2 hours ago
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The Graham Potter magic knows no bounds. There will be those who wonder what right Sweden had to be in this playoff, but they will be in the World Cup after an extraordinarily dramatic victory secured by Viktor Gyökeres’s 89th-minute winner.
A patchy, anxious game in which Poland had twice equalised, its shapelessness an apt reflection of the stakes, had seemed to be drifting towards extra-time when Sweden, in a rare forward sally, won a pair of corners in a row. Suddenly there was momentum and a mounting sense of anticipation. The second corner was half-cleared, Lucas Bergvall jabbed it goalwards. His shot was saved but Besfort Zeneli skewed against the post and the ball fell for Gyökeres five yards out with the goal gaping. Destiny called and the Arsenal forward answered emphatically.
The sides had reached this stage via very different routes. Where Poland had scrapped hard to win five of eight group games, drawing twice against the Netherlands and suffering their only defeat away to Finland before beating Albania in their playoff semi-final, Sweden had been hugely disappointing, finishing bottom of their four-team group with only two points. The Nations League repechage though gave them a second chance and, with Potter installed as manager, they were much more impressive in beating Ukraine 3-1 in Valencia in their semi-final.
This, suddenly, is a team playing with at least some confidence, far removed from the rabble that was so poor earlier in qualifying, and after 20 minutes they took the lead with an extremely well-worked goal, Yasin Ayari touching Gabriel Gudmundsson’s low cross back to Anthony Elanga who swept his shot high past Kamil Grabara. But being better does not means they are close to being great.
Poland had probably been the more progressive side to that point, without really looking like turning territorial advantage into chances. Sweden looked comfortable holding them at arm’s length, but when Karol Swiderski met a right-wing cross with a firm volley, Kristoffer Nordfeldt made an excellent reaction save low to his left. The veteran former Swansea reserve then drew great roars with a confident claim in a packed bench, but he was badly at fault for the Poland equaliser. It was a dreadful goal to concede, the right wingback Daniel Svensson bafflingly passive as Jakub Kaminski cut infield into his right foot and clipped a low shot goalwards. He did not seem to catch it entirely cleanly and it was not especially close to the corner, but Nordfeldt could not get enough of a hand on it to keep it out.
Earlier in the campaign, Sweden might have wilted and they did rock for a moment. But just before half-time a needless foul by Jakub Kiwior on Elanga gifted Sweden a free-kick in a dangerous area on the right. Svensson swung it in and Gustaf Lagerbielke bulleted his header into the top corner.
The defender, who helped Celtic to the Scottish title in 2023, is the 11th baron of Lagerbielke and 254th in line to the Swedish throne. When he was a child, he had a coat of arms on his shin-pads, but nothing has brought him closer to being football royalty than that goal. Actual football royalty, in Robert Lewandowski, had made the difference when Poland beat Sweden in a World Cup playoff four years ago but, now 37, he struggled to impose himself, becoming increasingly frustrated as each passing minute took him closer to the end of his World Cup career.
Others, though, were making a difference and Swiderski levelled 10 minutes after the break, poking in as Nicola Zalewski fired across the face of goal.
Poland had the better of it thereafter; certainly they had more of the ball, but it was not enough. Sweden had their plan, and it worked.
