Number of European Championship entries: 7th (best result: 4 finals 1992)
Coach: Janne Andersson
Captain: Andreas Granqvist
Average age: 29.1 years
Group stage opponents: Poland, Slovakia, Spain
GK: Robin Olsen 31; Everton (England)
GK: Karl-Johan Johnsson, 31; Copenhagen (Denmark)
GK: Kristoffer Nordfeldt 31; Genklebiligi (Turkey)
DF: Mikael Lustig, 34, AIK Solna (Sweden)
DF: Victor Lindelöf 26; Manchester United (England)
DF: Andreas Granqvist 34; Helsingborg (Sweden)
DF: Martin Olsson 33; Hergen (Sweden)
DF: Ludwig Augustinsson 27; Werder Bremen (Germany)
DF: Filip Helander 28; Glasgow Rovers (Scotland)
DF: Emil Krafth, 26; Newcastle United (England)
DF: Pontus Jansson 30; Brentford (England)
DF: Marcus Danielson, 32; Dalian (China)
MF: Sebastian Larsson 36; AIK Solna (Sweden)
MF: Albin Ekdal 31; Sampdoria (Italy)
MF: Emil Forsberg, 29; Leipzig (Germany)
MF: Gustav Svensson, 34; Guangzhou City (China)
MF: Ken Sema 27; Watford (England)
MF: Viktor Claesson 29; Krasnodar (Russia)
MF: Mattias Svanberg, 22; Bologna (Italy)
MF: Kristoffer Olsson, 25; Krasnodar (Russia)
Christopher Olsson is one of three Swedish players playing for Krasnodar and the one most heavily regarded by the national team. Christopher Olsson has topped the squad in his playing time for the national team since last summer. In Sweden's 4-4-2 formation, players in midfield have to be efficiency players, especially when partnered by veteran Sebastian Larsson. In terms of the league teams currently playing, Matthias Swanberg and Albin Ekdal, who also play in Serie A, are better than Christopher Olsson, who only plays in the Russian Premier League, but the latter is the best choice in the national team midfield.
MF: Dejan Kulusevski 21; Juventus (Italy)
Dejan Kulusevsky is the only "post-millennial" player in this Swedish squad and the youngest in the squad. Although his number of chances, goals and assists at Juventus this season is not as good as last season at Parma, after a year of training in the big team, Dejan Kulusevsky has indeed improved a bit. Although he is expected to play a more right-wing position in this tournament, he can also move forward to play one of the two arrows, especially the auxiliary position behind the forward. It is believed that this deployment will be one of the arrangements that Janet Anderson can consider when facing a strong team.
MF: Jens Cajuste 21; Central Jutland (Denmark)
FW: Marcus Berg 34; Krasnodar (Russia)
FW: Alexander Isak 21; Real Sociedad (Spain)
FW: Robin Quaison 27; Mainz (Germany)
FW: Jordan Larsson 23; Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Jordan Larsson is the son of former Swedish national team star Henrik Larsson Moscow and studied at the La Masia Academy in Barcelona. He is one of the other players in the squad who currently plays in the Russian Premier League, but not for Krasnodar, but for Spartak Moscow. Originally, he was the "third top scorer" of the Russian Premier League this season, scoring a total of 15 goals, only less than Artem Dzyuba and Sardar Azmoun of Zenit St. Petersburg, but considering that Zenit St. Petersburg scored 20 more goals than Spartak Moscow, Jordan Larson's performance list this season is satisfactory and a big improvement over last season. Jordan Larson and Robin Queson play somewhat similarly, both are players who are good at constantly moving in the midfield. If Sweden's offensive moves are to be added, Jordan Larsson may surprise the fans.
Expected lineup: 4-4-2
Robin Olson;
Mikael Lustig; Pontus Jansson; Victor Lindelof; Ludwig Augustinson;
Dejan Kulusevsky; Sebastian Larson; Christopher Olsson; Emile Fossberg;
Alexander Isaac; Marcus Berry
Sweden reached the quarter-finals of the last World Cup, ending the previous three consecutive tournaments that had been eliminated in the group stage. When it comes to Swedish football in recent years, everyone will think that they are a bit out of luck and that there are not many new stars emerging. In the World Cup squad three years ago, 17 players have been selected for this year's squad, and the players selected in the midfield are almost the same. In addition, there are 12 players in the squad who are over 30 years old, and if it were not for Zlatan Ibrahimović's injury, their average age would be higher.
Although Ibrahimovic failed to attend this tournament, the other two veterans selected are quite topical, one of which is the captain of the last World Cup, Andreas Granqvist, who is also the oldest player in the squad. The 36-year-old veteran is no longer playing in the top flight because his Swedish goalkeeper Hillsborough was relegated last season and therefore has to compete in the secondary league this year, and whether he has regressed from his level of competition three years ago is another question for fans. After all, the last time he played for the national team was in November 2019.
As for the selection of left-back Martin Olsen, who once played for Blackburn Rovers, it is believed to be more controversial, as another rival, Pierre Bengtsson, has been one of the main left-backs of the Swedish national team for the previous year or two, and the two have also performed well on the club, so coach Yanne Anderson also said in an earlier visit that it was a difficult decision to abandon Pierre Benteson. Perhaps Janne Anderson has always relied on Martin Olson, who is more experienced in major events.
Sweden also has other issues to deal with for the defence, among which victor Lindelof's partner in the middle of the line still needs time to verify. In addition to andreas Granqvist, mentioned above, Philippe Holland and Pontus Jansson, who played for the British Isles team, also competed. On the other hand, the right-back position seems to be another place to be criticized, with the "old" right-back Mikael Lustig, who has been playing for the national team since 2008, old enough to return to the Swedish domestic league last summer, while another right-back contender is Emile Kraft, who can play both centre-back and right-back, but regardless of the use of anyone, the Swedish right-back is less threatening than the main choice of left-back Ludwig Augustinson, so the attack of the two defenders may be unbalanced.
It is generally estimated that Sweden will continue to use a 4-4-2 formation, but not a simple two-wing or bottom-line crossover routine, because the winger configuration on both sides can actually have a lot of changes, among which dejan Kulusevsky's rise in recent years will definitely help strengthen Sweden's creativity and imagination in attack, while Leipzig's Emir Fossberg is very likely to be a left-wing canon, and the use should be no different from the use of him by recent Sweden in the big game. Robin Quesson and Victor Klasson are also capable of playing on both flanks, while if you want to play simply and directly, there is also Watford's Ken Sema on the left wing, whose speed and sprinting power on the flanks are elements that most midfielders in Sweden have failed to offer.
Of course, the team's midfield combination is mainly based on efficient players, and many times only responsible for the work of interception or some transitional transmission, the creativity is not good, so how the left and right wings move into the middle in a timely manner as a needle lead will have a great impact on the Swedish attack. In Ibrahimovic's absence, the Swedish front's offensive focus will be on Marcus Berry and Alexander Isaac, known as the new Ibrahimovic, and the potential influence of Robin Queson and Jordan Larsson after the famous player mentioned above, respectively, is still a certain freshness in the attacking players selected for the national team.
Sweden's group at this tournament is a bit "specious". Slovakia and Poland are not first-line powerhouses, and even the champion-hot Spain has its own problems. Sweden is certainly not strong, but if it relies on some pragmatic football to win the first place in the group stage after the 2018 World Cup, it should not surprise too many fans.