Sweden show they can have a tilt at the title
Kosovare Asllani was right – Sweden are real contenders at EURO 2025.
Inaugural winners in the first edition of the European Championships back in 1984, it was the last major title the Scandinavians have won.
They’ve gone on to finish runners-up three times, while making the semi-finals on a further five occasions.
Yet even with such an impeccable record, they are not necessarily the first name in the hat when it comes to competition favourites.
Germany, England, France, Spain… all names that are likely to be named before them.
Where others fail to recognise their potential, though, captain Asllani does not.
“In Sweden, we have a lot of expectations – we’re always a contender,” she told Olympics.com.
“That’s always our goal in every tournament that we are in. We have won Olympic silver medals, World Cup bronze… but we don’t like that we don’t have a gold, so I would love one for sure.”
There is still plenty of football to be played, but there’s no denying that the Swedes have put their name firmly in contention with tonight’s thumping win.
It is the first time in this tournament that they have beaten their German opponents, falling short on six previous occasions.
Better yet, they are the first side since themselves in 2015 to put four past the eight-time winners – the first nation to do so in EUROs history.
Peter Gerhardsson’s team were utterly scintillating. Despite going behind early on, they remained relentless in pursuit of an equaliser, going on to run away with the game inside the first 45 minutes.
Impressively, they have only conceded one goal, the fewest of any side so far with defence often regarded as the catalyst for any title winning side.
First to every ball, pressing every German move, carving open a nation tipped for the title with some ease; it felt like a Sweden team with a point to prove.
This was a statement win – now they face the task of living up to the marker laid down in Zurich.