World Cup 2018: 5 memorable matches between England and Sweden

Saturday’s World Cup Quarter-Final between England and Sweden is the biggest game for a long time for both sides, and while there’s no bitter rivalry between the two countries like there is for say, England and Argentina or Germany and the Netherlands, there’s no denying that the two teams do have some history.

England were of course managed by a Swede – Sven-Goran Eriksson – for half a decade, and the Premier League has played host to plenty of Swedish stars over the years, including Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The record between the two sides is relatively even, too – out of 24 games, England have 8 wins, Sweden have 7 and there have been 9 draws. They’ve also faced each other in four major tournaments since the dawn of the 1990’s – again with mixed results. The last time they faced each other was in 2012, when a Zlatan masterclass earned Sweden a 4-2 friendly win, but that aside, here are five other memorable times that England faced Sweden in competitive games.

#1: Sweden 2-1 England – Euro 1992

Thomas Brolin scored the winner in Euro 1992's meeting between Sweden and England

The 1992 European Championships took place in Sweden, and with a much smaller 8-team field back then, the winners and runners-up in two groups went directly into the semi-finals of the tournament. England and Sweden were drawn into a group with Denmark and France, and after drawing their first two games, England needed to win to advance as Sweden had managed to beat Denmark after drawing their opening game too.

Managed by the much-maligned Graham Taylor, England actually got off to a dream start when David Platt bundled in a cross from Gary Lineker. However, a poor Three Lions outfit that included the likes of Carlton Palmer and Andy Sinton were always going to struggle to maintain their lead, and a header from Jan Eriksson allowed Sweden to equalise early in the second half.

Chasing the game, Taylor curiously decided to withdraw talismanic striker Lineker, and paid the ultimate price – with about ten minutes remaining, forward Tomas Brolin played a wonderful one-two with strike partner Martin Dahlin and then fired a shot past Chris Woods and into England’s net to win the match.

England were eliminated from the tournament and Taylor was infamously lambasted as a “turnip” by the English press. Around 18 months later he resigned after his side failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup – a tournament that saw Sweden, still fielding most of the players from Euro 1992, reach the semi-finals before bowing out to eventual winners Brazil.

#2: Sweden 2-1 England – Euro 2000 qualifiers

After being eliminated from the 1998 World Cup by Argentina under controversial circumstances, Glenn Hoddle’s England had high hopes for Euro 2000, as younger stars like David Beckham and Michael Owen had burst through onto the scene. Unfortunately for England fans, those hopes were immediately landed a body blow by Sweden in the first qualifying game for the tournament.

England actually got off to a flying start, scoring in the opening minute through an Alan Shearer free-kick, but half an hour later Sweden had their equaliser, Andreas Andersson poking in a rebound following a save from David Seaman. Just two minutes later, another Swedish attack ended in a scrappy goal from Johan Mjallby after some sloppy England defending.

Hoddle’s side never really seemed comfortable throughout the game, and in the second half things got even worse for them when midfielder Paul Ince was red-carded for a foul on Henrik Larsson – his second bookable offence. England never really came close to an equaliser and in the end it was a solid victory for Sweden.

Nine months later the teams faced off at Wembley in the return leg and despite England seemingly being rejuvenated after replacing Hoddle with Kevin Keegan, the Three Lions could only stutter to a 0-0 draw, and were forced to reach Euro 2000 via the play-offs as Sweden won the qualifying group by a clear 9 points.

#3: England 1-1 Sweden – World Cup 2002

When Swedish native Sven-Goran Eriksson was announced as England’s new manager to take the Three Lions into the 2002 World Cup, it always seemed fated that they’d end up meeting Sweden somewhere along the way. Unlike this year’s tournament though, the two sides were drawn in the same group rather than facing off in the knockout stages – alongside Argentina and Nigeria in what was christened the ‘Group of Death’.

England and Sweden faced off in what was the first game of the tournament for both sides, and it was Sven’s men who struck first – Sol Campbell heading home powerfully from a David Beckham corner midway through the first half. But following the goal England weren’t able to create many more chances – only getting four shots on target throughout the match – and when Southampton’s Anders Svensson was introduced early in the second half, Sweden began to boss the possession.

An equaliser felt inevitable and sure enough, when Danny Mills failed to clear a long pass correctly, the ball fell to midfielder Niclas Alexandersson, whose shot from the edge of the box flew past David Seaman and into the net. From there Sweden firmly took control of the game and it was only Seaman who kept England in the game, saving well twice from Teddy Lucic.

The game eventually ended in a draw, but although it was an unconvincing performance from England, they went on to perform marvelously in their next game, beating Argentina. Sweden’s win over Nigeria meanwhile left both sides in a great position to qualify, and both picked up draws in their final games – putting them into the knockout stages with Argentina missing out.

#4: England 2-2 Sweden – World Cup 2006

England and Sweden were once again drawn into the same group in the 2006 World Cup, although there wasn’t as much furore around this game as there had been in the 2002 tournament – the novelty of Eriksson as England manager had worn off by that stage and the group wasn’t nearly as tough for either side, containing two weaker teams in the form of Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago.

This time the game was the final match of the group stage for the teams, and it was Sweden coming in with their backs to the wall as they needed to gain at least a point to qualify, while England were already safely through to the knockout stage after winning their previous two games. Unlike 2018’s tournament though, England didn’t make multiple changes to their side – instead reintroducing the injured Wayne Rooney to the starting line-up and only leaving out Steven Gerrard.

Despite losing Michael Owen through an injury after just one minute, England started the brighter side and opened the scoring when Joe Cole caught a clearance on his chest and then hit a wonder volley from 35 yards that flew into the top corner. It was one of the best goals of the entire tournament and arguably England’s highest point in the competition.

England pushed for a second goal but couldn’t get it before half-time, and five minutes into the second-half they were shell-shocked by an equaliser, Marcus Allback heading a corner home after some sloppy marking. The Three Lions then thought they’d won the game when substitute Gerrard headed in on 85 minutes, only for some poor defending to catch up with them as Henrik Larsson bundled in an injury-time equaliser.

A draw was probably the fairest result in the end and once again, both sides advanced into the knockout phase.

#5: England 3-2 Sweden – Euro 2012

After failing to pick up a win over Sweden since 1968, England finally managed to get one over on their so-called “bogey side” in the group stage of Euro 2012, coming from behind to win 3-2 in what unexpectedly turned out to be one of the most exciting games of the tournament. In hindsight, it could easily be argued that this victory was the high point of Roy Hodgson’s time in charge of the Three Lions.

Without the suspended Wayne Rooney, Hodgson decided to plan against Sweden’s physical style by fighting fire with fire – introducing powerful forward Andy Carroll for the first time in the tournament. It was a plan that almost immediately worked, as Carroll scored with a towering header from a Steven Gerrard cross to put England into the lead after 23 minutes.

England held onto the lead into the second half, but were then undone by their own gameplan – balls into the penalty box. Firstly a Zlatan Ibrahimovic free-kick that hit the wall was fired back into the box, and the loose ball fell to Olof Mellberg, who poked it home. And just ten minutes later it was Mellberg who hit England with another suckerpunch, heading in from a free-kick after some sloppy marking.

There looked to be no way back for Hodgson’s side, but surprisingly he rolled the dice and brought on speedy substitute Theo Walcott – and almost immediately he made a difference, equalising in an almost flukey way – the ball came to him on the edge of the box and he hit a swerving, dipping shot that fooled keeper Andreas Isaksson and found its way into the net.

With England suddenly back in the game, they began to push for the winner, and it was Walcott who was the key again. He darted between two defenders and into the penalty area, and sent over a cross that was backheeled into the net by Danny Welbeck. England finally had their victory – and had apparently broken the curse against one of their trickier opponents over the years.