• Best Bet:
  • Best World Cup finish: Runners-up (1958)
  • Nickname: Blagult (The Blue and Yellows)
  • Coach - Janne Andersson: He's a well-travelled Swedish coach having taken charge of fourth-tier Alets IK, before then coaching Laholms FK, Halmstads, Orgryte and Norrkoping - who he led to the 2015 Swedish title.

    Legend - Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Zlatan is among the world's biggest stars and as such deserves to be a Swedish legend. He's won league titles everywhere he's played and has done it with a swagger and style that has brought him an army of fans - he really did put Sweden on the map.

    Star Man - Adreas Granqvist: He's not a household name in Europe but Sweden's Player of the Year in 2017 captain's the team as a rock solid dedender in the heart of their defence. He'll be Sweden's leader in Russia.

    Did you know? Brazil are Sweden's arch enemy in World Cups, as they've met the Samba stars seven times over the years and never managed to win - losing five and drawing two.

    Fun Fact: Sweden are actually one of the most successful teams outside of the big guns, having reached four World Cup semi-finals, winning one when finishing as runners-up on home soil in 1958 when they lost the final to, guess who? Yep, Brazil.

    Qualifying: The Swedes secured their place in Russia after a 1-0 aggregate victory over Italy in the European play-offs, having finished runners-up to France in Group A.

    Fixtures: South Korea (1pm, June 18, Nizhny Novgorod), Germany (7pm, June 23, Sochi), Mexico (3pm, June 27, Ekaterinburg)

    Sweden squad

    Goalkeepers: Robin Olsen (Copenhagen), Karl-Johan Johnsson (Guingamp), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Swansea).

    Defenders: Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Andreas Granqvist (Krasnador), Martin Olsson (Swansea), Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Filip Helander, Emil Krafth (both Bologna), Pontus Jansson (Leeds United).

    Midfielders: Sebastian Larsson (Hull), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Emil Forsberg (RB Leipzig), Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders), Oscar Hiljemark (Genoa), Viktor Claesson (Krasnador), Marcus Rohden (Crotone), Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse).

    Forwards: Marcus Berg (Al Ain), John Guidetti (Alaves), Ola Toivonen (Toulouse), Isaac Kiese Thelin (Waasland-Beveren).

    Sweden Profile

    The Swedes have been as high as second in the FIFA World Ranking during their 1994 glory years, but in a group containing Germany they're bascially playing for second place.