Sweden World Cup 202: Graham Potter’s latest selection ahead of the World Cup qualifying play-offs

Graham Potter has revealed the Sweden squad that will attempt to rescue a World Cup 2026 place when the European play-offs begin later this month, with only four of the 16 participating nations set to secure tickets to the summer tournament.

Sweden, who finished bottom of their qualifying section with two points from six games against Slovenia, Kosovo and Switzerland, must beat Ukraine on 26 March and then overcome the winners of Poland v Albania to secure an unlikely berth. The route is daunting, yet Potter believes the group he has assembled is capable of springing the double upset.

It is only the second time the Englishman has picked a Sweden XI since taking the job in October 202: his opening match ended in a 4-1 defeat to Switzerland, followed by a 1-1 draw in Ljubljana. Those results leave the Swedes with little margin for error, but Potter’s reputation for over-achieving with modest resources—famously guiding Brighton to a club-record 51 Premier League points and a ninth-placed finish—offers a glage of optimism.

Central to Sweden’s hopes is Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, 27, whose domestic form has been formidable despite a modest return for his country. The forward, ranked 13th in FourFourT’s recent list of the world’s best strikers, finished the 2024-25 campaign as Arsenal’s leading scorer in league action and their second-highest marksman in Europe. Yet he failed to find the net in any of Sweden’s four qualification fixtures, a statistic Potter knows must change if the Scandinavians are to progress.

Sweden’s last appearance on the global stage came in 2018, when they topped a group containing Germany and Mexico before exiting in the quarter-finals against England. Their most recent taste of a major finals ended in heartbreak at Euro 2020, a 121st-minute goal from Ukraine ending their Round-of-16 hopes.

With the nation’s recent tournament record reading two failures from two attempts, the stakes could hardly be higher. Potter’s squad now has 90 minutes in Solna to keep the dream alive, followed by a potential winner-takes-all showdown four days later. Anything less, and another generation of Swedish talent will watch the World Cup from home.