World Cup 2018: 5 memorable matches between England and Sweden

#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.