Sweden and Japan draw, both advance as Gyökeres backs team confidence

Sweden and Japan drew 1-1 at Dallas Stadium on June 25, and both teams advanced from Group F at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The result delivered qualification for both sides in Match 57, but it carried a different emotional weight for Sweden, which entered the tournament still leaning on the form and authority of Viktor Gyökeres.

Gyökeres had already become the face of Sweden’s revival, and FIFA had singled him out as a central figure in the team’s push into the World Cup. The forward said Sweden “have shown we are a great team,” a view shaped by the influence of Graham Potter and by the confidence the squad has built through recent pressure matches. Potter’s impact mattered because Sweden’s path to Dallas was anything but smooth.

The numbers behind that route were stark. Sweden finished last in its World Cup qualifying group with just two points and four goals, then clawed its way into the tournament through its Nations League campaign, which secured one of the play-off places. Gyökeres was the driver there too: in 2024 he scored a record nine goals in six UEFA Nations League matches, including four in Sweden’s 6-0 win over Azerbaijan, a run that lifted the side into League B. He then delivered again in the European play-offs, scoring a hat-trick against Ukraine in the semi-final and the late winner against Poland in the final.

That context made the draw with Japan more revealing than routine. Sweden did not just advance on the back of one result in Dallas; it arrived at the knockout stage after recovering from a qualifying collapse that could have left the squad exposed. The 1-1 scoreline showed that Sweden can stay in the competition even when it does not dominate, but the ceiling for the next round now depends on whether Gyökeres can keep carrying the burden he has already shouldered in qualifying, the play-offs and the opening phase in Dallas. Japan also moved on, but for Sweden the point confirmed something more fragile: a team rebuilt around confidence can survive, yet the next round will ask whether it can do more than survive.