Sweden coach admits deep disappointment over defeat to Kosovo

Sweden began its 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2:2 draw against Slovenia and a 2:0 defeat to Kosovo.

Sweden coach, Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson, faced harsh criticism, particularly after the defeat to Kosovo.

In an interview with “STV Sport”, published on Tuesday, Tomasson explained what went wrong two weeks ago.

“We didn’t play like Sweden, we didn’t follow our principles. We didn’t play the way we have trained. In fact, it’s quite simple: we didn’t look like Sweden. That’s why we didn’t play well; we couldn’t cope with Kosovo,” Tomasson said. 

“We didn’t play fast, we played slowly, we had too many touches of the ball”.
Some of the criticism concerned the one-on-one style of play and Sweden pressing very high up the pitch.

“The players want to play this way. I’m trying to create a modern and attacking style that the players like. Of course, we didn’t do that last time, but we’ve shown it many times before. I think we had eight wins in ten matches before this defeat,” Tomasson said.

The well-known Dane is self-critical. He took responsibility.

“I haven’t been good enough at giving the players information; we didn’t do what we talked about, we didn’t do what we trained, so I need to be clearer in the future,” Tomasson said.

The 49-year-old stresses that Sweden had good results before the first two World Cup qualifying matches.

“I think we need to stop here and separate the matches. Against Slovenia, it was a very good match. We know how we conceded goals, and immediately after halftime we talked about it, and it won’t happen again. We conceded goals late, but we played a very good match against Slovenia, which we shouldn’t forget. The Slovenes didn’t lose at the European Championship; they only lost on penalties, and we weren’t even at the European Championship,” said Sweden’s coach.

“Against Kosovo, it was a terrible match, it wasn’t good at all and we are very disappointed. But we’ve shown many times that we can bounce back.”

After two rounds, Switzerland leads the group with six points. Kosovo is second with three points. Sweden and Slovenia have one point each.

Tomasson has confidence in his team.

“Football is always pressure. I love pressure; it’s part of the energy. It gives me good energy. And I believe that anyone who has been part of an elite environment cannot live without pressure. It’s a perfect thing to have pressure, whether winning or losing. Of course, it’s better to win matches, but perhaps when you win matches you’re not the best in the world, and when you lose matches you’re not the worst in the world. That’s why you need calm, focus on the journey and rely on facts,” he says.

Sweden will face Kosovo on October 13 in Gothenburg. Three days earlier, in Solna, Sweden will play Switzerland. 

Tomasson says he has a plan for how to win the matches against Switzerland and Kosovo.

“I have a lot of confidence, of course. We have a plan; we don’t panic. We look ahead, and everyone showed that after the defeat to Kosovo. We threw that day in the trash immediately and moved on,” Tomasson said.