The crazy ticket to the 2026 World Cup.

Sweden qualified for the 2026 World Cup despite not winning a single match and finishing last in their European qualifying group.

Sweden narrowly qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

The Swedish national team created one of the most unbelievable stories in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Their group stage performance was extremely poor, with 0 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses. They scored only 4 goals and conceded 12, finishing last in their group.

Under normal circumstances, this result would have meant early elimination. However, UEFA's special rule, which reserves play-off spots for teams with good records in the Nations League, opened a second door for Sweden. Despite their poor performance in the qualifying rounds, they qualified for the play-off matches.

And here, Sweden showed a completely different face. From a demoralized team in the group stage, they transformed dramatically when entering the crucial matches. In the play-off semi-final, Sweden defeated Ukraine 3-1 in a match where Viktor Gyokeres became the hero with an impressive hat-trick.

The winning streak continued into the final. Against a tough opponent in Poland, Sweden won a thrilling 3-2 victory, with Gyokeres once again making his mark with the decisive goal. Two consecutive wins propelled the Nordic team from the brink of elimination to become a representative at the biggest football event on the planet.

Sweden's journey has been controversial, as a team that performed poorly in the group stage has a chance to redeem itself thanks to the Nations League mechanism. Nevertheless, their resilience and timely resurgence at crucial moments cannot be denied.

From bottom of their group to World Cup qualification, Sweden wrote an unbelievable story, taking fans from utter disappointment to overwhelming joy.

Sweden's performance in the European qualifiers was extremely poor, even though they were in a relatively easy group.

What happened to Italy's last World Cup squad? After their defeat in the qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup, it has been 12 years since Italy last played in the World Cup. Let's take a look at the names that were part of that campaign.

Source: https://znews.vn/tam-ve-dien-ro-o-world-cup-2026-post1640082.html