Arsenal Women’s Swedish contingent of Stina Blackstenius, Lina Hurtig & Amanda Ilestedt, had a disappointing Friday night. They not only fell 1-0 against Arsenal Women’s Swiss contingent of Lia Walti & Noelle Maritz, but they also may have lost their chance to compete in the 2024 Olympics in Paris as a result of that defeat in the UEFA Women’s Nations League. Sweden will now need a win over World Champions Spain or they may not compete in the Olympics for the first time in their history.
Last time Sweden earned silver at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic) – Canada surprisingly beat Sweden for the gold.
The aim was that Sweden would go for gold next year at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but that may now not be the case. Switzerland, ranked 21 by FIFA, stunned them, rendering their World No. 1 ranking useless in that Nations League match.
The Swedes are a football superpower in women’s football, finishing third in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer. They were the team that many people anticipated would be bad news at the Olympics. I guess even the United States WNT will be gearing up for another tough contest against them, like in all past major competitions.
Switzerland versus Sweden Match Review
Sweden needed to overcome the Swiss because Spain had 12 points and Sweden had only seven going into Friday’s fixture. A win could have made it easy for them to have a chance at eventually taking the top spot in Nations League A Group 4 and qualifying for the Olympics.
That said, on Friday night, the Swiss only needed 6 minutes to strike the back of the net via Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic. Sweden had a few chances to respond, taking five shots on goal to Switzerland’s three, but despite possessing an attacking star in Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfö, they were unable to find the back of the net. Even though the game was close, the Swiss held on to their 1-0 lead for their first Nations League win.
Amanda Ilestedt and Stina Blackstenius of Arsenal Women started the game, whilst Lina Hurtig came on as an 82-minute sub. Blackstenius played only 62 minutes before she was subbed off. Arsenal’s Noelle Maritz and Lia Walti both started for Switzerland.
Switzerland remain bottom of group A4 and will not be going to the Olympics.
Do you think Sweden can beat Spain in this week’s match? After all, Spain suffered a 3-2 defeat to Italy this week..
Michelle Maxwell
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This is unheard of not to qualify, the Swedes are like a permanent fixture in this competition, now must do it the hard way and beat the world champion.
I have to say, that match should have been stopped (or not allowed to start), the sleet / snow making conditions impossible, and outright dangerous for the players – they were slipping and sliding all over the place, and no one had a clue what the ball would do. It’s a miracle no one got injured.
But now Sweden are out, even if they beat Spain. 5 points between them and only 1 game left to play.
Sweden have been unrecognisable after the World Cup, it doesn’t seem to click for them at the moment.