Sweden manager John Dahl Tomasson was sacked on Tuesday after overseeing a disastrous World Cup qualifier in which he failed to get the best out of a squad that featured players from some of Europe’s best clubs.
Thomasson is a former Danish national team striker who joined the Swedish national team last year. First foreign coachsuffered a humiliating 1-0 defeat at home to Kosovo, leaving Sweden at the bottom of their World Cup qualifying group with one point from four games.
Alexander Isak, who recently joined Liverpool as the most expensive player in English football history, called it a “crisis situation”. Fellow striker Victor Gokeres, who recently joined Premier League leaders Arsenal, summed it up as a “huge failure”.
Simon Åström, president of the Swedish Football Association, was less dramatic, simply saying: “The decision taken by the association’s board of directors is based on the fact that the men’s national team has not achieved the results we expected.
“We still have a chance to qualify for the (World Cup) playoffs in March and it’s our responsibility to be in the best possible condition to qualify for the World Cup finals.”
Situation in Sweden
Sweden is unlikely to secure a place in the play-offs by finishing second in the group led by Switzerland. Kosovo, who defeated Sweden home and away in group play, now have seven points and are six behind Sweden with two qualifying games remaining.
However, although Sweden has fallen to third place among the four divisions of European soccer, it is expected to advance to the playoffs after winning the group stage of the Nations League last year. Going that route would likely mean a more difficult path in the playoffs.
star-studded team
Sweden finished Monday’s game against Kosovo with the following results. Isaac and Gokeres He moved this summer for a total of $250 million and became the starting striker for Liverpool and Arsenal respectively. Up front, Newcastle’s Anthony Eranga was placed on the left wing, and Barcelona’s Rooney Bulge was placed on the right wing.
Other big names in Sweden’s squad against Kosovo included Tottenham central midfielder Lukas Bergvall and Victor Lindelof, formerly of Manchester United and now at Aston Villa.
Tomasson, who scored 52 goals and won the Champions League with AC Milan for his country, has been widely criticized for failing to establish a clear attacking identity with the players at his disposal in the 18 games he has played since taking over as Sweden’s manager in February 2024.
“We completely forgot about scoring goals, and I don’t know why,” Tomasson said after the loss to Kosovo.
“Big failure”
Coach Isak said his team was “not progressing” in the World Cup qualifying group. Sweden conceded a goal in the 90th minute and drew 2-2 with Slovenia, then lost at home to Switzerland before losing twice to Kosovo.
“It’s a bit of a crisis situation,” Isak said in post-match comments reported by Expressen. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s disappointing. There have been negative developments this spring and since the start of World Cup qualifying.”
“It’s clear that it’s a huge failure,” Gokeres told Viaplay.
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