World ranking

6

UEFA Champs Records

Winners 1984; Runners-up 1987, 1995, 2001; Semi-finalists 1989, 1997; Quarter-finalists 1991; 1993

Euro 2005 qualification

Group 1 winners

Colours

Yellow shirts, blue shorts, yellow socks 

Coach

Marika Domanski-Lyfors

Key players

Hanna Ljungberg (striker), Malin Moström (midfielder), Victoria Svensson (striker)

Website 

www.svenskfotboll.se


They have finished runners-up on three occasions, most recently at Euro 2001 to Germany – who subsequently also beat them into second place at the 2003 World Cup in America and into fourth place at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece.

So at Euro 2005 the Swedes will be desperate to grab back the crown they won for the only time 21 years previously, though to do so they will quite probably in the closing stages of the tournament have to avenge those recent defeats by a German side behind whom they will be second favourites.

As she plots her strategy Head Coach Marika Domanski-Lyfors will have at her side a new assistant in the shape of Thomas Dennerby, who quit as manager of Swedish League champions Djurgården/Älsvjö in order to take over the national team’s number two role following the departure after eight years in the post of Per Hansson.

The management team have at their disposal some of the world’s finest female footballers, among them a trio who were shortlisted for the FIFA 2004 World Player of the Year award.

Hanna Ljungberg, who was voted into third place for the 2003 World award, was handed a 2004 nomination alongside her fellow striker Victoria Svensson and midfielder Malin Moström.

It was these three who spearheaded Sweden’s six-match winning streak that saw them comfortably clinch top spot in their Euro 2005 qualifying group. Ljungberg hit six goals in those six games while Svensson and Moström netted three apiece - and if they can now prove similarly as influential during the finals tournament, the Swedes could indeed be crowned champions.