This is a record of Sweden's results at the FIFA Men’s World Cup. The FIFA World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently take place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 48 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup final is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.2006 FIFA World Cup TV Coverage (PDF), FIFA.com. Retrieved on 6 June 2007.

Sweden have been one of the more successful national teams in the history of the World Cup, having reached the top four on four occasions, and becoming runners-up on home ground in 1958. They have been present at 13 out of 23 World Cups as of 2026.

Throughout the World Cup history, Brazil became Sweden's historical rival. The two countries have met each other seven times but Sweden never won, with five victories for the Brazilian side and two draws. Another historical opponent of Sweden in the finals is (West) Germany: four encounters, with three wins for Germany and one for Sweden.

Overall record

FIFA World Cup recordFIFA World Cup qualification recordYearRoundPosition* 1930Did not enterNo qualification 1934Quarter-finals8th210144220082 1938Fourth place4th31021193201117 1950Third place3rd52121115220062 1954Did not qualify411298 1958Runners-up2nd6411127Qualified as hosts 1962Did not qualify5302115 19664211103 1970Group stage9th3111224301125 1974Quarter-finals5th6222767421179 1978First group stage 13th301213430174 1982Did not qualify832378 19868413149 1990Group stage21st300336642093 1994Third place3rd733115810631198 1998Did not qualify10703169 2002Round of 1613th41215510820203 2006Round of 1614th41213410802304 2010Did not qualify10532135 2014126242118 2018Quarter-finals7th53026412723279 2022Did not qualify10604138 2026Round of 3227th411271082241015 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034TotalBest: Runners-up13/23552014218783149882338290144

*Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. **Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won. ***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Sweden's World Cup recordFirst match Sweden 3–2 (27 May 1934; Bologna, Italy)Biggest win 8–0 (12 June 1938; Antibes, France)Biggest defeat 7–1 (9 July 1950; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)Best resultRunners-up at the 1958 FIFA World CupWorst resultGroup stage in 1970, 1978 and 1990

By match

YearRoundOpponentScoreSweden scorers 1934Round 13–2Jonasson (2), KroonQuarter-final1–2Dunker 1938Round 1w/o Quarter-final8–0H. Andersson (3), Wetterström (3), Keller, NybergSemi-final1–5NybergMatch for third place2–4Jonasson, Nyberg 1950Group 33–2Jeppson (2), S. Andersson2–2Sundqvist, PalmérFinal round 1–7S. Andersson2–3Palmér, Sundqvist3–1Sundqvist, B. Mellberg, Palmér 1958Group 33–0Simonsson (2), Liedholm2–1 Hamrin (2)0–0Quarter-final2–0Hamrin, SimonssonSemi-final3–1Skoglund, Gren, HamrinFinal2–5Liedholm, Simonsson 1970Group 20–11–1Turesson1–0Grahn 1974Group 30–00–03–0Edström (2), SandbergGroup B0–12–4Edström, Sandberg2–1Edström, Torstensson 1978Group 31–1Sjöberg0–10–1 1990Group C1–2Brolin1–2Strömberg1–2Ekström 1994Group B2–2Ljung, Dahlin3–1Dahlin (2), Brolin1–1K. AnderssonRound of 163–1Dahlin, K. Andersson (2)Quarter-final2–2 (5-4 p)Brolin, K. AnderssonSemi-final0–1Match for third place4–0Brolin, Mild, Larsson, K. Andersson 2002Group F1–1Alexandersson2–1Larsson (2)1–1SvenssonRound of 161–2 Larsson 2006Group B0–01–0Ljungberg2–2Allbäck, LarssonRound of 160–2 2018Group F1–0Granqvist1–2Toivonen3–0Augustinsson, Granqvist, Álvarez (o.g.)Round of 161–0ForsbergQuarter-final0–2 2026Group F5–1Ayari (2), Isak, Gyökeres, Svanberg1–5Elanga1–1ElangaRound of 32 0–3

Player records Most appearances RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups1Henrik Larsson131994, 2002 and 20062Kalle Svensson111950 and 1958Bo Larsson111970, 1974 and 19784Ronnie Hellström101970, 1974 and 1978Björn Nordqvist101970, 1974 and 1978Tomas Brolin101990 and 1994Klas Ingesson101990 and 1994Roland Nilsson101990 and 1994Thomas Ravelli101990 and 199410Lennart Skoglund91950 and 1958Ralf Edström91974 and 1978Stefan Schwarz91990 and 1994

Top goalscorers With his five goals in 1994, Kennet Andersson won the shared Bronze Boot at that tournament.

RankPlayerGoalsWorld Cups1Kennet Andersson51994Henrik Larsson51994 (1), 2002 (3) and 2006 (1)3Agne Simonsson41958Kurt Hamrin41958Ralf Edström41974Tomas Brolin41990 (1) and 1994 (3)Martin Dahlin419948Sven Jonasson31934 (2) and 1938 (1)Harry Andersson31938Gustav Wetterström31938Arne Nyberg31938Karl-Erik Palmér31950Stig Sundqvist31950

See also Sweden at the UEFA European Championship

Notes

References

External links Sweden at FIFA World Cup Finals Statistics