Can Graham Potter revive Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Sweden's £235m forward line in time to earn World Cup 2026 qualification?

It felt like the Swedish national team had hit rock bottom after missing out on Euro 2024. Not since 1996 had they failed to reach the finals - but, on this occasion, they hadn't even gone close. Sweden won just three of their qualifying games and finished nine points adrift of second-placed Austria, and 10 behind group winners Belgium.

Given Sweden had also been eliminated in the play-offs for Qatar 2022 by Poland, the SvFF unsurprisingly felt it was time to bring an end to Janne Andersson's seven-year spell as coach. They also brought in Kim Kallstrom as their new director of football and the retired midfielder, who made 131 appearances for Sweden (and four for Arsenal!), was immediately charged with finding a worthy successor to Andersson.

"That is the No.1 priority," Kallstrom said on December 6, 2023. "But I think we need to take our time. We need to analyse a little bit where we are, why we are there, where we want to go, how we can get there, and who the people are who are going to implement all that."

Kallstrom ultimately decided that the man to turn the national team around was Dahl Tomasson, the ex-Denmark forward who had just parted company with Blackburn Rovers by 'mutual consent' after a run of eight Championship games without a win.

Tomasson lost three of his first four games in charge - including a 2-1 defeat in his native Denmark - but they were all friendlies. When the competitive action began in September 2024, Sweden suddenly caught fire - and Tomasson's daring decision to move away from the national team's tried-and-trusted 4-4-2 appeared to be the main reason why.

There were plenty of pundits who argued that Isak and Gyokeres couldn't play together; that they were too similar. However, the pair contributed a combined 12 goals in the four Nations League games they played alongside one another at the apex of Tomasson's bold 3-4-1-2 formation.

"Some observers have called it a revolution but, first and foremost, I see my goal as a reversal of bad results by building a new style and a new team," the former Malmo coach told Bold.dk. Tomasson acknowledged, though, that not everyone was convinced by his adventurous approach, primarily due to the standard of Sweden's opponents in their Nations League C group (Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan).

"I find that there are still people who are sceptical about whether we can play so offensively against better nations," he said, "but while we play offensively, we do not do so naively."

However, when Tomasson's tactics were truly tested for the first time in World Cup qualifying, the results were dire.

Even though Isak wasn't match fit for Sweden's opening qualifier against Slovenia on September 5 due to his professionally successful but physically detrimental summer strike, the Scandinavians should have kicked off their campaign with a win in Ljubljana. However, despite twice taking the lead - first through Anthony Elanga and then Yasin Ayari - they threw away two points in the final minute of normal time because of a goalkeeping error from Robin Olsen.

Even worse was to follow three days later, with the Swedes slumping to a disastrous 2-0 defeat in Kosovo. By that stage, faith in the manager was already wavering. There were still four matchdays remaining, but the feeling in the media was that their hopes of automatic qualification were already over after losing to a team ranked 95th in the world at the time.

Former winger Freddie Ljungberg called the performance against Kosovo "appalling", Expressen labelled it "a betrayal", while Goteborgs-Posten argued, "The uphill struggle is so steep now that it's impossible to see how a Swedish national team under Jon Dahl Tomasson will be able to regain the confidence they have failed to instil over the past year and a half."

Unfortunately for the under-fire coach, the increasingly sceptical Swedish press would be proven correct.

To have any real chance of pipping Switzerland to top spot in UEFA Group B, Sweden simply had to beat Murat Yakin's men in Solna on October 10. However, despite being able to once again pair a fully-fit Isak with Gyokeres from the first minute while Elanga made do with a place on the bench, the hosts failed to register a single shot on target in an embarrassingly meek 2-0 loss.

Unsurprisingly, Tomasson's toothless team were booed from the field, as the infamous 'JDT Out, Danish bast*rd' banner was unfurled in the stands. "That was terrible," defender Emil Holm told Aftonbaldet. "There should be no such thing. I understand that people are disappointed, but I find writing things like that to be the lowest of the low."

As for Tomasson, he reacted with admirable diplomacy to his nationality being brought into the argument in such classless fashion, while at the same time trying desperately to talk up Sweden's hopes of keeping their World Cup dream alive.

"I understand the fans, they want results and wins," he told reporters. "Football is emotion. The fans are worried - we have to deal with that, because that result was a slap in the face. But we haven't been eliminated yet. I believe that we can make it to the World Cup with this team."

However, the following Monday, Sweden would be once again beaten by Kosovo, this time losing 1-0 in Gothenburg, meaning even a second-place finish was now beyond them. Sweden were clearly "completely broken", as retired defender Jonas Olsson put it on Viaplay, and the FA promptly turned to Potter to fix the national team.

Potter's appointment as Dahl Tomasson's successor surprised a lot of Premier League followers, given he'd been fired from his two previous jobs, with Chelsea and West Ham. "He has won the lottery with the Sweden job," former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke told Snabbare.

"After the way it ended for him at West Ham, to have probably the two biggest names in British football in terms of the summer transfer window in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, that doesn’t happen very often. It all happened so quickly too, but I think Potter was just in the right place at the right time and sometimes that’s all that is required. I won’t say it was just luck but you talk sometimes about getting the break you need. Well, he's got it, and it all depends on what he's going to do with it now."

It's certainly an excellent opportunity for Potter to go some way towards restoring a once-stellar reputation - and his ties to Sweden should certainly help. The 50-year-old is obviously best known for the aesthetically pleasing team he built at Brighton. However, it was in Sweden that he forged his reputation as one of England's most promising young coaches, with the former York City left-back taking Ostersunds from the fourth tier to the top-flight during a remarkable seven-year stint as manager that also featured a Swedish Cup triumph and a famous Europa League win over Arsene Wenger's Arsenal at the Emirates.

Consequently, the appointment of such a high-profile coach was considered quite the coup in Sweden - particularly as Potter had made it very clear beforehand that he was willing to accept a relatively small salary because he was so excited by the challenge.

"That's normally the issue when the Swedish FA are due to appoint a manager," ex-West Brom centre-back Olsson told Sky Sports, "as the wage isn't the highest, so they can't really go for the biggest names. But Potter's link with Swedish football is big because of what he did at Ostersunds, and also because of his coaching staff - his assistant Bjorn Hamberg has been with him at Brighton and Chelsea.

"Swedish supporters kind of see him as one of their own, so it was an easy appointment to sell and, in terms of getting the balance right, his leadership qualities show he can create a sense of harmony in a good group of players."

Chelsea and West Ham supporters (and maybe even some players) would obviously take issue with Olsson's positive appraisal of Potter's leadership qualities - he was allegedly dismissed as a 'yes man' by some squad members at Stamford Bridge and derogatorily referred to as 'Harry' or 'Hogwarts'. However, simply speaking the local language in his first press conference as Sweden boss enabled Potter to make a far more positive first impression than Tomasson, who only ever engaged with the press in English.

"It's a big honour for me to be here. I'm very proud," he said. "I understand Swedish football well, and I just think, as the national team head coach, it's important to at least try [to speak the language]. I wouldn't say I'm already back up to speed, to be honest - obviously it's been a long time since I spoke Swedish, and I wasn't particularly fluent when I left. So, it's been a bit of a mix of upskilling myself, while at the same time watching games and watching players, and making sure that we get a team and a group now that we can go forward with."

It's hardly an ideal situation, of course. Potter is taking over a team low on confidence in the middle of a qualification campaign. Still, the mere fact that Tomasson has been dismissed should lift the spirits of players like Elanga, who reportedly had issues with the Dane's "damned system". Captain Victor Lindelof was also put in an awkward position by Tomasson's public falling-out with goalkeeper Olsen, who vowed never to play for the coach again after being dropped for last month's game against the Swiss.

Funnily enough, Sweden already being out of the running for automatic qualification is also a plus for Potter. The only way they can now make it to the World Cup is through the play-offs - which the Scandinavians are almost certain to make due to them topping their Nations League group. As a result, Potter's first two games, against Switzerland and Slovenia, are effectively free hits, opportunities for him to prepare for the knockout games in March that will decide whether Sweden go to the World Cup, and whether the manager's short-term contract is extended.

The problem, though, is that Gyokeres is presently unavailable through injury, while Isak hasn't played a minute of competitive football for Liverpool since October 22, meaning there will unquestionably be a limit on how much game time the British-record signing can be afforded. In that context, it may well be difficult for Potter to get Sweden firing again - at least initially. As Tomasson lamented before his dismissal, "We have forgotten how to score goals and I don't know why."

Potter basically has two games and five months to come up with an answer. If he doesn't, the Swedish FA will be left counting the considerable cost of failing to qualify for a second successive World Cup - despite being in possession of two of the most valuable strikers in the game today.

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