Portal:Football in Sweden
Portal maintenance status: (October 2018)
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Introduction
Association football is the most popular sport in Sweden, with over 240,000 licensed players (approximately 56,000 women and 184,000 men) with another 240,000 youth players. There are around 3,200 active clubs fielding over 8,500 teams, which are playing on the 7,900 pitches available in the country. Football was first played in Sweden in the 1870s, the first championship was decided in 1896 and the Swedish Football Association was founded in 1904. Despite being a relatively small country population-wise, both the men's and women's national teams and the club teams have gained rather large success from time to time.
Selected general articles
- Division 4 (Swedish: Division 4 i fotboll för damer) is the sixth level in the league system of Swedish women's football and comprises 41 sections with 6-12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Svenska Cupen (Swedish pronunciation: [²svɛnːska ˈkɵpːɛn], The Swedish Cup) is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 98 teams compete, comprising the 16 teams from Allsvenskan and the 16 teams of Superettan together with 68 teams from lower tiers of the league system. The winners qualify for the qualifying stages of the UEFA Europa League. The winner is awarded Gustaf VI Adolf Cup.
Compared to cups in many other countries, Svenska Cupen attracts considerably less public interest and even the cup final is rarely sold out. Consequently, the Swedish Football Association has experimented with the format in order to raise the profile of the cup. The final has been staged at a neutral venue, at the national stadium as well as being played as a two-leg match. Read more... - This is a list of women's football clubs in Sweden, for men's football clubs, see the list of football clubs in Sweden. Read more...
- Allsvenskan (Swedish pronunciation: [²alːˌsvɛnːskan]; English: The All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, English: The Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924, and is the top flight of the Swedish football league system, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan. Seasons run from late March or early April to the beginning of November, with the 16 clubs all meeting each other twice, resulting in a 30-match season, for a total of 240 matches league-wide.
Allsvenskan is ranked 20th in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. Allsvenskan is ranked highest of the leagues in Scandinavia. The current champions are AIK, who won the title in the 2018 season. Read more... - This is a list of Swedish football clubs in European competition. Swedish clubs have participated since 1955, when Djurgårdens IF entered the 1955–56 European Cup. Read more...
- Division 1 (Swedish: Division 1 i fotboll för damer) is the third level in the league system of Swedish women's football and has 6 sections with 12 football teams in each.
From 1978 to 1987 when the Damallsvenskan was created it was the highest level of football in Sweden. Up until 2013 when the Elitettan was created it was the second highest level. Read more... - This article lists various Swedish football records for the various Swedish football leagues and competitions and the Sweden national team. Read more...
- A Malmö Aviation aircraft displaying the Svenska Fotbollsförbundet logo.
The Swedish Football Association (Swedish: Svenska Fotbollsförbundet; SvFF) is the governing and head body of football in Sweden. It organises the football leagues — Allsvenskan for men and Damallsvenskan for women — and the men's and women's national teams. It is based in Solna and is a founding member of both FIFA and UEFA. SvFF is supported by 24 district organisations. Read more... - Swedish women's football champions (Swedish: Svenska mästare i fotboll) is a title held by the winners of the highest Swedish football league played each year, Damallsvenskan. FC Rosengård are the holders of the record of most titles with 10 Swedish championships. After winning the 2017 Damallsvenskan, Linköpings FC are the reigning Swedish football champions. Read more...
- Division 1 is the third level in the Swedish football league system and consists of 32 Swedish football teams. Division 1 was the second tier from 1987 to 1999, but was replaced by Superettan in 2000. It was reestablished for the 2006 season as the third tier below Superettan. Read more...
- The Sweden national under-21 football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-21 year old players and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. The team is coached by Roland Nilsson and his assistant Andreas Pettersson. The Swedish U21 team came into existence, following the realignment of UEFA European Under-23 Championship, which changed to be a Under-21 competition in 1978.
Sweden made their first European Under-21 Championship appearance in 1986. In 2015, Sweden became champions for the first time. They finished second in 1992 and they also reached the semi-finals in 1990 and 2009. Oscar Hiljemark is the most capped player for the Swedish U21 team, having played 37 caps between 2011 and 2015. Ola Toivonen and Carlos Strandberg are the best goalscorers for the Swedish U21 team, having scored 13 goals each. Read more... - The Sweden national football team (Swedish: svenska fotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Friends Arena in the Stockholm urban area and the team is coached by Janne Andersson. From 1945 to late 1950s, they were considered one of the greatest teams in Europe.
Sweden made their first World Cup appearance in 1934. Sweden has made twelve World Cup appearances and six appearances in the European Championships. They finished second in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and third in both 1950 and 1994. Sweden's accomplishments also include a gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics, and bronze medals in 1924 and 1952. They also reached the semi-finals in UEFA Euro 1992. Read more... - The Sweden national under-17 football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-17-year-old players. The Swedish U17 team came into existence following the realignment of the UEFA European Under-16 Championship, which changed to be an under-17 competition in 2002.
Sweden U17's head coach for Team 1998 is Roland Nilsson and the team captain is Dennis Hadžikadunić. The head coach for Team 1999 is Magnus Wikman and the team captain is Joseph Colley. Until 2013, Sweden had never qualified for a FIFA U-17 World Cup or a European Under-17 Championship, but in 2013 they qualified for both tournaments. In the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship they got to the semi-finals where they were knocked out on penalties by Russia. In the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup they finished in third place after beating Argentina with 4–1 in the third-place match. Valmir Berisha scored three goals in the match and thus became the top scorer of the tournament. Read more... - Swedish Elite Football (SEF, officially the Swedish Elite Football Association, Swedish: Föreningen Svensk Elitfotboll), is a Swedish interest organsation that represents the 32 elite football clubs in the top two divisions (Allsvenskan and Superettan) of the Swedish football league system. SEF does not administer the divisions but acts in cooperation with the Swedish Football Association, the member clubs, sponsors and partners. The goal is to develop Swedish elite football resultwise, economically, commercially and administratively. Read more...
- Division 5 is the seventh level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 53 sections with 10 to 12 football teams in each. Read more...
- This is a list of Swedish youth football champions. Boys' teams' competitions have been contested since 1982, when Swedish Under-18 Championships (later Swedish Under-19 Championships) started, while girls have competed since 1994, when Swedish Under-17 Championships (later Swedish Under-16 Championships). Boys' districts organisations' competitions have been contested since 1962, when Distriktsjuniorturneringen started, while girls have competed since 1982. Read more...
- The Sweden national under-19 football team is the football team representing Sweden in competitions for under-19 year old players. The Swedish U19 team came into existence, following the realignment of UEFA European Under-18 Championship, which changed to be a Under-19 competition in 2002.
Sweden U19s' current head coach is Claes Eriksson. Read more...
Swedish football champions (Swedish: Svenska mästare i fotboll) is a title held by the winners of the highest Swedish football league played each year, Allsvenskan. Malmö FF are the holders of the record of most titles with 20 Swedish championships. After winning the 2017 Allsvenskan, Malmö FF are also the reigning Swedish football champions. The title has been contested since 1896 in varying forms of competition. The first Swedish Champions, Örgryte IS, were declared in 1896 when the club won the cup tournament Svenska Mästerskapet. This happened before there existed any Swedish national association, which was not created until 1904. The winners of Svenska Mästerskapet between 1896 and 1904 have retroactively been declared holders of the title by the Swedish Football Association (SvFF). After the creation of the SvFF, the title continued to be held by the winners of Svenska Mästerskapet until 1925, even though a Swedish first national league, Svenska Serien, started in 1910. Svenska Mästerskapet was discontinued in 1925.
In 1924–25, a new Swedish national league was created, Allsvenskan, but the Swedish Champions title wasn't awarded to the winners of that league until 1930–31. Since then, the winners of Allsvenskan are considered Swedish Champions, with a few exceptions. Between 1982 and 1990, the title was given to the winners of a play-off held after Allsvenskan was finished, and the following two years, 1991 and 1992, the title was given to the winners of Mästerskapsserien, a continuation league with the best teams from Allsvenskan. Read more...- This is a list of football stadiums in Sweden, ranked in descending order of capacity.
There are a large number of football stadiums and pitches in Sweden, so this list is not comprehensive. It includes: Read more... - Division 2 (Swedish: Division 2 i fotboll för damer) is the fourth level in the league system of Swedish women's football and comprises 9 sections with 10 football teams in each. Read more...
- Sweden women's national football team (Swedish: Damlandslaget) won the European Competition for Women's Football in 1984, one World Cup-silver (2003), as well as three European Championship-silvers (1987, 1995, 2001). The team has participated in six Olympic Games, seven World Cups, as well as nine European Championships. Sweden won the bronze medal at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The 2003 World Cup-final was the second most watched event in Sweden that year. Lotta Schelin is the top goalscorer in the history of Sweden with 85 goals. Schelin surpassed Hanna Ljungberg's 72-goal record against Germany on 29 October 2014. The player with the most caps is Therese Sjögran, with 214. The team was coached by Thomas Dennerby from 2005 to 2012, and the current trainer is Pia Sundhage, who joined in September '12 after most recently winning the Olympic gold medal in London with the United States. Sundhage's contract goes into effect in December 2012. Read more... - The Swedish Football Association have organized a nationwide knock-out cup competition known as Svenska Cupen for 60 years, first between 1941 and 1953 and then again from 1967 to present day. There have been a few years in these two periods when cup competition has not been held. The present cup holders are Östersunds FK, who beat IFK Norrköping in the 2017 final. It involves professional and amateur clubs of all standards playing against each other, creating the possibility for "minnows" to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament. 13 teams have reached the final while playing in a lower division, however two of these reached the final unhindered during the 1948 tournament when no first tier teams competed. All of the second tier teams have lost in the final except for Råå IF in 1948 and Degerfors IF in 1992–93, both of whom faced second tier opposition.
Malmö FF have a record 14 cup titles, followed by AIK who have eight titles. Malmö FF is also the club who have won most consecutive titles and the record of appearing in the most finals, they won three consecutive titles between 1972 and 1975 and having appeared in 18 finals. AIK have finished as runners-up for a record of eight times. Hammarby IF are the team to have appeared in the most finals without winning the cup title, they have appeared and lost in three finals, their latest final was in 2010. Read more... - Division 5 (Swedish: Division 5 i fotboll för damer) is the seventh level in the league system of Swedish women's football and comprises 43 sections with 5-12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Svenska Cupen damer (the "Ladies Swedish Cup") is the main Swedish women's association football knock-out tournament.
A separate Svenska Cupen exists for men. Read more... - This is a list of Swedish football clubs in European competition. Swedish clubs have participated since 2001, when Umeå IK entered the 2001–02 UEFA Women's Cup. Read more...
- Division 6 is the sixth/eighth(due to sponsorship reason) level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 78 sections with 5 to 12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Division 6 (Swedish: Division 6 i fotboll för damer) is the eight level in the league system of Swedish women's soccer. Read more...
- Division 4 is the sixth level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 39 sections with 8 to 12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Division 7 is the ninth level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 47 sections with 9 to 12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Division 3 is the fifth level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 144 Swedish football teams. Division 3 had status as the official third level from 1928 to 1986, but was replaced by Division 2 in 1987. It then had status as the official fourth level until 2005, but was replaced once again as Division 1 was recreated in 2006. Read more...
Division 2 is the fourth level in the league system of Swedish football and comprises 84 Swedish football teams. Division 2 had status as the official second level from 1928 to 1986, but was replaced by Division 1 in 1987. It then had status as the official third level until 2005, but was replaced once again by the recreated Division 1 in 2006. Read more...- Division 3 (Swedish: Division 3 i fotboll för damer) is the fifth level in the league system of Swedish women's football and comprises 26 sections with 10-12 football teams in each. Read more...
- Superettan (Swedish pronunciation: [²sʉːpɛrˌɛtːan], "The Super One") is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Allsvenskan and Division 1. Seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season.
The league was created in 2000. The second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalized leagues operating under the Division 2 (1924–1986) and Division 1 (1987–1999) names. Read more... - This is a list of football clubs in Sweden, for women's football clubs, see the list of women's football clubs in Sweden. Read more...
- Elitettan (English: The Elite First) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Damallsvenskan and Division 1. Seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 26 matches each in the season. The league was created in 2013. Read more...
- There are several derbies in the Allsvenskan and in the lower divisions of the Swedish football pyramid. Read more...
- The Damallsvenskan, also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, Swedish for ladies' all-Swedish, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan, this term being used alone to refer to the men's division.
The division consists of a league of 12 teams. From 2013, the Damallsvenskan began operating on a system of promotion and relegation with the Elitettan. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the Elitettan, and the two highest placed teams from the Elitettan are promoted in their place. Read more... - The Sweden national futsal team represents Sweden in international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the European Championships and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. The team played their first official match in December 2012 against France in Gothenburg. One month later, Sweden played their first competitive games and took three impressive victories in the qualification round for the 2014 European Championship. Read more...
Did you know...
- ... that supporter liaison officers are claimed to be a major factor in the 20 percent reduction of crowd disorder in Swedish football?
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Selected images
Mathias Ranégie who was voted best forward in 2006 went on to become the 2011 Allsvenskan top goalscorer and then signed with Serie A club Udinese in 2012.
The best midfielder of 2010, Ibrahim Koroma, has over 10 caps for the Sierra Leone national football team.
Nigerian forward Kennedy Igboananike became topscorer in Division 1 Norra 2008 with Vasalunds IF.
Veteran Danish forward Allan Borgvardt has been one of the most prolific players during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Division 1 seasons with an overall 48 goals in 68 games.
Nigerian 2007 winner Abiola Dauda was signed by Allsvenskan club Kalmar FF after his successful season and was one of the top scorers in the 2012 Allsvenskan.
Subcategories
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Topics
| National teams | |
|---|---|
| League system – Men | |
| League system – Women | |
| Cup competitions | |
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