Sweden Women · History

Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg opened on 5 April 2009 and holds 18,416 spectators. The Sweden women's national football team became a tenant in its first year and christened the ground with a 3-1 win over Brazil. Run by the Swedish Football Association (Svenska Fotbollförbundet) and nicknamed Blågult (“the Blue-Yellow”), the side won the first European championship for women in 1984. It reached the 2003 World Cup final and took Olympic silver in 2016 and 2020.

Beginnings and the 1984 European title

Sweden played their first official match on 25 August 1973, a goalless draw with Finland in Mariehamn. A little over a decade later they won the inaugural European Competition for Women's Football. The 1984 final was played over two legs against England. On 12 May, at Ullevi in Gothenburg, Pia Sundhage scored the only goal in the 57th minute. In the return leg at Kenilworth Road in Luton on 27 May, Linda Curl levelled the tie. With no extra time, a penalty shoot-out followed, and Sweden won it 4-3. Anette Börjesson, Eva Andersson, Ann Jansson and Sundhage converted their kicks. Sweden reached three more European finals without winning another, finishing runners-up in 1987, 1995 and 2001.

World Cup finals and bronze medals

Sweden have appeared at every Women's World Cup since the first one in 1991, where they finished third under Gunilla Paijkull, coach from 1988 to 1991. Their best result came in the United States in 2003, with Marika Domanski-Lyfors in charge (1996-2005). In the final, on 12 October 2003 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Hanna Ljungberg put Sweden ahead in the 41st minute. Maren Meinert equalised straight after half-time, and Nia Künzer's header in the 98th minute gave Germany a 2-1 golden-goal win. Four years later Sweden went out in the group stage. Under Thomas Dennerby (2005-2012) they won bronze in Germany in 2011, beating France 2-1 in Sinsheim on 16 July. They won a third bronze in Nice on 6 July 2019, when Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson scored in a 2-1 win over England. A fourth followed in Brisbane on 19 August 2023: Fridolina Rolfo, from the penalty spot, and Asllani scored in a 2-0 win over co-hosts Australia.

Two Olympic silvers

Pia Sundhage, the scorer in the 1984 final, returned as head coach in 2012 and stayed until 2017. At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 she led Sweden to the gold-medal match against Germany. Germany led 2-0 early in the second half before Stina Blackstenius pulled one back, and the game ended 2-1. Peter Gerhardsson succeeded Sundhage in 2017 and took the team to a second Olympic final at the Tokyo Games, played in 2021. The match in Yokohama against Canada finished 1-1 after extra time, and Canada won the shoot-out 3-2. That made two consecutive silver medals for Sweden.

Home tournaments

Sweden hosted the 1995 World Cup and the European Championships of 1997 and 2013. At Euro 2013 the team beat Iceland 4-0 in the quarter-finals in Halmstad on 21 July. Three days later, on 24 July at Gamla Ullevi, they lost the semi-final 1-0 to Germany, who went on to win the title at Friends Arena in Solna on 28 July. That stadium in Solna, built as the home of the men's national team, has drawn the largest crowds for the women's side.

Record holders

Caroline Seger holds the record for appearances with 240 caps. Lotta Schelin is the leading scorer with 88 goals. Both came through the generation that played the 2011 World Cup and continued through the Olympic finals of the following decade.

Euro 2025 and a change of coach

Sweden finished fourth at the 2025 Nations League Finals, losing the semi-final to Spain and the third-place play-off to France. At Euro 2025 in Switzerland they beat Denmark 1-0, with the winner from Filippa Angeldahl, and reached the quarter-finals. There, on 17 July 2025 at the Letzigrund in Zurich, goals from Asllani and Blackstenius gave them a 2-0 lead over England inside 25 minutes. Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang scored in the 79th and 81st minutes. The match ended 2-2 after extra time, and England won the shoot-out 3-2. It was Gerhardsson's last tournament. On 6 February 2025 the federation had announced that Tony Gustavsson, the former Australia head coach, had signed a four-year contract to succeed him once Euro 2025 was over.