Sweden World Cup profile: Guide to squad, record, path to final, manager, team news, latest odds and star man

SWEDEN have reached their first World Cup finals since 2006 - and dumped out former ever-presents Italy in the process.

Hopes will be high for the Swedes because when they do reach the finals they usually do well - and now they face England in the last-eight.

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Here's all you need to know about the side looking for glory all without the help of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In a nutshell: Scandinavian triers who put paid to Italy’s hopes even without Zlatan, beating the Azzurri in the play-offs to reach Russia 2018.

Flag: Instantly recognisable, the Swedish flag is a yellow Nordic cross on a blue background. It’s been the national flag since 1906.

Population: 10.12 million

Nickname: Blågult. Look like "blag it" but actually just means the Blue-Yellow.

World Cup news

BARNEY'S BASKET

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KILLER MUM

Mum pleads GUILTY to killing son, 7, who was found dead at home in 'tragic' case

COBBLED TOGETHER

Alan Halsall's future on Corrie revealed as he stars in I'm A Celebrity

D'OR OPEN

Rodri opens door to astonishing Real Madrid move despite Ballon d'Or snub

Manager: Janne Andersson. The 55-year-old led Norrkoping to the Norwegian Allsvenskan league title in in 2015 and took over from Erik Hamren in 2016.

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Captain: The vastly experienced defender Andreas Granqvist succeeded the living legend that is Ibrahimovic after the big man retired from international football at the end of Euro 2016.

Star Man: Three times Swedish midfielder of the year, Emil Forsberg has been impressing in the Bundesliga since his move to RB Leipzig in 2015. Expect big things this summer too.

Rising Star: Ludwig Augustinsson not only has one of the best names in the tournament but he’s also tipped to be Sweden’s long-term left back having already won 14 caps. According to his Wikipedia page he’s also a teetotal Manchester United fan. Just saying…

Most caps: Anders Svensson (148)

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All-time top scorer: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (62)

Nice kit? Unmistakably Swedish. Bright yellow with a just a splash of royal blue around the collar and down the sides of the body. Tidy.

Most offensive haircut? Not really offensive but the skipper Andreas Granqvist’s going to have to make the call between sweepover or shave some time soon.

Any names we can laugh at like kids? Not really but let’s get a chant going for Sotirios Papagiannopoulos. Algother now, give us an ‘S’…

Rivals? It’s the clash with neighbours Denmark or the Nordic Derby, as it’s called by nobody whatsoever.

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National anthem: The de facto national anthem is Du gamla, du fria (Thou ancient, thou free) which was actually written by Benny and Bjorn from Abba, although we may need to check that.

Sample lyric:
I forever want to serve thee, my beloved country,
Loyalty until death I want to swear thee

National dish: Köttbulla. Otherwise known as meatballs. As seen in Ikea.

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World Cup Finals Record: P50 W19 D13 L18 F80 A71

World Cup Win Ratio: 38%

Best World Cup Performance: Runners-up to Brazil in 1958.

FIFA World Ranking: 19

Path to final: Sweden topped Group F ahead of Mexico, South Korea and, of course, Germany, who finished rock bottom as defending champions.

They beat South Korea 1-0 in the first group game, lost 2-1 to the Germans thanks to Toni Kroos' last-gasp goal, then thumped Mexico 3-0.

In the first round of knockouts they beat Switzerland 1-0 thanks to Emil Forsberg's 66th-minute goal, but the clash left many viewers feeling the side were beginning to run out of steam.