Women's European Championship 2025: Sweden in the team check – The better national team? – Passa bollen!

The Swedes are adept at major tournaments: They reached the semifinals at the last two World Cups in 2019 and 2023, as well as at the European Championship three years ago. However, they failed to qualify for last year's Olympic football tournament. The Scandinavians' last competitive defeat was in July 2024, when they lost 2-1 away to France in a European Championship qualifier. Since then, the Swedish national team has been unbeaten in eleven matches, most recently defeating Denmark 6-1 at the beginning of June. However, it is also true that the Swedes have not faced a top team since the 0-0 draw with England in July of last year. On the final matchday of the group stage, the Swedes will face the Germans.

Peter Gerhardsson has already fulfilled one dream. When the former Swedish professional footballer accidentally walked into a storage room after a press conference at the 2023 World Cup, causing widespread hilarity, comic artist David Squires, who is also popular among 11 FREUNDE readers, created a graphic memorial to him in the Guardian. Gerhardsson quoted him as saying: "Knowing I'd make it into a Squires comic, I'd walk into that storage room again and again." He has been the Swedish national coach since 2017, leading his team to bronze at the 2019 and 2023 World Championships, and in 2021 the Swedes won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the European Championship will be the 65-year-old's last major tournament for the time being: his contract ends after the European Championship.

Not everyone can claim to be the title character of a children's book. Kosovar Asllani has been granted this honor. "Passa bollen!" (translated as: pass the ball to someone) by Anja Gatu was published in 2015, which again demonstrates how much experience the daughter of Kosovar-Albanian parents already has. The two-time World Cup bronze medalist has previously played for the Chicago Red Stars, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and AC Milan; the European Championship in Switzerland will be her fifth appearance at the finals of a European Championship.

When Ellen Wangerheim made her debut for Hammarby in the summer of 2020, she was just 15 years old and the Swedish top club was still playing in the second division. Now, at just 20 years old, the striker is a fixture at the club. In her first year as a professional at Hammarby, she celebrated promotion back to the top division and, just three years later, the first Swedish championship since 1985. On an individual level, the striker has hit the ground running in 2024, scoring 13 goals and providing ten assists in 25 appearances this season. This season, she has already scored ten goals in just nine games and is expected to surpass her personal best from last year – as Sweden is entering the second half of the season after the European Championship. She only made her debut for the national team in April, but since then she has only played one game without appearing. She should be able to expect some playing time, at least as a substitute.

The Swedish home jersey is yellow—how could it be otherwise? But upon closer inspection, it's noticeable that a rather garish color was chosen this time. In the past, the yellow was more vibrant. Adidas is also breaking new ground with the appliqués: In addition to the classic dark blue, light blue elements have also been incorporated into the design. The overall impression remains, however, that the supplier didn't dare to try anything truly new and, at the same time, failed to recapture the elegance of older designs.

The Swedish women's away kit is considerably more daring. The dark blue base color transitions into lighter shades of blue in a wave-like gradient. These are complemented by a bright yellow tone. The contrasting interplay of colors is impressive. The jersey skillfully combines the classic colors of the Swedish national team – blue and yellow – with an innovative touch.

Women's football and music seem to have a close connection in Sweden. For the 1987 European Championship, artists Gert Lengstrand and Lasse Holm released the song "Vi är tjejer, vi är bäst" (We Are Girls, We Are the Best), featuring football legend Pia Sundhage on vocals and guitar. Other songs for subsequent tournaments include "Det är nu!" (Now It's Time!, 1995 World Cup), "Gula & blå (tjejernas år i år)" (Yellow & Blue / This Year's Girls' Year, 2003 World Cup), "Champions" (2004 Olympics), and "Winning Ground" by Eric Saade, which was also the official song of Euro 2013.