Isak and Gyokeres revive Sweden’s World Cup hopes

Sweden manager – With Alexander Isak fully fit and partnered with Viktor Gyokeres, Sweden head into World Cup 2026 feeling like they’ve moved from last-chance survival to real momentum—exactly the kind of boost their manager Graham Potter needs.

By the time Sweden reached the point where the talk turns from “can they?” to “how far can they go?”, Liverpool striker Alexander Isak’s full return to fitness became more than a feel-good headline. It changed the shape of what Graham Potter can build—and what Sweden’s fans can believe.

Isak linked up well with Arsenal frontman Viktor Gyokeres, and the connection mattered. The pair both assisted each other for their goals. a kind of two-way attacking rhythm that Potter will enjoy seeing in practice. not just in highlights. For Sweden. it is an expensive yet formidable forward line—precisely the sort of threat that belongs on international football’s biggest stage.

Sweden will be back at the World Cup after missing out on the 2022 tournament in Qatar. And the sudden clarity of this attacking partnership suggests they can cause real problems for any nation if their front players are firing. Potter’s challenge now is blending the rest of the squad into a unit that can keep that momentum under pressure.

There’s a reason the emphasis is on guidance. In this competition, only Victor Lindelof has played before for Sweden. Goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfelt was an unused substitute in Russia in 2018. That experience gap makes the task feel narrower and more urgent at the same time: if Sweden are going to beat the odds and go further than many expect. they’ll need cohesion quickly.

Even so, the structure of the tournament gives Sweden a foothold. With the format in mind, they are already well-placed to reach the last 32. Their next test arrives with real meaning: a step up from what comes first in the group.

Tougher matches are coming. and Tunisia—ranked 56th in the world—serves as a reminder of the baseline Sweden have already navigated. The next game is against the Netherlands on Saturday, with kick-off at 18:00 BST. It’s a matchup framed by favourites and expectations. and Potter knows Sweden will need to keep their focus as the noise grows.

In a post-match press conference, Potter pushed the message back to basics. “We just focus on what we can do, we focus on our performances,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what people think from the outside or opinions.” His point was simple: everyone gets predictions in tournaments like this. but Sweden have to do their job on the pitch—how they play as a team. not what the outside world decides to say.

He added that Sweden will meet another top team at the weekend, one of the favourites for the competition.

The hope around Potter doesn’t come out of nowhere. Sweden’s best performance in the tournament is 68 years old. when they finished runners-up as hosts to a Pele-inspired Brazil in 1958. The manager of that team was another Englishman, George Raynor. Sweden later finished third in 1994, when the competition was staged in the USA. Those landmarks are distant. but they cast a long shadow—and make this current revival feel less like a fantasy and more like a possibility.

For Potter. the imagery is hard to miss: the cowboy hat-wearing manager steering Sweden away from a “last-chance saloon” feeling and toward something closer to a World Cup revival. Is it enough to carry them past the Netherlands and into deeper rounds?. Not yet. But with Isak back to full fitness. with Gyokeres already clicking. and with Sweden positioned to reach the last 32. the momentum is at least real—something that can turn belief into results if the squad learns to move together fast.

World Cup 2026 Sweden Graham Potter Alexander Isak Viktor Gyokeres Liverpool Arsenal Victor Lindelof Kristoffer Nordfelt Netherlands Tunisia last 32