Greece vs Sweden
Sweden find themselves in a strong position to further secure their spot in World Cup 2022 after making a brilliant start to qualifying with three wins out of three.
The Swedes, who are currently second behind Spain in Group B but have two games in hand, will now have their sights set on taking top spot when they travel to Athens to face Greece.
However, the Greeks also remain unbeaten after drawing their first three games and will be a tough opponent to break down.
Read on below as SBOTOP breaks down this Group B matchup.
Talking Points
Sweden in stellar form
Sweden’s superb 2021 continues. The Scandinavians have now won nine of their 11 matches thus far in this calendar year after beating Uzbekistan 2-1 in a friendly last Friday. Their only defeat during that was their dramatic extra-time loss to Ukraine in the Euro 2020 round of 16.
Coach Janne Andersson fielded a second-string side in the friendly against Uzbekistan, so his stars should be well-rested for their match against Greece.
The Swedes have picked up some terrific World Cup 2022 results in qualifying, the biggest of which was their 2-1 home win against Spain in their most recent qualifier.
Alexander Isak, who stood out in Sweden’s 0-0 draw with Spain at Euro 2020, equalised immediately after Carlos Soler had given the Spanish an early lead within just four minutes. Viktor Claesson then scored the winner in the second half to hand the Spaniards their first World Cup qualifying defeat since 1993.
Isak and Claesson have now scored four of Sweden’s six goals during qualifying. Isak’s goal – his seventh in 27 caps for his country – should go some way toward restoring his confidence after his recent scoring drought. The 21-year-old’s last goal came in May for Real Sociedad.
On the other end, Sweden’s defence remains rock-solid; they’ve conceded just one goal through their first three matches. Manchester United centre-back Victor Lindelof is the country’s new captain after the retirement of Sebastian Larsson and other veterans such as defender Mikael Lustig and striker Marcus Berg.
Greece still looking for first win
After failing to qualify in 2018, Greece’s chances of making it back to the World Cup in 2022 are not looking so great after starting this qualifying campaign with three straight 1-1 draws.
To be fair, the Greeks had made a great start when they defied the World Cup 2022 odds and held Spain to a draw in Granada. But they were then held to draws at home to Georgia and away to Kosovo, who scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser to deny the Greeks last time out.
Greece have a serious problem generating goals at the moment, which is a major factor in their struggles. Of their three goals in qualifying, one was an own goal and another was a penalty. Their top scorers on their current squad – striker Vangelis Pavlidis, midfielder Petros Mantalos, and defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos – are tied with just four goals apiece.
With the sheer lack of attacking talent and quality in the side, Greece coach John van’t Schip almost has no choice but to play a more conservative style even against an unspectacular side like Kosovo, who controlled 59 per cent of possession and outshot the Greeks, 10-4.
Greece will likely play a similarly defensive style away to Sweden and will dare the hosts to break them down. That strategy is unlikely to produce a win but it might be their best shot to come away with another point.
History
Sweden and Greece have only met six times in history. The first five were friendlies, where Greece went undefeated with two wins and three draws.
However, the Swedes finally got their first win over the Greeks in their first competitive match at Euro 2008. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Petter Hansson scored as the Swedes beat the defending European champions, 2-0. Greece ended up with the worst finish in that tournament, losing all three group games and scoring just one goal.
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