Sweden vs Switzerland: 5 things we learned

With Portugal facing Uruguay, Brazil locking horns with Mexico, France clashing with Argentina, England doing battle with Colombia, and Spain expected to steamroll hosts Russia, one can be forgiven for totally overlooking the round of 16 tie between Sweden and Switzerland. After all, neither the Blågult nor La Nati has set the pitch alight, and neither Sweden nor Switzerland is viewed as major contenders. Certainly, both sides have solid players, but none at the superstar level like some of this tournament’s other sides.

Nonetheless, they have gone about their business under the radar, and Sweden has snuck into the quarter-finals. Here are five things we learned from Sweden’s narrow 1-0 win over Switzerland.

1. As expected, little fireworks

This game wasn’t expected to get people’s pulses racing, and it lived up to expectation. Sweden has built their campaign off staunch defending, and that’s just what they did against Switzerland. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how a team gets the result, it’s if they can get the job done.

1-0? As good enough to get through as France’s thrilling 4-3 win over Argentina. It won’t entertain the neutrals, but that doesn’t matter to the Blågult one bit. Mission accomplished.

2. No Zlatan, no problem…

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absence has had no impact on Sweden, and he certainly will be ruing his decision to retire from the squad after the EURO 2016 tournament. He made a series of desperate, almost cringeworthy pleas to be included in the team, but Janne Andersson made the right decision and decided not to get him involved. After all, he wasn’t there as the Blågult had to fight their way through qualifying and navigate a tough two-legged draw against heavy favorites Italy.

Well, Sweden has not struggled one bit without Ibrahimovic in the squad. In fact, they’ve flourished. Their top goalscorer is not a striker, but defensive stalwart Andreas Granqvist. He wasn’t on the scoresheet as Emil Forsberg finally opened his account, but has led by example and will be heavily counted on as Sweden hope to continue its World Cup journey.

3. …but Sweden is still a wildly unpredictable side

Sweden’s path to the World Cup has had its fair share of luck. The Blågult scored just one goal against Italy – and that was helped by a deflection. Against the Azzurri at the Stadio San Siro, they showed no inclination to drive forward and were content to play in two defensive lines of four, occasionally moving to even a five-man back-line as they clearly came there to park the bus.

The team’s win over South Korea? Courtesy of a penalty. Yes, they came alive in a 3-0 win against Mexico, but then again, El Tri was surprisingly poor in that contest. Could that have inflated Sweden’s abilities? Probably. The fact that their top goalscorer is a defender doesn’t speak well of Sweden’s attack, who were horribly profligate against Switzerland.

4. More frustration for Xherdan Shaqiri

Arguably Switzerland’s most creative – and some may even say best – player, Xherdan Shaqiri endured a frustrating campaign with Stoke City, who were relegated. Thus, this tournament was a good chance for him to put himself in the shop window for a move away from a team featuring in the Championship, as he’s simply too good to be plying his trade in England’s second tier.

There were flashes of brilliance – notably in the game against Serbia where he netted the game-winner, but he cut a very frustrated figure against the staunchly-defensive Sweden. Often wasteful when he did get the ball, he had no impact as La Nati were desperate to find a way around Sweden’s block but to no avail.

5. Rankings still mean nothing

Switzerland was ranked sixth heading into this tournament, but based on the way La Nati performed, they certainly didn’t look like it. Things started off well with a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Brazil, followed by a 2-1 win over Serbia. However, they fumbled miserably against Costa Rica, settling for a 2-2 draw against a team who had already been eliminated.

As we saw with Poland, who crashed out of the tournament after winning just one game, Switzerland, who also won just one fixture has shown that rankings count for nothing. If they did, Russia, who is the lowest-ranked side in this competition wouldn’t be through to the quarter-finals to take on Croatia. It would be the Vatreni facing a tough test against tenth-ranked Spain. And Germany, the reigning champions would still be in the competition. This tournament clearly is showing that FIFA rankings are not indicative of how a team will perform on the pitch, but from a neutral perspective, that’s just fine.