With not a single victory in six matches and only two points recorded, Sweden finished at the bottom of the qualifying group.
But the road to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is open.
To qualify, two straight victories are required: first against Ukraine on Thursday and then against the winner of Poland and Albania on March 31 in Solna.
“A hell of a lot of pressure”
Now it's a bit of a knife to the throat and they will feel it... Or they probably already feel it now, when they are down in Spain, that there is a hell of a lot of pressure from the media and the Swedish people, but also internally, as the players want to do damn well, says Djurgården's team captain Adam Ståhl.
I hope things will go well for them.
AIK's Sotirios Papagiannopoulos, who has five senior international caps, also believes it will work.
It would be fun, and everyone who works with the Swedish national team deserves it - and fun for Sweden, says the center back who hopes a little extra success for teammate and goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
Another person with several reasons to keep a thumbs-up for Blågult is Mjällby's Axel Norén.
It's great that there are three players who have Mjällby connections with Herman (Johansson), Noel (Törnqvist) and Elliot (Stroud), so I hope for Sweden's sake and theirs that we take it home.
“Want to experience a World Cup”
Hammarby's Nahir Besara:
"You want to experience a World Cup, a championship with Sweden again, because I remember all these feelings when outdoor cafes are full and they put up big screens in the city and it's full of people and it's alive. Everyone is cheering for the same country and team, and I really hope we move on," he says.
Besara's coach, Kalle Karlsson, however, has had too much to do at the training facility in Årsta to get the last bit done before the Allsvenskan season opener on April 4 and later the cup final on May 14 (both matches against Mjällby).
"I have to say that I am very poorly informed about national team football, but I believe and hope that we will get there," he says.
