The Swedish women’s soccer team, which won silver medals in the past two Olympics, will miss out on the world championships for the first time after failing to qualify for the Paris Games.
Sweden’s loss to Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League on Friday confirmed that they will not be able to claim a group stage win from World Cup champions Spain. Only the three group winners, excluding France, who have already qualified, have a chance of winning the two Olympic spots given to European countries.
Olympic spots will be decided between Spain, Germany or Denmark and the Netherlands, England (representing Great Britain) or Belgium.
Sweden is the only country to finish in the top three at the last four world championships (2019 and 2023 World Cups, 2016 and 2021 Olympics). Sweden has reached the semi-finals of the Olympics or World Cup eight times without winning the title.
In Tokyo, Canada defeated Sweden in a penalty shootout in the final.
At the World Cup in August this year, Sweden defeated two-time defending champions USA in a penalty shootout in the round of 16 and defeated 2011 World Cup champions Japan, but lost to eventual champions Spain in the semi-finals. . Sweden defeated Australia 2-0 in the third-place match.
The Olympic qualifiers in Europe take a strange turn on Tuesday. If Scotland equalize or win against England, Great Britain will be excluded from the Olympic qualifiers. The British Olympic team is made up of players from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but there is no year-round national football team. England were therefore designated as the team to qualify for the British Olympic Games in the UEFA competition.
The United States, Canada, Brazil and Colombia had previously qualified to join host France in the 12-team Olympic tournament.
Sweden’s loss leaves only the United States and Brazil to qualify for every Olympics and World Cup since the first Women’s World Cup in 1991.