Match Previews

Sweden shattered by late Germany goal last weekend. Form has been weak of late. Do not score regularly. Illness bug has hampered the squad. No injuries.

Sweden suffered a tremendous blow to their World Cup hopes on Saturday as they went down 2-1 to Germany in a heart-breaking manner. They had led the game 1-0 and were still well placed when 1-1 with the Germans down to 10 men. However, a last-minute goal means they now need to beat Mexico to qualify.

The form of the Swedes has been rather indifferent since they defeated Italy to qualify for the World Cup; they have won only two of their eight fixtures – and one of those was against a weakened Denmark side.

Games involving Sweden do not tend to involve many goals; only two of their last 11 have produced more than two. They have not scored more than once in a game in any of these.

A sickness bug has been going around the camp, which prevented Victor Lindelhof playing the opening fixture. It also saw Pontus Jansson, Filip Helander and Marcus Rohden travel for the Germany match individually. It is not expected to prevent anyone from playing and the coach said on Tuesday that they will be fit.

Star man Emil Forsberg has been a major disappointment thus far. The RB Leipzig man has been their weakest offensive player, despite his billing. Nevertheless, he should retain his place.

Strikers John Guidetti and Isaac Kiese Thelin are expected to be on the bench once more. Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen, who scored against Germany, both have much better records at international level.

Jakub Johansson failed to make the initial squad due to injury.

Any win for Sweden would carry them through regardless, due to their superior head-to-head record over Mexico, which will remain the case even if Germany also win.