Sweden have sacked manager Jon Dahl Tomasson following a poor start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
They are bottom of Group B with one point from four games following a 1-0 defeat against Kosovo on Monday.
Sweden – who have an all-star forward line of Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres of Arsenal – drew with Slovenia and lost against Kosovo and Switzerland in their opening three group games.
The former Blackburn Rovers manager, who played for Newcastle United during a distinguished career, became Sweden’s first foreign coach, external when the ex-Denmark striker took over in February 2024.
“The decision is based on the fact the men’s national team has not delivered the results we hoped for,” said Swedish Football Association’s chairman Simon Astrom in a statement.
“There is still a chance of a play-off in March and our responsibility is to ensure we have as optimal conditions as possible to be able to reach a World Cup play-off.
“In this, we assess that a new leadership is required in the form of a new coach.”
Sweden will travel to play Switzerland then host Slovenia in their final two matches as they try to draw level with second-placed Kosovo, who have seven points in Group B.
However, they could still reach the play-offs even without finishing in the top two of Group B as a result of their success in the 2024-25 Nations League, where they topped their group.
The winners of the World Cup qualifying groups will fill 12 of the 16 spots available for European nations at next summer’s tournament, with the runners-up in each group progressing to the play-offs.
They will be joined by the four best Nations League group winners who failed to finish in the top two of their groups in qualifying.
Wales, Romania, Sweden and Northern Ireland are the four sides currently in the play-off spots as a result of their Nations League performances.
‘He forgot what Sweden stands for’ – analysis
Daniel Kristoffersson, football reporter for Swedish newspaper Sportbladet
Everything has gone wrong. He has implemented a system and tactics that we do not have the players for. We have lost to Kosovo twice having not scored a goal – even though we have world-class players like Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak.
He has made players like Lucas Bergvall, Gyokeres and Isak look like Sunday League footballers. We could have expected a lot more from the Swedish national team. He hasn’t got anywhere near what the players are capable of. He was a dead man walking after the Kosovo game.
Before the qualification we were comparing this team to the one that was close to beating the Netherlands in the 2004 Euros quarter-final. Then, we had Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg, Olof Melberg – a fantastic team. If you look at the clubs the players play for and how they have performed, this is one of Sweden’s best teams. But the results are some of the worst. That’s 90% up to the coach.
He came in with high promises to play attacking and high possession football, but he has been very naive with the defence. Over the years Sweden have had one of the best defences as a team. But Jon Dahl Tomasson promised attacking football and he completely forgot what Sweden stands for – being solid defensively.
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Source: myjoyonline.com
