Sweden

Sweden is a Nordic EU member state of 10.5 million people, bordered by Norway and Finland. A member of NATO since March 2024, Sweden generates approximately 98% of electricity from low-carbon sources (hydro, nuclear, and wind), making it a preferred location for energy-intensive green-transition industries.

Sweden hosts the Stegra Boden facility, the largest electrolyser installation in Europe. Stegra completed installation of all 37 electrolyser modules (740 MW total, supplied by thyssenkrupp nucera) in April 2026, with green hydrogen production targeted for 2026. The facility feeds an adjacent green steel plant, the first large-scale commercial demonstration of direct-reduction hydrogen steelmaking. Sweden's low-cost hydro and nuclear electricity base underpins its industrial competitiveness for green hydrogen and data centres, contrasting sharply with Germany's negative spark spread in May 2026.

Sweden returned to the World Cup for the first time since Russia 2018 when Viktor Gyokeres scored an 88th-minute winner against Poland in the UEFA Path B playoff final on 31 March 2026. They were drawn into Group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan, and Tunisia.

Sweden opened the group stage with a 5-1 victory over Tunisia in their first match, a margin that made them briefly the most emphatic winners of matchday one. Yet 20 June 2026 in Houston brought one of the sharpest reversals in modern World Cup history: the Netherlands won 5-1, Virgil van Dijk heading the equaliser before Cody Gakpo and others put the game beyond doubt. Sweden became the first side in World Cup history to win an opening game by four goals and then lose their second by the same margin, leaving their goal difference at zero.

Qualification for the Round of 32 now rests entirely on the final group game against Japan. Gyokeres has carried the attack throughout, his over-reliance remains the central tactical vulnerability Graham Potter must resolve.