It was a fixture that had promised a show and it delivered. Sweden embarrassed Germany after Carlotta Wamser’s bizarre handball save reduced Christian Wück’s side to 10 players and handed them a two-goal deficit that would grow to three.
Jule Brand had put Germany ahead early on before Stina Blackstenius levelled and the teenage full-back Smilla Holmberg gave Sweden the lead. Then came Wamser’s incomprehensible save with her hands to deny Fridolina Rolfö, who converted the resulting spot-kick before Lina Hurtig delivered Sweden’s fourth late on.
There may have only been top spot to play for, with both teams already qualified, but it was still a game that mattered, both from a momentum point of view and in terms of who they play next. With the winner facing second place in Group D, likely England, and the runner-up playing the winner of Group D, likely France, there is little difference in the quality of opposition ahead. However, finishing top has put Sweden in the kinder side of the draw, only facing Spain, the favourites, if they reach the final.
There is history between Germany and Sweden: they met in the quarter-final of the 2019 World Cup in France, Sweden emerging the victors, before going on to beat England in the bronze-medal match. Generally, though, fortune has favoured the Germans. They had 21 wins and two draws in 31 meetings before kick-off at the Stadion Letzigrund and had not lost to Sweden in the six times they had met at the Euros, including the 1995 and 2001 finals, winning five and drawing once. They also met in the 2003 World Cup final which Germany won thanks to a golden goal.
It was far from a foregone conclusion that history would repeat itself though, Poland put up an impressive fight against Wuck’s side, while Denmark could feel aggrieved they had not walked away with at least a point after a controversial winner for Germany gave them all three points in Basel. Meanwhile, Sweden have arguably looked one of the tournament’s most in-form sides.
A frenetic start saw both teams fire warning shots within minutes of kick-off and it was a sign of things to come in the seventh minute Germany took the lead, Wamser threaded the ball to Brand who had left Jonna Andersson for dead and slotted past Jennifer Falk.
The majority German crowd roared, but they were soon drowned out by the block of yellow behind Falk’s goal. Wuck’s team had considerable success on that right-hand side, Andersson and her teammates on the left-hand side for Sweden looked like they were running through treacle when attempting to track the runs of the players in red, but Germany could not capitalise. They were punished soon after, Blackstenius received the ball just inside the German half and was given all the space in the world to run into on the right before she slipped the ball past Ann-Katrin Berger and in.

A chaotic second for the Swedes followed, 18-year-old Holmberg’s energetic run into the box from the right was unchallenged until Sarai Linder stuck out a foot and the ball took a strange double deflection off the young full-back and flew in.
The Blagult should have extended their lead twice in quick succession, firstly when Blackstenius curled a left-footed effort over and wide and then when Berger’s poor ball out from the back was leapt on by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd who went through one-on-one but inexplicably chose to square instead of shoot and Germany cleared.
An almost identical move yielded the goal that would put them two clear, Rytting Kaneryd’s pull back was met by Rolfö this time, the Barcelona player fired goalwards and Berger was at sea but the ball was pushed wide by the hands of Wamser. It was a ludicrous decision from the full-back, who received a straight red and will miss their quarter final. It was even more ludicrous given that Wamser came into the side following the medial ligament injury suffered by team captain Giulia Gwinn that has ruled her out of the tournament.
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The weakness of the Germans at right-back will be even more of a focal point for the team they face in the knockout stage, likely, France, pending the outcome of their game against the Netherlands and England’s against Wales on Sunday night.
With both teams having already qualified, Sweden’s likely bragging rights assured and Germany needed to reshuffle following the sending off, there were two changes apiece at the break.
The sting was taken out of the game in the second half, but a late effort from Hurtig put the cherry on top of a clinical performance for Sweden, the forward, who has joined Fiorentina from Arsenal this summer, tapping in Rytting Kaneryd’s ball into the middle.
It was an uplifting and boosting win for Sweden, who despite looking defensively frail at times but remain one of the tournament’s most promising teams. Meanwhile, Germany must regroup and find a way to cope without their first and second-choice right-backs.