Gyokeres
Sweden should not be at this World Cup. They finished bottom of their qualifying group — six matches, zero wins — and were saved only by their Nations League ranking, which handed them a playoff lifeline they had done nothing to deserve. Jon Dahl Tomasson was dismissed mid-campaign. Graham Potter, the English coach whose last job had ended badly at Chelsea, was appointed in October with barely three games to reshape a demoralized squad before the knockout rounds began.
What followed bordered on the extraordinary. Potter built a disciplined 3-4-3 designed to funnel everything through one striker: Viktor Gyökeres of Arsenal. In the playoff semifinal against Ukraine, Gyökeres scored a hat-trick. In the final against Poland, with Sweden's World Cup hopes narrowing by the minute, he scored the winner with two minutes remaining. Four goals in two games. A tournament earned almost single-handedly.
Now Potter has named his 26 for North America, headlined by Gyökeres and Liverpool's Alexander Isak — two world-class strikers whose presence in the same squad should make Sweden dangerous but whose stylistic similarity poses a genuine tactical question Potter has not yet had to answer in a tournament setting.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Viktor Johansson (Stoke City), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (AIK), Jacob Widell Zetterström (Derby County)
Defenders: Hjalmar Ekdal (Burnley), Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds United), Isak Hien (Atalanta), Victor Lindelöf (Aston Villa), Eric Smith (St. Pauli), Carl Starfelt (Celta Vigo), Daniel Svensson (Borussia Dortmund), Gustaf Lagerbielke (Braga), Elliot Stroud (Mjällby)
Midfielders: Yasin Ayari (Brighton), Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham), Jesper Karlström (Udinese), Benjamin Nygren (Celtic), Ken Sema (Pafos), Mattias Svanberg (Wolfsburg), Besfort Zeneli (Union Saint-Gilloise)
Forwards: Taha Ali (Malmö), Alexander Bernhardsson (Holstein Kiel), Anthony Elanga (Newcastle), Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal), Alexander Isak (Liverpool), Gustaf Nilsson (Club Brugge)
What it tells you
Gyökeres and Isak in the same squad is, on paper, one of the most potent strike partnerships at the tournament. Gyökeres, 27, has been Arsenal's top domestic scorer this season and is currently chasing a Premier League and Champions League double. For Sweden, he is the hero — the man without whom none of this would be happening.
Isak's situation is more complicated. Liverpool signed him from Newcastle last summer in a high-profile move, but a broken leg sustained in December kept him out for nearly five months, including Sweden's entire playoff campaign. He returned in late April but has started only eight league matches all season. Potter was direct about the challenge: "When you've had a long-term injury, it is never a straight road back. Our challenge is to get Alex into peak form because when he is at his best, he is a world-class player." The question of how to pair two stylistically similar strikers — both want to play centrally, both want the ball to feet — is one Potter has not yet been forced to solve.
Captain Victor Lindelöf of Aston Villa, 75 caps, anchors the defense in Potter's back three. Isak Hien of Atalanta adds Serie A quality. Daniel Svensson of Borussia Dortmund operates as a wing-back on the right, Gabriel Gudmundsson of Leeds on the left — both given freedom to push forward and deliver the crosses that suit Gyökeres. Eleven of the 26 are based in Britain, giving the squad a distinctly Premier League flavor.
The most painful omission is Dejan Kulusevski. The Tottenham midfielder has not played since last May — over a year out with a knee injury compounded by setbacks in recovery. "It was a difficult gut decision, but it was the right thing for us and for him," Potter said. Without Kulusevski, Sweden lose their most creative attacker.
Sweden's last World Cup, in 2018, ended in the quarterfinals against England. They were organized, pragmatic, and difficult to beat. Potter's squad has more individual quality than that team — Gyökeres and Isak alone represent a significant upgrade in attacking firepower — but less time together and an identity forged in desperation rather than design. The great escape of qualifying was exactly that. Now the question is whether the squad that barely made it here can compete once they arrive.
Sweden are in Group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia. They open against Tunisia on June 14 at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, face the Netherlands on June 20 at NRG Stadium in Houston, and conclude against Japan on June 25 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.