Football: World Championship bronze for Sweden – defeated England 2-1

The first women's world championship was held in 1991. On Saturday, Sweden won its fourth medal when it beat England in the bronze medal match in Nice.

Here are the highlights and failures in all Swedish tournaments.

1991, China

World Champion: USA

Sweden's position: third place.

Sweden took the bronze medal in the first-ever Women's World Cup, held in China, where twelve countries competed for the title of world champion. The biggest Swedish stars were Pia Sundhage and Lena Vedikal, the latter becoming Sweden's top scorer with five goals in six matches.

Sweden earned the win in the bronze medal game by scoring 4-0 in the first half against Germany, a score that has stood the test of time after a semifinal loss to Norway.

1995, Sweden:

World Champion: Norway

Sweden's position: The result in the quarter-finals

The World Cup on home soil began with a snowy 0-1 loss to Brazil at a packed Olympia Arena in Helsingborg in front of 14,500 people. But for the players there was still some kind of victory:

“We have never played in front of such a big crowd and in such a great atmosphere in the stands,” Pia Sundhage said afterwards.

Sweden then beat both Germany and Japan in the group, but lost on penalties to China in the quarter-finals.

1999, USA:

World Champion: USA.

Sweden's position: The result in the quarter-finals.

Sweden again reached the quarterfinals after finishing second in the group at the USA World Cup, a tournament that was expanded to include 16 countries. But as happened in 1995, that's where it stopped. Norway were very tough and beat Sweden 3-0 before Malin Mostrom scored a consolation goal in extra time.

Therefore, the tournament was not a Swedish party, but a real audience party. The United States captured its second World Cup gold medal in front of 90,185 people at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena outside Los Angeles.

2003, USA:

World Champion: Germany.

Sweden's ranking: second.

The United States once again hosted the World Cup, which this time became a blue-and-yellow success story. There was already a loss in the opening match against the USA, but Sweden made it through, with a score of 2-1 against Brazil in the quarter-finals and 2-1 against Canada in the semi-finals, all the way to the final against Germany. Josephine Okvist made a real breakthrough when she decided to face Canada in the semi-finals.

Once in the final, Hanna Ljungberg gave Sweden the lead, but Maren Meynert equalized shortly after half-time. Eight minutes into extra time, Nia Kunzer sealed the so-called “golden goal” and Sweden took the silver medal.

The final was watched by 3.8 million television viewers in Sweden.

2007, China:

World Champion: Germany.

Sweden's position: He did not advance in the group.

The World Cup in China twelve years ago is Sweden's worst result to date, and the only time in a world championship that the women's national team was unable to advance from the group stage. Sweden started 1-1 against Nigeria and continued with a score of 0-2 against the USA. In the last group stage match, there was already a 2-1 win over North Korea, after two goals scored by Lota Shilin, but it was not enough because the North Koreans had a better goal difference than Sweden.

2011, Germany:

World Champion: Japan.

Sweden's position: third place.

Sweden passed the group stage in Germany with a series of victories: 1-0 against Colombia, 1-0 against North Korea and finally 2-1 against the USA. And it continued well: a clear victory over Australia 3-1 in the quarter-finals and Sweden in the semi-finals where the future world champion Japan was waiting.

Japan defeated Sweden 3–1, after Thomas Dennerby made a late tactical change due to an injury to Caroline Seager. According to Hedvig Lindahl, who made several mistakes in the match, the tactical change made the entire team unsafe.

However, Sweden rose up and won the bronze medal match against France 2-1. Marie Hammerstrom's dream goal in the 82nd minute meant the women's national team collected a third World Cup medal.

2015, Canada:

World Champion: USA.

Sweden's position: Round of 16 result.

Before the World Cup in Canada, the number of teams increased to 24 and Sweden narrowly qualified from the group stage. It all started with a poor opening match against Nigeria, which was a very tense match. Despite leading 2-0, the match ended in a 3-3 draw after half of the Swedish team suffered a muscle spasm.

Group play continued with scores of 0-0 against the United States and 1-1 against Australia, with Sweden leading on goal difference as one of the top four trios in the group stage. On the eighth there was an overtake. The German machine surged forward and won 4-1, and Sweden had to return home without a single win in the bag.

2019, France:

World Champion: USA or Netherlands (the final will be held on Sunday).

Sweden's position: third place

Sweden started with two straight victories, 2-0 over Chile and 5-1 over Thailand, but then impressed against world champions and big favorites USA, who won 2-0. In the round of 16 against Canada, Stina Blakstenius and Hedwig Lindahl became great heroes. Blackstenius after scoring the only goal of the game – Lindal for his great save when Canada were awarded a penalty kick.

In the quarter-finals, Sweden seized the opportunity to overcome the specter of over 24 years old when it defeated Germany for the first time in 24 years.