Borussia Dortmund star Daniel Svensson and his Sweden team were knocked out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup by France after a heavy 3-0 loss in New Jersey on Tuesday.
In-form striker Kylian Mbappe scored a brace whereas Bradley Barcola fired another one to send the Blagult packing from the tournament in the Round of 32.
With Paraguay and Morocco causing huge upsets by driving out Germany and the Netherlands yesterday, Sweden hoped to get into their footsteps and eliminate perhaps the biggest favorite.
But Graham Potter's side stood no chance against France's menacing attacking frontline, while also failing to ruffle any feather at the opposite end.
For the first time at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Svensson started for Sweden, lining up on the right side of their defense over the left-back spot that he's usually deployed in with the BVB.
The 24-year-old was run ragged by France's Mbappe and Bradley Barcola, whose pace was simply too much for Svensson to handle.
He was also found out of position a few times and couldn't recover in moments of transition as Potter's decision to play him as an improvised right winger blew up in his face.
While Svensson timed his tackles to perfection, completing all three of his attempts, he couldn't hold the fort well for Sweden defensively and was thoroughly exposed.
Quite regrettably, he also finished with the lowest SofaScore rating for any player on the field who started last night with a meager 5.9 - a damning indictment of his struggles.
Potter didn't take him off until the 82nd minute though, when Svensson was replaced by Mattias Svanberg and finally put out of his misery.
Coming into the World Cup on the back of a promising campaign with Borussia Dortmund, Svensson was expected to play a key role for Sweden upon their World Cup return after eight years.
But a limited gametime in the group stages and a lackluster display in the knockout stages on his first start accounted for a truly miserable run for the Die Borussen star, who finished the World Cup campaign without a goal or an assist.
Svensson would now have a few weeks off following a long and tiring season for club and country before resuming training with Borussia Dortmund for the pre-season, perhaps in the first week of August.
As for Sweden, the Nordic side will next be seen in action in September when the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League group stages begin as Graham Potter's side have been drawn alongside Romania, Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina in League B.
Add us as a preferred source on Google