Standing at the bottom of the qualifying round with 1 point, why is the Swedish team still in the 2026 World Cup play-off?

TPO - The Swedish team has secured a play-off ticket to the 2026 World Cup thanks to its good performance in the UEFA Nations League. Therefore, this team still has a chance to participate in the finals next year.

Sweden is still a disappointment. Despite changing the head coach, the team's style of play has not changed. Last night, they even suffered their heaviest defeat in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

Sweden was overwhelmed by the host Switzerland with all the superior statistics from ball possession (59% compared to 41), shots (9 compared to 6) to shots on target (7 compared to 3). In the 12th minute, Switzerland opened the score thanks to Embolo. Although Sweden equalized in the 33rd minute, that was all they could do. In the second half, this team continuously conceded 3 goals to end the match with a score of 1-4.

This was Sweden's heaviest defeat in over a year, extending the team's losing streak to four in a row. In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, after five matches, Sweden only had one point. Their record was only on par with the weakest European teams such as Belarus, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Andorra.

Sweden played very badly in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers

Thus, Sweden is stuck in the last position of the qualifying round. However, they still have a ticket to the play-off. The latest developments bring good news for this team. There will be 16 play-off places for 12 second-placed teams in 12 groups of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round in Europe. The remaining 4 places are for the 4 best group leaders in the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that are not in the top 2 positions in the qualifying round.

Sweden are in this category as they are top of their group in League C. They are joined by Romania, Northern Ireland and most likely San Marino. However, due to their poor performance in the qualifying round, Sweden will not be seeded in the play-offs, making their journey very difficult. The risk of having to face Turkey, Italy... early on is looming before the team of Isak, Gyokeres...

Source: https://tienphong.vn/dung-cuoi-bang-vong-loai-voi-1-diem-vi-sao-doi-tuyen-thuy-dien-van-duoc-da-play-off-world-cup-2026-post1796586.tpo