The two nations have been drawn together in Group F and one of the newest acquisitions to The FA's Football Division, Stuart Baxter, has accepted the brief of being the England camp's eyes and ears as they keep tabs on Sweden's preparations for Korea and Japan.

Baxter is that invaluable hybrid of an Englishman with a foreigner's objectivity. Having spent the last 20 years coaching abroad, he has recently returned to these shores to take up the challenge of being a National Coach, helping Howard Wilkinson and The FA lay the foundations for the future success of the Three Lions at all levels.

Having learned new approaches to the physical and mental aspects of the game, while consciously retaining some of the more 'British' qualities that were imbued in him from an early age, Baxter is sure that he returns to England a better coach than when he left.

His role at The FA will see him combining his duties to lay the foundations for the future with a responsibility for helping the Three Lions prepare for the present - the 2002 World Cup.

"Yes, it's true that, in conjunction with the work that I'll be doing with the National Youth teams under Howard Wilkinson, I also have a brief to compile a dossier on the Sweden team for Sven," Baxter confirmed to TheFA.com as he settled into his new post at Soho Square.

Though it may at first seem slightly paradoxical that Eriksson, a Swede himself, should ask an Englishman in Baxter to provide information about the Scandinavians, a closer look at the facts makes everything a little clearer.

For while the last fifteen years have seen Eriksson enjoying success in both Portugal and Italy, Baxter has, for much of that time, been building a similarly impressive reputation in Norway, Japan and Sweden.

During his time at Halmstad (1989-1991) and AIK Stockholm (1998-2001), where he won the Swedish League and qualified for the Champions League during his first season in charge, Baxter not only developed an intimate knowledge of the Swedish game but also personally managed players who are now key members of the national team.

"Amongst others, I have worked with Olof Mellberg, Niclas Alexandersson, and Johan Mjallby, during my time in Sweden and they are without doubt top quality players," confirmed Baxter.

"The thing about the Swedes is that they are able to ally a mental willingness to accept collective organisation along with an intelligence to put it in place.

"They have two major strengths. One is their work ethic and loyalty to both their team-mates and their system of play.

"The other is their organisation, something which few teams in the world do as well as Sweden.

"You must respect their ability and willingness to accept the term 'we' rather than 'I'. They have a formidable team unity which will make them even more dangerous in the tournament scenario when bonding within the group becomes so important."

Baxter describes the unity, intelligence and organisation of Swedish football as the 'fertile ground from which everything else shoots' and is convinced that, with that foundation behind them, Sweden must not be underestimated at any cost.

"They have qualified for these Finals in the most amazing and dramatic of fashions," commented Baxter, "just as was the case for Euro2000.

"And now, with that experience of Euro2000 behind them, and the same formula and managers in place this time around, there is no way that they will be going to Korea and Japan simply to make up the numbers."

Indeed, Baxter believes that this World Cup might be the one that sees one of the 'dark horses' emerge to take victory in June.

"Obviously you can always point to the likes of Argentina and France as the favourites and certainly the French are such a talented side that you would not want to back against them in any game," he acknowledged.

"But, if you dig a little deeper, you can also see that there will probably be more pretenders to the 2002 World Cup than any of the World Cups that have gone before. And Sweden are one of those countries that fit into that category."

By the time England face Sweden in Saitama on June 2, Baxter will have compiled a substantial dossier for Eriksson on the team they already both have such a close knowledge of.

"I saw them play Greece in Thessalonika earlier this month, and I will also be watching their warm-up friendlies against Switzerland, Norway, Paraguay and Japan," confirmed Baxter.

"It is quite an interesting scenario," he admitted. "An Englishman who has worked in Sweden, travelling around the world to watch Sweden, in order to provide a report for a Swede who is about to take England to the World Cup!"

Interesting yes, but there is more than a little method in the madness.

Daniel Freedman