3  | 1  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 2  | 4  | 3  | 0  | 1  | 12  | 5
1974 | Quarter-finals[a] | 5th  | 6  | 2  | 2  | 2  | 7  | 6  | 7  | 4  | 2  | 1  | 17  | 9
1978 | First group stage  | 13th  | 3  | 0  | 1  | 2  | 1  | 3  | 4  | 3  | 0  | 1  | 7  | 4
1982 | Did not qualify | 8  | 3  | 2  | 3  | 7  | 8
1986 | 8  | 4  | 1  | 3  | 14  | 9
1990 | Group stage  | 21st  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 3  | 6  | 6  | 4  | 2  | 0  | 9  | 3
1994 | Third place | 3rd | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 10  | 6  | 3  | 1  | 19  | 8
1998 | Did not qualify | 10  | 7  | 0  | 3  | 16  | 9
2002 | Round of 16  | 13th  | 4  | 1  | 2  | 1  | 5  | 5  | 10  | 8  | 2  | 0  | 20  | 3
2006 | Round of 16  | 14th  | 4  | 1  | 2  | 1  | 3  | 4  | 10  | 8  | 0  | 2  | 30  | 4
2010 | Did not qualify | 10  | 5  | 3  | 2  | 13  | 5
2014 | 12  | 6  | 2  | 4  | 21  | 18
2018 | Quarter-finals  | 7th  | 5  | 3  | 0  | 2  | 6  | 4  | 12  | 7  | 2  | 3  | 27  | 9
2022 | Did not qualify | 10  | 6  | 0  | 4  | 13  | 8
2026 | TBD | 'Chile 0 (3) Sweden 0 (5)'
2030
2034
Total | Best: Runners-up | 12/25 | 51 | 19 | 13 | 19 | 80 | 73 | 141 | 86 | 21 | 34 | 280 | 129

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won.
***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Sweden's World Cup record

First match  |  Sweden 3–2 Argentina
(27 May 1934; Bologna, Italy)
Biggest win  |  Sweden 8–0 Cuba
(12 June 1938; Antibes, France)
Biggest defeat  |  Brazil 7–1 Sweden
(9 July 1950; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Best result  | Runners-up at the 1958 FIFA World Cup
Worst result  | Group stage in 1970, 1978 and 1990

## By match

[edit]

Sweden playing against Germany in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Year  | Round  | Against  | Score  | Scorers

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1934 | Round 1 |  Argentina | 3–2 | Jonasson (2), Kroon
Quarter-final |  Germany | 1–2 | Dunker
1938 | Round 1 |  Austria | w/o |
Quarter-final |  Cuba | 8–0 | H. Andersson (3), Wetterström (3), Keller, Nyberg
Semi-final |  Hungary | 1–5 | Nyberg
Bronze final |  Brazil | 2–4 | Jonasson, Nyberg
1950 | Group 3 |  Italy | 3–2 | Jeppson (2), S. Andersson
Paraguay | 2–2 | Sundqvist, Palmér
Final round |  Brazil | 1–7 | S. Andersson
Uruguay | 2–3 | Palmér, Sundqvist
Spain | 3–1 | Sundqvist, B. Mellberg, Palmér
1958 | Group 3 |  Mexico | 3–0 | Simonsson (2), Liedholm
Hungary | 2–1 | Hamrin (2)
Wales | 0–0 |
Quarter-final |  Soviet Union | 2–0 | Hamrin, Simonsson
Semi-final |  West Germany | 3–1 | Skoglund, Gren, Hamrin
Final |  Brazil | 2–5 | Liedholm, Simonsson
1970 | Group 2 |  Italy | 0–1 |
Israel | 1–1 | Turesson
Uruguay | 1–0 | Grahn
1974 | Group 3 |  Bulgaria | 0–0 |
Netherlands | 0–0 |
Uruguay | 3–0 | Edström (2), Sandberg
Group B |  Poland | 0–1 |
West Germany | 2–4 | Edström, Sandberg
Yugoslavia | 2–1 | Edström, Torstensson
1978 | Group 3 |  Brazil | 1–1 | Sjöberg
Austria | 0–1 |
Spain | 0–1 |
1990 | Group C |  Brazil | 1–2 | Brolin
Scotland | 1–2 | Strömberg
Costa Rica | 1–2 | Ekström
1994 | Group B |  Cameroon | 2–2 | Ljung, Dahlin
Russia | 3–1 | Dahlin (2), Brolin
Brazil | 1–1 | K. Andersson
Round of 16 |  Saudi Arabia | 3–1 | Dahlin, K. Andersson (2)
Quarter-final |  Romania | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | Brolin, K. Andersson
Semi-final |  Brazil | 0–1 |
Third place play-off |  Bulgaria | 4–0 | Brolin, Mild, Larsson, K. Andersson
2002 | Group F |  England | 1–1 | Alexandersson
Nigeria | 2–1 | Larsson (2)
Argentina | 1–1 | Svensson
Round of 16 |  Senegal | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Larsson
2006 | Group B |  Trinidad and Tobago | 0–0 |
Paraguay | 1–0 | Ljungberg
England | 2–2 | Allbäck, Larsson
Round of 16 |  Germany | 0–2 |
2018 | Group F |  South Korea | 1–0 | Granqvist
Germany | 1–2 | Toivonen
Mexico | 3–0 | Augustinsson, Granqvist, Álvarez (OG)
Round of 16 |   Switzerland | 1–0 | Forsberg
Quarter-final |  England | 0–2 |

## Record players

[edit]

Rank  | Player  | Matches  | World Cups

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1  | Henrik Larsson | 13 | 1994, 2002 and 2006
2  | Kalle Svensson | 11 | 1950 and 1958
Bo Larsson | 11 | 1970, 1974 and 1978
4  | Ronnie Hellström | 10 | 1970, 1974 and 1978
Björn Nordqvist | 10 | 1970, 1974 and 1978
Tomas Brolin | 10 | 1990 and 1994
Klas Ingesson | 10 | 1990 and 1994
Roland Nilsson | 10 | 1990 and 1994
Thomas Ravelli | 10 | 1990 and 1994
10  | Lennart Skoglund | 9 | 1950 and 1958
Ralf Edström | 9 | 1974 and 1978
Stefan Schwarz | 9 | 1990 and 1994

## Top goalscorers

[edit]

With his five goals in 1994, Kennet Andersson won the shared Bronze Boot at that tournament.

Henrik Larsson, Sweden's joint all-time top scorer (alongside Kennet Andersson) at the World Cup Rank  | Player  | Goals  | World Cups

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1 | Kennet Andersson | 5 | 1994
Henrik Larsson | 5 | 1994 (1), 2002 (3) and 2006 (1)
3  | Agne Simonsson | 4 | 1958
Kurt Hamrin | 4 | 1958
Ralf Edström | 4 | 1974
Tomas Brolin | 4 | 1990 (1) and 1994 (3)
Martin Dahlin | 4 | 1994
8  | Sven Jonasson | 3 | 1934 (2) and 1938 (1)
Harry Andersson | 3 | 1938
Gustav Wetterström | 3 | 1938
Arne Nyberg | 3 | 1938
Karl-Erik Palmér | 3 | 1950
Stig Sundqvist | 3 | 1950

## See also

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* Sweden at the UEFA European Championship

## Notes

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1. ^ Last 8 held as second group stage.

## References

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1. ^ 2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 June 2007.
2. ^ "Head-to-Head: Sweden v Brazil". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014.
3. ^ "Head-to-Head: Sweden v Germany". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014.

## External links

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* Sweden at FIFA
* World Cup Finals Statistics

Sweden FIFA World Cup squads

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Sweden squad – 1934 FIFA World Cup

* GK Rydberg
* GK Widlund
* DF S. Andersson
* DF O. Andersson
* DF Axelsson
* MF E. Andersson
* MF Carlsson
* MF Carlund
* MF Liljebjörn
* MF Rosén (c)
* MF Snitt
* FW Dunker
* FW Gustavsson
* FW Holmberg
* FW Jansson
* FW Johansson
* FW Jonasson
* FW Keller
* FW Kroon
* FW Lundahl
* FW Olsson
* FW Thörn
* Coach: Nagy

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1938 FIFA World Cup fourth place

* GK Abrahamsson
* GK Sjöberg
* GK Bergqvist
* DF Eriksson
* DF Källgren
* DF E. Nilsson
* MF Almgren
* MF Grahn
* MF Jacobsson
* MF Linderholm
* MF Svanström
* FW Å. Andersson
* FW H. Andersson
* FW Bergsten
* FW Hansson
* FW Jonasson
* FW Karlsson
* FW Keller (c)
* FW Nyberg
* FW Persson
* FW Wetterström
* Coach: Nagy

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1950 FIFA World Cup third place

* GK Lindberg
* GK Kalle Svensson
* GK T. Svensson
* DF Bodin
* DF Johansson
* DF Månsson
* DF E. Nilsson (c)
* DF Samuelsson
* MF Andersson
* MF Gärd
* MF Nordahl
* MF Åhlund
* FW Jeppson
* FW Jönsson
* FW Mellberg
* FW S. Nilsson
* FW Palmér
* FW Rydell
* FW Skoglund
* FW Sundqvist
* FW Kurt Svensson
* FW Tapper
* Coach: Raynor

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup runners-up

* 1 K. Svensson
* 2 Bergmark
* 3 Axbom
* 4 Liedholm (c)
* 5 Johansson
* 6 Parling
* 7 Hamrin
* 8 Gren
* 9 Simonsson
* 10 Selmosson
* 11 Skoglund
* 12 T. Svensson
* 13 Öberg
* 14 Gustavsson
* 15 Börjesson
* 16 Haraldsson
* 17 Håkansson
* 18 Löfgren
* 19 Källgren
* 20 Mellberg
* 21 Berndtsson
* 22 Ohlsson
* Coach: Raynor

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1970 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Hellström
* 2 Selander
* 3 Axelsson
* 4 Nordqvist (c)
* 5 Grip
* 6 Svensson
* 7 B. Larsson
* 8 Eriksson
* 9 Kindvall
* 10 Grahn
* 11 Persson
* 12 S. Larsson
* 13 Cronqvist
* 14 Kristensson
* 15 Målberg
* 16 Nordahl
* 17 Pettersson
* 18 Turesson
* 19 Nicklasson
* 20 Olsson
* 21 Ejderstedt
* 22 Pålsson
* Coach: Bergmark

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Hellström
* 2 Olsson
* 3 Karlsson
* 4 Nordqvist
* 5 Andersson
* 6 Grahn
* 7 B. Larsson (c)
* 8 Torstensson
* 9 Kindvall
* 10 Edström
* 11 Sandberg
* 12 S. Larsson
* 13 Grip
* 14 Tapper
* 15 Magnusson
* 16 Ejderstedt
* 17 Hagberg
* 18 Augustsson
* 19 Cronqvist
* 20 Lindman
* 21 Persson
* 22 Ahlström
* Coach: Ericson

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Hellström
* 2 Borg
* 3 Roy Andersson
* 4 Nordqvist (c)
* 5 Erlandsson
* 6 Tapper
* 7 Linderoth
* 8 B. Larsson
* 9 L. Larsson
* 10 Sjöberg
* 11 Wendt
* 12 Hagberg
* 13 M. Andersson
* 14 Åhman
* 15 Nilsson
* 16 Torstensson
* 17 Möller
* 18 Nordin
* 19 Karlsson
* 20 Roland Andersson
* 21 Åslund
* 22 Edström
* Coach: Ericson

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Andersson
* 2 J. Eriksson
* 3 Hysén (c)
* 4 Larsson
* 5 Ljung
* 6 R. Nilsson
* 7 Nyhlén
* 8 Schwarz
* 9 Engqvist
* 10 Ingesson
* 11 Jansson
* 12 L. Eriksson
* 13 Limpar
* 14 J. Nilsson
* 15 Strömberg
* 16 Thern
* 17 Brolin
* 18 Ekström
* 19 Gren
* 20 Magnusson
* 21 Pettersson
* 22 Ravelli
* Coach: Nordin

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup third place

* 1 Ravelli
* 2 R. Nilsson
* 3 P. Andersson
* 4 Björklund
* 5 Ljung
* 6 Schwarz
* 7 Larsson
* 8 Ingesson
* 9 Thern (c)
* 10 Dahlin
* 11 Brolin
* 12 Eriksson
* 13 M. Nilsson
* 14 Kåmark
* 15 Lučić
* 16 Limpar
* 17 Rehn
* 18 Mild
* 19 K. Andersson
* 20 Erlingmark
* 21 Blomqvist
* 22 Hedman
* Coach: Svensson

* v
* t
* e

Sweden squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Hedman
* 2 Mellberg
* 3 P. Andersson (c)
* 4 Mjällby
* 5 Mi. Svensson
* 6 Linderoth
* 7 Alexandersson
* 8 A. Svensson
* 9 Ljungberg
* 10 Allbäck
* 11 Larsson
* 12 Kihlstedt
* 13 Antonelius
* 14 Edman
* 15 Jakobsson
* 16 Lučić
* 17 Ma. Svensson
* 18 Jonson
* 19 Farnerud
* 20 D. Andersson
* 21 Ibrahimović
* 22 A. Andersson
* 23 Isaksson
* Coach: Lagerbäck & Söderberg

* v
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Sweden squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Isaksson
* 2 Nilsson
* 3 Mellberg (c)
* 4 Lučić
* 5 Edman
* 6 Linderoth
* 7 Alexandersson
* 8 A. Svensson
* 9 Ljungberg
* 10 Ibrahimović
* 11 Larsson
* 12 Alvbåge
* 13 Hansson
* 14 Stenman
* 15 K. Svensson
* 16 Källström
* 17 Elmander
* 18 Jonson
* 19 Andersson
* 20 Allbäck
* 21 Wilhelmsson
* 22 Rosenberg
* 23 Shaaban
* Coach: Lagerbäck

* v
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* e

Sweden squad – 2018 FIFA World Cup

* 1 Olsen
* 2 Lustig
* 3 Lindelöf
* 4 Granqvist (c)
* 5 Olsson
* 6 Augustinsson
* 7 Larsson
* 8 Ekdal
* 9 Berg
* 10 Forsberg
* 11 Guidetti
* 12 Johnsson
* 13 Svensson
* 14 Helander
* 15 Hiljemark
* 16 Krafth
* 17 Claesson
* 18 Jansson
* 19 Rohdén
* 20 Toivonen
* 21 Durmaz
* 22 Kiese Thelin
* 23 Nordfeldt
* Coach: Andersson

* v
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Sweden men's national football team

General|

* Swedish Football Association
* History
* Managers
* Captains

Venues|

* Råsunda Stadium
* Strawberry Arena

Statistics|

* Records
* World Cup record
* European Championship record

Results|

* 1908–1919
* 1980–1989
* 1990–1999
* 2000–2009
* 2010–2019
* 2020–present

Players|

* Previous squads
* 30+ caps
* Gre-No-Li
* Other categories

Goals|

* Zlatan Ibrahimović

World Cups|

* Summary
* 1934
* 1938
* 1954
* 1958
* 1970
* 1974
* 1978
* 1990
* 1994
* 2002
* 2006
* 2018

European Championships|

* Summary
* 1992
* 2000
* 2004
* 2008
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020

Other tournaments|

* Olympic Games
* Nordic Championships (1924–2001)
* Minor tournaments

Culture|

* Rivalry with Denmark
* "Vi är svenska fotbollsgrabbar"
* "När vi gräver guld i USA"
* "In med bollen"

Notable matches|

* 1948 Olympic Football Final
* 1958 FIFA World Cup final

Other SvFF teams|

| Men's|

* B team (defunct)
* Olympic team
* U21 team
* U19 team
* U17 team
* Futsal team
* Beach soccer team

|

Women's|

* Senior team
* U23 team [sv; de; it; pt]
* U19 team
* U17 team
* Futsal team

* v
* t
* e

Countries at the FIFA World Cup

* Team appearances
* All-time table

AFC|

* Australia1
* China
* Indonesia2
* Iran
* Iraq
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kuwait
* North Korea
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* South Korea
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan

CAF|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Cameroon
* DR Congo2
* Egypt
* Ghana
* Ivory Coast
* Morocco
* Nigeria
* Senegal
* South Africa
* Togo
* Tunisia

CONCACAF|

* Canada
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* El Salvador
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Panama
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States

CONMEBOL|

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Uruguay

OFC|

* New Zealand

UEFA|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Czech Republic2
* Denmark
* East Germany3
* England
* France
* Germany2
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Israel1
* Italy
* Netherlands
* Northern Ireland
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Republic of Ireland
* Romania
* Russia2
* Scotland
* Serbia2
* Slovakia2
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* Wales

1 Have been member of multiple confederations. 2 Considered a successor team by FIFA, or have competed under another name(s). 3 Team and national federation no longer exist.
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