Sweden had a strong 2-0 lead from last week's away match. It was more than enough, as it would quickly prove when the playoff match kicked off at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm on Tuesday evening.
This is what we aimed for. It's just a relief, says Filippa Angeldahl after securing the European Championship spot.
Already when Angeldahl scored 1-0 on a penalty in the 16th minute – a video review was required before main referee Eleni Antoniou pointed to the penalty spot – it was practically decided.
Ten minutes later, the tension was completely gone.
Sometimes it's hard to meet teams like this, but today we really went out and killed the match, says Angeldahl.
Olympic Games miss last summer
Kosovare Asllani scored her 47th national team goal in the 19th minute, when Serbia's goalkeeper Sara Cetinja was forced to leave a rebound on Angeldahl's pass. A few minutes after that, Stina Blackstenius pressed in 3-0 after a Swedish corner.
This meant 5-0 overall and Sweden could definitely breathe a sigh of relief.
A Swedish women's national football team has not missed a European Championship in over 30 years. A failed playoff would also have meant that Sweden would have missed two consecutive championships for the first time, after missing the Olympic Games in Paris last summer.
But it was never close.
Serbia, ranked 34th in the world, was several numbers too small over two matches.
On the artificial turf at Tele2 Arena, Sweden had long periods of playtime with the Serbian team, who will have to dream on about their first major championship.
Fridolina Rolfö – the Barcelona star started her first match in over a month – had time to hit the crossbar before another of her shots became a rebound to Stina Blackstenius, who kicked in her second goal of the evening.
Sweden led 4-0 (6-0 overall) and a few seconds later, the referee blew the half-time whistle.
New goal from Bennison
As expected, the game became sleepier after the break, when both teams knew which team would go to the European Championship.
Hanna Bennison, however, woke up the audience when she thundered in 5-0 from distance in the 57th minute, the 22-year-old midfielder's third national team goal.
About half an hour later, substitute Anna Anvegård also made it 6-0. Shortly after, the match was blown off – and the blue-yellow European Championship celebration began.
In two weeks, we will know which teams Sweden will face in the European Championship. Then the group stage will be drawn.
The Women's European Championship will take place in Switzerland from July 2-27 next year.
Qualified teams so far: Switzerland (host nation), Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Iceland, Denmark, England, Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Poland, and Sweden.
The draw for the four groups of four teams will take place on December 16 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The venues are: Basel, Bern, Geneva, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Sion, and Thun.
