Japan vs Sweden live updates: World Cup 2026 game latest line-ups and buildup

Sweden are searching for their 10th appearance in the World Cup knockout phase. Their best World Cup finish came as runners-up in the 1958 tournament, which they hosted, while they finished third at Brazil 1950 and fourth in the 1938 tournament in France.

But those were a long time ago!

In the modern era, their best finish was third in the 1994 tournament held in the United States. They also lost to England in the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Incidentally, Sweden have not suffered a group-stage exit at a World Cup finals since Italy 1990. In every World Cup since then, the Swedes have either made it to the knockout stage or — as was the case in France 1998, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014 and Qatar 2022 — failed to qualify for the tournament in the first place.