With England facing the Sweden in the quarter-final of the World Cup, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate admits the Scandinavians have previously been underestimated.
Following a dramatic night in Moscow that saw England win their first ever penalty shoot-out in a World Cup finals, the England manager was cautious about getting carried away.
On paper Sweden appear to be a relatively easy opponent for England yet they have struggled to overcome the Blågult throughout history.
This fact is highlighted by the head to head record between the two nations, which has seen them face each other 24 times with England winning eight, drawing nine and losing seven.
The last time the teams met at a World Cup saw the game finish in a draw. The 2006 World Cup pitted England and Sweden up against each other in a group game, with Sweden’s Henrik Larsson bagging a last-minute equaliser as the score finished 2-2. They also drew four years before in Japan and South Korea.
England were thwarted by a last-minute equaliser against the Sweden national team in 2006.
The Three Lions did beat Sweden 3-2 at Euro 2012 but the game was again a tight affair. Before England beat Sweden 1-0 in a friendly game in 2011, you have to go all the way back to 1968 to find the last time the English triumphed.
This is clearly a record not lost on Southgate, who will be expecting another very close encounter between the two nations.
“I’m now thinking about Sweden because I want us to go on,” Southgate told ITV.
“Sweden are another team we have a poor record against. We’ve underestimated Sweden for years. They’re very good at what they do and it’s going to be a real tough test.”
Southgate’s side will face Sweden on Saturday in Samara with the winners facing a potential semi-final match up against either Croatia or Russia.
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England will be expecting a close game against a side that have kept three clean sheets in their four games so far in Russia. In fact the only side that have managed to score against Janne Andersson’s men are world champions Germany, who eventually finished bottom of Group F.
Sweden topped their group after a convincing win over Mexico and a hard fought game against South Korea saw them finish with six points. They then beat Switzerland 1-0 in the round of 16 thanks to more defensive heroics.
Whether they can hold off an England side boasting the tournament’s current top-scorer, Harry Kane with six goals, will likely be a decisive factor on Saturday.
The Sweden national team had previously appeared at 11 World Cup tournaments prior to this summer and their best-ever finish came in 1958. The Swedes hosted the competition that year and finished runners-up to Brazil.
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