Sweden considers football to be its most popular sport. At the time of writing there are around a quarter of a million licensed players in the country, with over 55,000 of those being women.
There are another half a million or so youth players in the country, too, so it’s a fair to say football matters to the Swedes.
But what sort of stadiums are you likely to find there? How is the league system set-up? How has the national side got on over the years? Read on to get the answers…
Sweden’s Stadiums
There are actually a vast number of football grounds and pitches throughout Sweden. That’s part of what makes the game so accessible to those who want to play. Yet the main ones aren’t really like the large stadiums that you’ll find in the UK.
The main ground is Friends Arena (it’s not themed on the TV show) and that can house 50,000 people. Most of the others are significantly smaller, however, with the next largest housing 30,000 and most able to cope with less than 20,000 supporters. They’re mostly built in the European style of a bowl design, with open roofs.
Sweden’s Leagues
There are ten different tiers to the Swedish football league system, starting with the top-flight, the Allsvenskan.
Sixteen teams compete in that league to become the Swedish champions whilst the bottom two sides are relegated to the Superettan.
The third-lowest side enters a play-off against the team that finished third in the Superettan to see who will play where the following year.
There is a system of promotion and relegation right the way down to Swedish Football Division 8, the lowest division in the Swedish football pyramid.
The Sweden National Team
When Sweden won their first ever football match 11-3 many people in the country were excited about what they might go on to achieve as a nation. The fact that they went on to lose their next five games may well have brought them crashing back down to earth. It turned out that England, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium were tougher opposition than Norway. Who knew?
When the Nordic Championship was a thing, Sweden won it nine times in a row between 1933 until 1977. They won the Olympic Games in 1948 and have reached the semi-finals of both the World Cup and the European Championships, making the final of the former in 1958 but losing 5-2 to Brazil.
Brazil had Pele to be fair…
Key Stats
| Sweden National Team Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Year Formed | 1908 |
| Home Stadium | Friends Arena |
| Stadium Capacity | 50,653 |
| Major Honours | None |
| Current Manager | Janne Andersson |
| Top Scorer | Zlatan Ibrahimović (62) |
| Most Caps | Anders Svensson (148) |
| Best Performance at World Cup | Final (1958) |
| Best Performance at European Championships | Semi-Finals (1992) |
| Kit Colours | Yellow & Blue (Home), Navy & Grey (Away) |
History Of Football In Sweden
Football in Sweden was actually played for the first time in the 1870s.
As with most other places throughout Europe, it was introduced to the country by the English and Scottish expats who made a home for themselves out there.
The rules of the Swedish game were established in 1885, with the first game played under rules more similar to what we know today played in 1892.
It was mostly played by gymnastics clubs that were responsible for pretty much all sporting activity back then.
As a sport it has now grown in the country to be played by over 3000 clubs.