There are easy ways to qualify for the World Cup and there are complicated ways. Poland won six qualifiers whereas Sweden won two but it is Sweden, elevated by the magic of Graham Potter, the persistence of Viktor Gyökeres and the noble head of the 11th Baron Lagerbielke who will be going to the World Cup. They have qualified not so much through the back door as up the tree and through the bathroom window, but they will take their place in a group with Tunisia, the Netherlands and Japan.
As the final whistle blew and Sweden’s substitutes and coaching staff surged across the pitch in gleeful celebration, Robert Lewandowski dropped to his haunches on the edge of the penalty area, his face mask dangling loose around his throat. The World Cup has never been a particularly kind tournament for the Poland forward; he has played in just two and scored only twice; at 37, he will surely not get another chance to improve his record.
Sweden took just two points from six games in the group stage, a campaign that was sunk long before they turned to Potter, who took over from Jon Dahl Tomasson with two games remaining. But the Nations League repechage got them into the play-offs, and a 3-1 win over Ukraine in Valencia restored at least a measure of confidence. Twice they took the lead and twice they were pegged back, Poland bossed the ball, but they found an 89th-minute winner.
“It’s hard to explain, hard to describe,” said a clearly delighted Potter. “Just an incredible evening, just so proud to be part of that and obviously proud to experience it. It was just the best night I’ve had in football. Incredible, like I was having some sort of out-of-body experience. I’m looking at the goal and suddenly all our bench is running and you’re thinking, am I here? I’m just grateful to be part of that.”
Sweden took the lead after 20 minutes with a well-worked goal, Yasin Ayari touching Gabriel Gudmundsson’s low cross back to Anthony Elanga who swept his shot high past Kamil Grabara. The first Polish equaliser was a desperately poor goal for Sweden to concede.
The goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt had a generally good night, making a couple of excellent saves, but he was badly at fault, as was the right wing-back Daniel Svensson as Jakub Kaminski cut infield and clipped his shot through the arms of the former Swansea reserve.
Earlier in the campaign, Sweden might have wilted and they did rock for a moment. But just before half-time a needless foul by Jakub Kiwior on Elanga gifted Sweden a free-kick in a dangerous area on the right. Svensson swung it in and Gustaf Lagerbielke, 254th in line to the Swedish throne, a player who grew up with coats of arms on his shinpads, bulleted his header into the top corner.
Michal Sadilek’s penalty sent the Czech Republic to the World Cup as they beat Denmark 3-1 in a shootout in Prague on Tuesday following a 2-2 draw after extra time.
Tomas Chory and Tomas Soucek also scored for the Czechs in the shootout while Ladislav Krejci was denied by Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. For the visitors, Christian Eriksen was the only shootout scorer while Rasmus Højlund hit the crossbar, Anders Dreyer was denied by goalkeeper Matej Kovar and Mathias Jensen fired over the crossbar.
On the chilly night in Prague, Pavel Sulc opened the score for the Czechs with a fine volley into the top corner three minutes into the game after the Danish defence had cleared a corner in his direction.
Denmark levelled in the 72nd minute when Mikkel Damsgaard’s free-kick found Joachim Andersen in the box ready with a glancing header.
Czech captain Krejci gave the hosts the lead again in the 100th minute as he picked up a ball knocked down by Soucek in a goalmouth scramble following Vladimir Coufal’s cross and his shot was deflected into the net by Danish defender Alexander Bah.
But Denmark levelled again in the 111th minute when substitute Kasper Høgh headed home Eriksen’s corner six minutes after coming on to the pitch. AFP
“I feel helpless,” said the Poland coach Jan Urban. “It’s hard to explain yourself after a match like this, where it hurts even more knowing that you played well. If you yourself cause the concession of goals, it is not that easy to make up for the loss.”
Poland weren’t quite done and Karol Swiderski levelled 10 minutes after half-time, poking the ball in as Nicola Zalewski fired across the face of goal. They seemed the more dangerous but then Sweden won a pair of corners in a row. The second was half-cleared, Lucas Bergvall’s effort was saved, Besfort Zeneli skewed against the post and the ball fell for Gyökeres five yards out with the goal gaping.
Destiny called and the Arsenal forward answered emphatically.
