Former Brighton, Chelsea and West Ham manager Graham Potter was appointed the Sweden national team head coach until 2030 in October 2025.
The former EFL left back made his name as a manager during his seven year tenure with Ostersunds FK in Sweden before returning to England with Swansea and ending it at West Ham.
The Sweden manager has recently proudly claimed he feels “very Swedish” following a dramatic 88th minute winner from Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres which sent Golden Lilies to the World Cup for the first time since 2018.
The Englishman went on to say: “I didn’t realise how many times you get a chance to play a play-off game in front of your own people to go to the World Cup. The country stops, everyone is watching the game, as you can imagine."
He further commented on the failures elsewhere: “I’ve lived failure, studied failure", but has used it as motivation to improve and become a successful manager once again. He later reinstated the belief from his success previously "I've had quite a bit of success as well".
With turning negatives into positives, he displayed a maturity and mindset that is a stellar example to those around the world “I won't share my learnings with you because it's hurt me to get them - you know what I mean? It does. And I think it should because that’s how you improve. That's how you get better.”
How will Sweden fair in World Cup 2026?
With Potter experimenting with a 3-5-2 in a friendly against Greece, the possibility of Isak and Gyokeres both starting together is certainly on the cards.
"I think they are different in their styles, which is good for us because you can hopefully use them effectively,"
Potter is aware of the historic run in World Cup 1994 in the USA which saw Sweden finish 3rd "There was a lot of sunburnt Swedes". Potter even recalls the tournament song that bellowed around the country called När vi gräver guld i USA which translates to When We Dig for Gold in the USA. As World in motion is loved in England and still sung to this day, the Swedes still reminisce in their glory through this song.
With their opening game at 4am in Sweden against Tunisia, taking all 3 points will be crucial before taking on the Netherlands in Houston and then finishing their group stage campaign in Dallas against Japan. With 2 tough fixtures, a win against Tunisia could put Sweden into the Round of 32.
With a team with great talent including Isak, Gyokeres, Elanga, Svanberg and Ayari Sweden have a great chance to make a lot of noise this World Cup after getting knocked out in the quarter finals in 2018.
Potter's personal feelings ahead of his first World Cup
"My first football memory is from 1986 - I was 11, watching Diego Maradona," Potter reflected. "That was when I realised how special the game was. To work in that environment now is a dream."
The Englishman has not belittled his emotions leading up to the World Cup and will be soaking it in. With the nation, players and staff all behind him, the once coined failure will be looking to prove many people wrong in America as he's done many times in his career.
