Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson expects his home country to win the match. He told Swedish newspaper Expressen: "England will struggle to score goals against Sweden. I think it will be a Swedish victory."
"You can't claim that either of the two teams line-ups have lots of goal chances in open play," He said.
"There will be few goals and some detail that determines the outcome of the game. I'll say draw after 90 minutes and then we'll see how many people have cramps in each team."
"England is England, now they think they'll win the World Cup again," added Eriksson. "Frankly, they have beaten Tunisia and Panama. It takes a little more to win the World Cup. They will not get so many opportunities against Sweden."
Former Sweden midfielder Hakan Mild thought England will underestimate the Scandinavians. "England is easy to score against", Mild said in Goteborgs-Posten. "They think they are so damn good. They are not.
"You hardly get terrified when you see the team. They are spoilt youths who earn millions. They don't have the total desperation required."
Kennet Andersson, who helped Sweden finish third in the 1994 World Cup, thought Sweden's better defence would be crucial. "Sweden has renewed their defensive game in such a way that the opponents can't unpick it," he told SVT.
"I think there are many teams who don't want to meet Sweden, because they can't make their game work against us. I don't understand how England will be able to score any goals against Sweden."
------
Looks like its not just England and pundits fans feeling confident, but also the Swedes. They are enjoying the" underdog" label as they think teams underestimate them. They have been quite lucky in some cases. But the same could be said for England.
I've said it before, that Sweden are to this World Cup what Iceland were in the Euros. A team who rely on defensive organisation. They are both very similar in how the set up. Sweden do have better players than Iceland to call from. This will go to pens unless one side gets a lucky goal.
Hakan Mild's comment should be used as motivation for the English players. They may be the underdogs, but they are also underestimateling their opposition.
Sweden confident of beating England
posted on 6/7/18
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
I can see the logic behind your opinion, Ivan.
While England have been considered one of the big nations, compared to the likes of Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Spain, their record at that level is just a notch higher than Sweden.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden have reached more major semi finals than england.
England have beaten Sweden twice in the last fifteen attempts and only once in eight competitive meetings
posted on 6/7/18
Sweden haven't won a tournament. And we've won 2 of the last 3 meetings if we're going to go into pretty meaningless stats.
posted on 6/7/18
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
comment by blueinbarca (U3426)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 1 minute ago
Funnily enough, it was a Scottish man who set them off by saying England would beat them 99 times out if a hundred.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't England only beat Sweden for the first time in 50 years in a recent game?
I made the argument the other day on here that Sweden are England's natural peers at international football, with an almost identical competition history and an extremely even competitive record.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden are to England what Panama are to Scotland then.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was thinking Andorra just shade Scotland by a whisker!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk me through your argument mate. Lay it out for me. Show me the facts that make this undeniably true.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your U21s got a lucky draw against them a couple of months back.
The future of Scotland.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/andorra-1-scotland-1-celtic-12241968
posted on 6/7/18
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 2 hours, 24 minutes ago
comment by blueinbarca (U3426)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 1 minute ago
Funnily enough, it was a Scottish man who set them off by saying England would beat them 99 times out if a hundred.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't England only beat Sweden for the first time in 50 years in a recent game?
I made the argument the other day on here that Sweden are England's natural peers at international football, with an almost identical competition history and an extremely even competitive record.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden are to England what Panama are to Scotland then.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was thinking Andorra just shade Scotland by a whisker!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk me through your argument mate. Lay it out for me. Show me the facts that make this undeniably true.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland - Rubbish!
Andorra - Not so rubbish!
There you go!
posted on 6/7/18
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 54 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
comment by blueinbarca (U3426)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 1 minute ago
Funnily enough, it was a Scottish man who set them off by saying England would beat them 99 times out if a hundred.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't England only beat Sweden for the first time in 50 years in a recent game?
I made the argument the other day on here that Sweden are England's natural peers at international football, with an almost identical competition history and an extremely even competitive record.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden are to England what Panama are to Scotland then.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was thinking Andorra just shade Scotland by a whisker!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk me through your argument mate. Lay it out for me. Show me the facts that make this undeniably true.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your U21s got a lucky draw against them a couple of months back.
The future of Scotland.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/andorra-1-scotland-1-celtic-12241968
----------------------------------------------------------------------
posted on 6/7/18
comment by Cinciwolf--ITK throughout the summer (U11551)
posted 58 minutes ago
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
I can see the logic behind your opinion, Ivan.
While England have been considered one of the big nations, compared to the likes of Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, and Spain, their record at that level is just a notch higher than Sweden.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden have reached more major semi finals than england.
England have beaten Sweden twice in the last fifteen attempts and only once in eight competitive meetings
-----
Have Sweden won a world cup? A European Cup?
England have one World Cup. That is a notch higher than none.
Spain were also under achievers until the last ten/eleven years. Their record for tournaments were not great. They had won a Euro title back in the 60s. Between then and 2008 they had many years of not achieving what they should have.
Holland are another nation of under achievers. They had won a Euro in the 80s but no world cup. They are not as good as they were before right now, but these things can change.
There is a reason why people are shocked by Holland and Italy not being at the World Cup, and Argentina, Germany and Spain going out. There is a reason why people are surprised by Russia going far and Sweden.
I do not think I need to spell it out to anyone.
posted on 6/7/18
So, we can all accept that the Scots will support Sweden eh !, and if Sweden win,best of luck to them I say, If England win I wonder if the Scots will give credit where it's due ! ! I doubt it.
posted on 6/7/18
comment by blueinbarca (U3426)
posted 25 minutes ago
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 54 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
comment by blueinbarca (U3426)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by John Achterberg's 175 Hour Week (U3979)
posted 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by CurrentlyInChina (U11181)
posted 1 minute ago
Funnily enough, it was a Scottish man who set them off by saying England would beat them 99 times out if a hundred.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Didn't England only beat Sweden for the first time in 50 years in a recent game?
I made the argument the other day on here that Sweden are England's natural peers at international football, with an almost identical competition history and an extremely even competitive record.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweden are to England what Panama are to Scotland then.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was thinking Andorra just shade Scotland by a whisker!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk me through your argument mate. Lay it out for me. Show me the facts that make this undeniably true.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Your U21s got a lucky draw against them a couple of months back.
The future of Scotland.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/andorra-1-scotland-1-celtic-12241968
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Scotland recently defeated England at cricket. Does that one result make us England's superiors at that game?
posted on 6/7/18
comment by harlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 12 minutes ago
So, we can all accept that the Scots will support Sweden eh !, and if Sweden win,best of luck to them I say, If England win I wonder if the Scots will give credit where it's due ! ! I doubt it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would imagine most, but not all, Scots will be hoping that Sweden beat England.
If you win I'll be happy to give you credit for it. If you win the World Cup then I'll congratulate you for it. For the English people I know, I'll be happy for them.
It's a sporting rivalry. It's not a bad thing.
posted on 6/7/18
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic 🐍 (U5291)
posted 22 minutes ago
comment by harlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 12 minutes ago
So, we can all accept that the Scots will support Sweden eh !, and if Sweden win,best of luck to them I say, If England win I wonder if the Scots will give credit where it's due ! ! I doubt it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I would imagine most, but not all, Scots will be hoping that Sweden beat England.
If you win I'll be happy to give you credit for it. If you win the World Cup then I'll congratulate you for it. For the English people I know, I'll be happy for them.
It's a sporting rivalry. It's not a bad thing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Exactly, but yet no doubt you and I and many others will be called 'bitter' again and again for no reason.