In September, it is time for competitive matches for the Swedish men’s national team again. Then the Nations League begins, where Sweden is in the C division after Janne Andersson’s team fell from A to C in two rounds, and six matches are played in the fall of 2024.
Even if the game program is delayed, Sweden’s draw is now complete: Azerbaijan, Slovakia and Estonia.
– Immediately thought: “Well, now we meet them again”. We just met Azerbaijan and Estonia, but that’s how it is with draws, you never know. We look forward to meeting them and it’s nice that we know who is waiting, says national team manager Stefan Pettersson to the Football Channel.
No fun memories from Baku?
– It was boring last time (in Baku) and it won’t be difficult with the motivation in those matches.
Not an easy group?
– No, Slovakia was the national team that had the highest Fifa ranking of all in the C division. It will be tough, but it is clear that we aim to win.
Requirements to win the group?
– It is difficult to make demands because it can be coincidences that decide, but Sweden at least belongs in the B division.
The national team captain until the Nations League starts?
– We have always said that we hope to have a national team captain ready during the first quarter and we have good hope that we will solve that.
Sweden still does not have a national team captain, but just as Fotbollskanalen wrote, Jon Dahl Tomasson is current and Aftonbladet states that the Dane is one of two main candidates along with Jens Gustafsson who is in Pogoń Szczecin. The former MFF coach Dahl Tomasson is about to leave Blackburn, according to English media.
SvFF’s general secretary Andrea Möllerberg is hopeful that it will be resolved shortly.
– We have a dialogue going on. The goal is still quarter 1 and we hope we succeed, but there is a lot to get in order, says Andrea Möllerberg.
– There are many people to talk to and then we have to file it down to the right person anyway. We don’t want to stress. But we have the goal of quarter 1 and I hope we succeed in that.
Sweden has completed three practice matches this spring. First Portugal away and Albania at home in March and then Denmark away in June. There will be an additional home game in June. Then competitive play begins in September.
– There will be four good games before games in the Nations League await. I hope to finish the last training match in June within a week or so, says Stefan Pettersson.
Then await, among other things, the return match against Azerbaijan, which crushed Janne Andersson’s national team in Baku in November, and also Slovakia, which the national team beat 1-0 in EC 2021, and Estonia, which they had an easy time with in the EC qualifiers last time.
The matches in the Nations League start between 5 and 10 September when Sweden plays two and then there are double matches between 10-15 October and 14-19 November. The final schedule will be released on Friday.
If Sweden wins their group, they will be promoted to the B division when the Nations League is played in the fall of 2026, but if they win the group and many of the teams that are ranked higher than Sweden go directly to the WC or playoffs, it could be a way into the WC- playoff.
In the World Cup qualification that will be played in 2025, twelve group winners go directly to the World Cup and then there will be a playoff for four places with twelve group runners-up and four of the best group winners who did not finish first or second in the World Cup qualifying group.
