Sweden sweep aside 10-woman Germany to top Euros Group C
Sweden fans sung ABBA songs in the stands of the Letzigrund Stadium as goals from Stina Blackstenius, Smilla Holmberg, Fridolina Rolfo and Lina Hurtig saw off the Germans who were among the favourites for overall victory ahead of the tournament.
But after taking an early lead through Jule Brand, Christian Wueck's team did little else to justify their billing and were done for once Carlotta Wamser was sent off for handballing a goal-bound shot in the 31st minute.
Germany finished on six points and will face the winner of Group D in the next round, with France currently leading the way ahead of Sunday's final round of matches before the knockout stage.
Both teams were already through to the quarters before kick-off, with Poland winning their dead rubber with fellow eliminated team Denmark 3-2 in Lucerne.
And Germany, who are now on the same side of the draw as world champions Spain, looked in fine form when Wamser put through Brand to squeeze the opening goal past Jennifer Falk in the seventh minute.
But Blackstenius levelled five minutes later, just as the Germans looked to be on top, when she was given a baffling amount of space to stride through onto Kosovare Asllani's pass and drill the equaliser into the bottom corner.
From that point onwards Sweden were in complete control of the game and Holmberg gave them a deserved lead in the 25th minute when she weaved her way past Klara Buehl and Sarai Linder.
Trying to recover, Linder slid in to stop Holmberg from shooting but instead booted the ball off her opponent and into the net.
And the game was up for Germany just after the half-hour following Wamser's acrobatic handball of Rolfo's shot in a desperate attempt to cover for wayward goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Rolfo stroked home the resulting spot-kick and the match was as good as over with nearly an hour left to play.
Sweden slowed down in the second half, safe in the knowledge that Germany would have to score three times to snatch first place, and Hurtig completed the rout with 10 minutes remaining by tapping home Johanna Rytting Kaneryd's low cross.
© 2025 AFP
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