Sweden - World Cup 2006

p>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.

How did they qualify – The hard way. They only just avoided a play-off, loosing twice to Croatia but finishing level on points to qualify as one of the two best placed runners up in the FIFA world cup 2006, Germany. Undoubtedly Sweden’s strengths are up front where they have in addition to Ibrahimovic, Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson and Arsenal Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg who, himself is never short of providing goals. The most obvious weakness in the current squad being the right-back position which is still awaiting a permanent player to fill.

Ranked 14th in the world Sweden could cause some surprise upsets, winning eight of their ten group matches and averaging out on three goals per game. They only conceded four in return. They have the talent in their squad to make opponents fully aware of their capability and intentions to go far in this competition.

Above you will find the Sweden national team photo along with the Sweden national team badge.

Buy the Official team shirt

Team History
First International:	Sweden 11 - 3 Norway (Gothenburg, Sweden; 12 July 1908)
Largest win:	Sweden 12 - 0 Latvia (Stockholm, Sweden; 29 May 1927)
Worst defeat:	England Amateur 12 - 1 Sweden (London, England; 20 October 1908)
World Cup Appearances:	11 (First in 1934) Best result Runners-up, 1958
European Championship Appearances:	3 (First in 1992) Best result Semifinals, 1992
World Cup Record:	1930 - Did not enter 1934 - Quarterfinals 1938 - Fourth place 1950 - Third place 1954 - Did not qualify 1958 - Runners-up 1962 - Did not qualify 1966 - Did not qualify 1970 - Round 1 1974 - Round 2 1978 - Round 1 1982 - Did not qualify 1986 - Did not qualify 1990 - Round 1 1994 - Third place 1998 - Did not qualify 2002 - Round 2 2006 - Qualified
Current Notable Players:	Goalkeepers: Eddie Gustafsson, Andreas Isaksson Defenders: Christoffer Andersson, Mikael Dorsin, Erik Edman, Petter Hansson, Teddy Lucic, Olof Mellberg, Alexander Ostlund Midfielders: Niclas Alexandersson, Daniel Andersson, Kim Kallström, Tobias Linderoth, Fredrik Ljungberg, Mikael Nilsson, Anders Svensson, Christian Wilhelmsson Forwards: Marcus Allback, Johan Elmander, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mattias Jonson, Henrik Larsson, Markus Rosenberg