Sweden have the home advantage in their FIFA World Cup qualifying play-off against the Czech Republic. The two sides face off at Stockholm’s Friends Arena on Thursday night.
Sweden are aiming to reach the World Cup for the 13th time. After failing to qualify in 2010 and 2014, they made it to the semi-finals in 2018.
𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨 😀 pic.twitter.com/qNwTmw245R— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) March 21, 2022
𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨 😀 pic.twitter.com/qNwTmw245R
As for the Czechs, they are looking to qualify for only their second World Cup since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. They qualified for the 2006 World Cup but have not featured since.
Sweden find themselves in the play-offs after finishing second in Group B – four points behind first-place Spain.
Although Sweden won five of their eight qualifying matches, three defeats across their final five clashes saw them finish as runners-up.
Sweden played a total of 16 games in 2021, registering 11 wins, one draw and four losses. However, last year was not a success.
After getting knocked out of Euro 2020 in the round of 16, Sweden lost three of their six competitive matches to drop into the play-offs.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic booked their spot in the play-offs via the UEFA Nations League – despite finishing third in their qualifying group.
During the qualification stage, the Czechs recorded four wins, two draws and two losses to finish six points behind first-place Belgium in Group E.
The Czech Republic made it to the quarter-finals of last summer’s European Championship but fell to Denmark in the last eight.
It is worth noting that Jaroslav Šilhavý’s side head into Thursday’s clash on a five-game unbeaten streak in all competitions, having won each of their previous three without conceding a goal.
Head-to-head: The Czechs have never beaten Sweden before. Following three meetings between the teams, Sweden have two wins to their name.
The most recent meeting came back in 2016. On that occasion, the nations played out a 1-1 friendly draw in Sweden.
Team news: Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga has received his first senior call-up for Sweden. He joins a group of attackers that includes Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexander Isak, and Dejan Kulusevski.
West Ham duo Tomas Soucek and Alex Kral will feature for the Czech Republic. They are joined by Burnley’s Matej Vydra.
With the home fans cheering them on, Sweden should just have enough to get past the Czech Republic on Thursday night.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Sweden will secure a low-scoring win over the Czechs – keeping a clean sheet in the process.