Overview
Sweden enters the final friendly matches before the 2026 World Cup with many question marks, despite having won a ticket to participate in the tournament through the play-off round.
Coach Graham Potter is currently receiving support from fans after bringing the team back to the biggest playground in the world, but the 1-3 defeat to Norway recently shows that they still have many problems to solve.
In the play-offs in March, Sweden successively defeated Ukraine 3-1 and Poland 3-2 to win tickets to North America. However, the Nordic team has not shown the necessary stability when they have only won 2 in the last 9 matches since September 2025.
One of Sweden's biggest problems lies in the defense. Under Potter, the team has not kept a clean sheet in any match after 5 matches and has conceded 11 goals. In the context of being in the same group in the World Cup with the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia, their chances of advancing are not considered too high if the duo Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak do not maintain their best form.
On the other side, Greece still cannot relieve its regret after missing the opportunity to return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014. Coach Ivan Jovanovic's team only ranked third in the group with the participation of Scotland and Denmark, thereby failing to win a ticket to the finals.
Greece once made a splash when defeating England right at Wembley in the UEFA Nations League 2024-2025, but their recent form is very disappointing. They have only won one of their last 7 matches and are going through a streak of 3 consecutive matches without scoring, including a 0-1 defeat to Paraguay and two goalless draws against Belarus and Hungary.
The last time the two teams met was in October 2021 in the World Cup qualifiers, when Sweden won 2-1 at home. This rematch will be an opportunity for both teams to regain confidence before bigger goals in the future.
Personnel situation
Sweden may welcome the return of goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt and center-back Victor Lindelof in the match against Greece, bringing more experience to Potter's squad.
In attack, Alexander Isak is likely to be given the opportunity to start after scoring in just 28 minutes appearing from the bench in the defeat to Norway. Meanwhile, Viktor Gyokeres may be kept on the bench after just participating in the Champions League final with Arsenal.
Another problem for Potter lies on the left wing when Gabriel Gudmundsson has been out of action for about 6 weeks due to a hamstring injury. The English strategist will have to consider a suitable replacement before kick-off.
On the Greek side, captain Tasos Bakasetas did not participate in this gathering, opening up opportunities for young talent Christos Mouzakitis to appear in midfield.
After the recent draw with Hungary, Jovanovic is unlikely to make too many changes in the starting lineup as he needs a positive result to improve his form.
However, Greece is still in the process of rejuvenating its force when the current squad has up to 10 players who have owned 10 or less national team appearances.
Expected lineup:
Sweden: Nordfeldt, Lagerbielke, Hien, Lindelof, Johansson, Bergvall, Svanberg, Karlstrom, Svensson, Isak, Nilsson.
Greece: Tzolakis, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimakis, Triantis, Kourbelis, Masouras, Mouzakitis, Tzolis, Pavlidis.
The match between Sweden and Greece takes place at 0:00 AM on June 5 (Vietnam time).
