‘Fear England?' No, this Sweden team believes Women's Euros 2025 is their year

Independent

a day ago

The night of 26 July 2022 brought mixed emotions for Abba's Bjorn Ulvaeus. On one hand, Sweden had just been thrashed 4-0 by England in the Euro 2022 semi-finals. On the other, he had just been informed that the Lionesses played the Abba anthem ' Does Your Mother Know ' in the dressing room, after Alessia Russo 's back-heel sent England through to the Wembley final on a frenzied evening at Bramall Lane. Ulvaeus said it made the humbling defeat to England at least a little more bearable.
It explains why Abba has not been banned from England's pre-match playlist just yet, as captain and dressing room DJ Leah Williamson confirmed this week. After all, those are the vibes and emotions that the holders want to recapture as they target a return to the semi-finals. Instead, it is Sweden who need to change the record as they face the Lionesses once again in the knockout stages of a major tournament.
The phrase 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' follows Sweden as resolutely as the country's Soft Hooligans, the nosiest, most colourful fans at Euro 2025 so far. Sweden's loyal supporters turn out in their yellow and blue in hope rather than expectation, and have learned that the hard way. If there is any expectation, it's that Sweden may again reach the latter stages of a major tournament only to fall short: their resume over the past decade includes two defeats in Olympic final, two defeats in World Cup semi-finals, and that Euros semi-final defeat to England three years ago.
'We haven't talked about it as a squad,' said Sweden's head coach Peter Gerhardsson. 'I don't think anyone is waking up at 3:30am in the morning screaming about the 4-0 to England.'
It was Ella Toone, though, who said 'Sweden should fear us' after England's 6-1 win over Wales, as the Lionesses found some momentum ahead of the knockout stages. 'We respect England and the team they have and everything they have achieved so far,' Sweden's captain Kosovare Asllani responded. 'Fear? No. We don't have the word fear in our dictionary. We look up the word courage.'
That isn't to say Sweden are viewing themselves as underdogs. 'We're flying under the radar and it suits us,' Asllani continued. 'Obviously we think that we are one of the best teams in the world, due to the results we've had from the tournaments, but people rarely speak about us as someone that can win the gold. We don't think about it too much, but I think definitely people should talk about us more.'
Williamson said the lack of conversation around their quarter-final opponents was 'slightly disrespectful' and believes they 'deserve more recognition" but Sweden's 4-1 win over Germany and their impressive results in the group stages has gone some way to changing that. Sweden are also unbeaten in a year, since losing to France in Euro 2025 qualifying, and the more relevant results with England ahead of this quarter-final were the more relevant results were the 1-1 and 0-0 draws during that same qualifying campaign.
There is very little between the teams, and a lot of familiarity too. Williamson will be marking her Arsenal team-mate and Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius. Lucy Bronze plays next to winger Johanna Rytting Kaneryd and centre-back Nathalie Bjorn with Chelsea. If 'proper England' has become the phrase of England's tournament, there are many in the Sweden squad who have the experience of English football and embrace the 'physical' side of the game.
'We want to go out and play our football intensely, physically,' Asllani said. The Sweden captain, who helped the London City Lionesses to promotion to the Women's Super League last season, said her team will 'fight until the end' and 'run until we collapse'. Sweden will also look to bombard England with crosses and may attempt to crowd Hannah Hampton's box when delivering inswinging set-pieces.
They are also a dangerous team in transitions, as Germany found out in their 4-1 defeat at Zurich's Stadion Letzigrund, which will host the quarter-final against England. "When you have a team who work for each other like Sweden, then you don't need to necessarily have a crazy standout threat because everyone plays their roles,' Williamson explained this week. 'I feel like the collective is our strength,' Asllani said. 'That is what's taken us here.'
And the belief within the Sweden camp is growing that this may be their year at last. Rytting-Kaneryd, the speedy winger who Bronze said can 'run through walls', said following the win over Germany that 'something feels different' at Euro 2025. Asllani has two Olympic silvers on her shelf at home, to add to two bronzes from the World Cup. Sweden are hungry for a different colour. 'We have been at this stage almost every championship so we are used to it,' Asllani said. 'The fun starts now.'