Gyokeres, Bergvall, Isak on Sweden duty
Sweden have sacked manager Jon Dahl Tomasson following a poor start to their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, with one expert claiming he made ‘players like Lucas Bergvall, Gyokeres and Isak look like Sunday League footballers’.
The Swedes are bottom of Group B with one point from four games following a 1-0 defeat against Kosovo on Monday evening.
That’s despite having an all-star forward line consisting of British transfer record holder Alexander Isak and Arsenal hotshot Viktor Gyokeres, as well as impressive Tottenham attacking midfielder Lucas Bergvall.
The former Blackburn Rovers manager, who played for Newcastle United during a distinguished career, became Sweden’s first foreign coach when the Dane took over took over in February 2024.
“The decision is based on the fact the men’s national team has not delivered the results we hoped for,” said Swedish Football Association’s chairman Simon Astrom in a statement.
“There is still a chance of a play-off in March and our responsibility is to ensure we have as optimal conditions as possible to be able to reach a World Cup play-off.
“In this, we assess that a new leadership is required in the form of a new coach.”
Sweden will travel to play Switzerland and then host Slovenia in their final two matches, as they try to draw level with second-placed Kosovo, who have seven points in Group B.
However, they could still reach the play-offs even without finishing in the top two as a result of their success in the 2024/25 Nations League, where they topped their group.
Tomasson was a ‘dead man walking’
Speaking about Sweden’s struggles and Tomasson’s failure to produce results and performances, Daniel Kristoffersson, football reporter for Swedish newspaper Sportbladet told BBC Sport: “Everything has gone wrong. He has implemented a system and tactics that we do not have the players for.
“We have lost to Kosovo twice having not scored a goal – even though we have world-class players like Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak.
“He has made players like Lucas Bergvall, Gyokeres and Isak look like Sunday League footballers. We could have expected a lot more from the Swedish national team. He hasn’t got anywhere near what the players are capable of. He was a dead man walking after the Kosovo game.
“He came in with high promises to play attacking and high possession football, but he has been very naive with the defence.
“Over the years Sweden have had one of the best defences as a team. But Jon Dahl Tomasson promised attacking football and he completely forgot what Sweden stands for – being solid defensively.”
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