21:43: I've been Daniel Pinder, your host tonight. Follow @VAVEL on Twitter for all the latest information and news. Thank you for tuning in, and until next time, goodnight!
21:41: The result now means that Portugal will be up against Germany, whilst Sweden will face Denmark in the semi-finals of the 2015 UEFA Under-21 European Championships.
Full-Time: Portugal U21 1-1 Sweden U21 (Paciência, 82, Tibbling, 89)
89' GOAL for Sweden! Tibbling equalises for the Swedes, plucking the ball from the air, firing his shot via a huge deflection, into the Portuguese net. Italians will be heading home.
87' Huge chance for Sweden as Portugal lose the ball. Guidetti with the strike on goal, Sa spilling the ball, but Figueiredo was there to clear the ball for Portugal.
86' Medeiros finding gaps in the Sweden defence, as Portugal go pressing for another goal.
82' GOAL! Paciência with the goal that will knock Sweden out. The Porto man with a right-footed strike low into the bottom corner. Great finish.
75' One careless moment for Sweden almost sent them packing. Paciência found Medeiros who did everything he could to whip the ball into the far post, Carlgren with the save down low.
73' It just hasn't worked for Ricardo tonight. Medeiros replaces the Porto man. Portugal drop to a five in midfield for the closing 15 minutes.
70' Scrap that. Italy make it 3-0. England out. Benassi with his second of the game.
68' Quiet spell from both teams. Sweden with all the possession at the minute. Portugal soaking up the pressure, looking to break on the counter attack. Italy still leading England 2-0 in the other game.
59' Bernardo Silva on the ball gets Portugal going on another attack. Ball lofted over to Sérgio Oliveira, who finds Ricardo - before taking a tumble in the area. Referee waves away.
56' Portugal really going for it now, bringing on their only real number nine in their squad. Gonçalo Paciência replaces Ivan Cavaleiro.
51' Kiese Thelin with the best chance of the game. Guidetti with the ball in from the right, is met by Thelin, with the Bordeaux forward heading down, but unable to get his effort on target. Meanwhile, Tibbling replaces Hrgota.
48' Portugal starting the second half like they did the first - on top. Guerreiro getting forward for Portugal again leads the ball finding midfielder, Sérgio Oliveira - who met the ball square on, resulting in the ball flying over.
46' We're back underway in the second half. Remember, if Sweden score, Portugal will go out. No changes from either side at half-time.
19:38 Just over five minutes to go until the two sides kick-off. To go over the team news again; Portugal make two changes to their draw against Italy. Ivan Cavaleiro and Ricardo return to the starting XI. In the Sweden U21 XI, Milošević returns following his suspension against England.
19:23 Coach of the senior Sweden national side is in attendence tonight. Their Under-21 Euro squad has a total of 37 senior caps from 11 players, who have played under Erik Hamrén. In Comparison, just 26 senior caps from eight players in the Portugal U21 side.
19:08 Sweden fans again following their side in numbers. A reminder that if Sweden record a victory, they'll be through to the semi-finals. A draw would only be enough should Italy beat England in the other game.
19:00 Sweden U21 XI: Carlgren, Lindelöf, Milošević, Augustinsson, Baffo, Lewicki, Hiljemark, Khalili, Hrgota, Guidetti, Kiese Thelin
18:45 Portugal U21 XI: Sá, Esgaio, Guerreiro, Paulo Oliveira, Ilori; William, Sérgio Oliveira, João Mário, Bernardo Silva, Cavaleiro, Ricardo.
Sweden have been "preparing well" according to Håkan Ericson. The Swedish manager says his side are in the "best condition we could in the time we have between games." Ericsson admits his side are "tired", but so are "Portugal and the other teams" who have played the same amount of games.
Rui Jorge said in his pre-match presser that the most important thing is to "qualify for the next stage." The Portugal manager is expecting to "face a team that will play a classic 4-4-2," in Sweden. The one thing that the former Portuguese international didn't want is too "reach the dying minutes of the match still level."
As things stand, Portugal will go through tonight should they win or draw however, they would still progress no matter what the result should England lost against Italy, which is being played simultaneously in Olomouc.
Tonight’s game, Portugal U21 - Sweden U21 will be played at Stadion Miroslava Valenty, Uherské Hradiště. A capacity of just over 8,000, this stadium was built in 2003, and is home of 1. FC Slovácko, who play in the Czech First League.
Sweden do have goals in their side, with John Guidetti and Isaac Liese Thelin both netting four in the qualifiers, whilst Ricardo was Portugal’s top scorer with five goals.
Predicted XI: Sweden U21 - Carlgren, Lindelof, Baffo, Helander, Augustinsson; Khalili, Lewicki, Hiljemark, Larsson; Thelin, Guidetti
Predicted XI: Portugal U21 - Sa; Esgaio, P. Oliveira, Ilori, Guerreiro; William, Mario, S. Oliveira, Bernardo; Paciencia, Mane.
An easier night for Portugal’s Raphael Guerreiro is to be expected, with the Lorient player suffering a poor performance against Italy, and in particular, Domenico Berardi. Similar issues that Portugal had against Italy could however arise again tonight. Sweden are known to play two, narrow banks of four, which will make it difficult for Bernardo Silva to have an influence on the game, against what will be an organised Swedish defence.
Alexander Milosević is available for Sweden after serving a one-game suspension following his red card against Italy, whilst Joseph Baffo, John Guidetti, Filip Helander, Oscar Hiljemark and Abdullah Khalili are all in danger of missing the semi-final should they receive a book against Portugal.
After picking up a knock against England in the opening game, Ivan Cavaleiro is fit and available again after missing the game against Italy. Other than that, Portugal have a clean bill of health, however, João Mário, Gonçalo Paciência and Bernardo Silva are all one booking away from a suspension.
Key Players: Sweden; Isaac Kiese Thelin – Many would suggest that John Guidetti would be Sweden’s best player in the first two games, but look no further than Isaac Kiese Thelin. Already with five caps for the senior side, Thelin has often been compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Standing at 6’2”, Thelin is faster than he should be, and with a first touch to go with it, Bordeaux have a good player in their books.
Sweden’s 23-man squad: Goalkeepers: Patrik Carlgren, Jacob Rinne, Andreas Linde. Defenders: Victor Lindelöf, Alexander Milošević, Filip Helander, Ludwig Augustinsson, Joseph Baffo, Sebastian Holmén, Pa Konate. Midfielders: Oscar Lewicki, Oscar Hiljemark, Abdullah Khalili, Arber Zeneli, Kristoffer Olsson, Simon Tibbling, Sam Larsson, Robin Quaison, Simon Gustafson. Forwards: Branimir Hrgota, John Guidetti, Isaac Kiese Thelin, Mikael Ishak.
Key Players: Portugal; Bernardo Silva – Despite a poor performance against Italy, Silva has shown just why he’s one of the highly thought of talents in the 2015 UEFA Under-21 European Championship. Likened to Portugal and Milan legend, Rui Costa, Silva plays in the number 10 role, using his dribbling and vision to create chances for his teammates. With an assist already in this year’s competition, Silva is just one player Sweden needs to keep an eye on if they’re to progress.
Portugal’s 23-man squad: Goalkeepers: José Sá, Daniel Fernandes, Bruno Varela. Defenders: Tiago Ilori, Paulo Oliveira, Raphael Guerreiro, João Cancelo, Tobias Figueiredo, Frederico Venâncio. Midfielders: Ricardo Esgaio, William Carvalho, Rafa Silva, Sérgio Oliveira, Bernardo Silva, Rúben Neves, Ivan Cavaleiro, Tozé, João Mário. Forwards: Gonçalo Paciência, Iuri Medeiros, Carlos Mané, Ricardo Horta, Ricardo.
Sweden defender, Victor Lindelöf said their game against Portugal “will be a bit special for me, bause I know a lot of their players.” The 20-year old has played over 80 matches for Benfica B, having already made his debut in the senior squad. “I played with Bernardo Silva for two years and I know just how good he is.”
Heading into their game against Portugal, Sweden U21 coach Håkan Ericson “felt that some players were very tired against England,” but insisted his side were up against the Portugal side “with the best offence we’ve seen in these opening games.”
Yet to concede in this year’s tournament, Rui Jorge was said to be, “happy that we’re showing a low of defensive consistency,” but ensured fans, “that doesn’t mean that we’re not showing the attacking nature of our game.” Jorge has warned his players what to expect against Sweden, “I expect from every match here: difficulties. It’s what we’ve faced from the start and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to face.”
Portugal U21 boss, Rui Jorge was said to be pleased with his side’s goalless draw against Italy, putting them in pole position for the semi-finals. Jorge knew it was going to be a close game, and told reporters “we [Portugal] did have some luck today,” but “were happy with the result.”
Portugal meanwhile come into their game against Sweden on a dismal run of form, despite their win over England in their opening group game. Despite five straight victories between June and October, Portugal have won just one of their previous five games.
Despite their late defeat to England, Sweden have enjoyed a good run of form of late, having been undefeated in eight games, which included a 4-1 victory over France.
Portugal lead the group following their opening victory against England, before drawing against Italy. Sweden meanwhile sit 3rd in the group after coming back from a goal down to win against Italy, before falling to a late Jesse Lingard strike against England.
Tonight’s game is crucial in the fact that Portugal can still miss out on a semi-final, whilst it’s also possible that Italy could progress through, should they beat England by two goals. The Italians will however have to rely on Sweden beating Portugal.
Sweden last qualified for the competition as hosts in 2009, which saw them reach the semi-final stages, before losing to eventual runners-up, England. Marcus Berg was the top scorer in the tournament however, his career has perhaps been on a downward spiral ever since. Portugal failed to qualify for three competitions running between 2009 and 2013.
Sweden’s best run was two years prior to Portugal reaching the final in 1994, which again involved the Italians. The final was played over two legs in ’92, which saw Italy win the first game, 2-0, whilst Sweden nearly took it to extra-time, but were only able to manage a one-nil victory.
Portugal’s best performance in the competition was reaching the 1994 final, which resulted in Pierluigi Orlandini netting a classic Golden Goal for Italy, after the two sides played out a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes. That night saw the likes of Luis Figo, Joao Pinto and Rui Bento up against Francesco Toldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Filippo Inzaghi.
José Romão’s Portugal made it all the way to the Olympic play-offs that night, which led them to playing Sweden for the second time in the competition. A late goal from Markus Rosenberg took it to extra-time in Oberhausen, before Carlitos won it for the Portuguese.
Portugal and Sweden opened Group B of the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championships, with the Swedes running out 3-1 winners, which included a brace from Johan Elmander. The Portuguese lineup that night included the likes of Raul Meireles, Bruno Alves, José Bosingwa and Hugo Almeida.
Good evening and welcome to VAVEL’s live coverage of Portugal U21 - Sweden U21 in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championships, hosted in Czech Republic. Tonight’s game will take place at the Městský fotbalový stadion, Uherské Hradiště. Kick off will be at 19:45BST.