Too early to say that the World Championship playoffs next summer are ruined after the magnificent fiasco? Probably, but the risk of missing the World Championship is greater than the chance of succeeding.
It is anyway, not a second too early to once and for all establish: Jon Dahl Tomasson's view on defensive play is nothing but irresponsible considering the task he has.
In almost every national team match, opponents have countered and torn apart a team where the playing idea is based on a reckless offense. The gaze forward. It will solve itself backwards.
Read-in Kosovo
Kosovo, ranked 95th on Fifa's list, had read in and carefully studied where the weaknesses are in a Swedish national team that has lost the ability to defend itself.
Or has a national team captain who does not understand how to build a team from the back, considering the players he has at his disposal.
Where should the wretched 8 September 2025 be placed among the poor blue and yellow performances? It is something that can be discussed in groups.
This was worse than 0–3 in Azerbaijan during Janne Andersson's last days as national team captain. That European Championship qualification was already lost. This World Championship qualification has just begun.
Dahl Tomasson thought he did not need to make any changes to the starting eleven. The same as against Slovenia stepped out against Kosovo.
No Alexander Isak this time either, then. One of the world's most noticed players in recent weeks came in with 18 minutes left.
Not at the start of the second half, when a crazy offense was motivated from minute 46.
The meeting showed brutally that club affiliation is insignificant. It is how the collective performs in a system that gets the maximum out of each individual player that counts.
Fidan Aliti played for Kalmar FF a few years ago. Now he is in Alanyaspor, Turkey. Anthony Elanga plays in the Premier League and soon in the Champions League with Newcastle.
Aliti won. Kosovo won. The small nation's young national team played with heart and brain and it was somewhere beautiful to see.
Dahl Tomasson has successfully sold in his ideas, smiling and talking about all the steps taken in the right direction. The result after a third of the qualification: This national team is still looking for something consistent, something clear and concrete.
Two counterattacks
Collectively, the Swedish team defense had a hard time with communication. A calculation error almost gave Vedat Muriqi a free chance in front of Robin Olsen.
It was even more chaotic. Illustrated by Daniel Svensson when he desperately waved his arms because he was alone with two opponents.
In the end, it punished them. Hugo Larsson suddenly found himself as the last man. Elvis Rexhbecaj won the running and worked in 1–0.
There, if not elsewhere, all the red lights should have lit up on and off the pitch. With five Swedish players rushing back, Vedat Muriqi instead pushed in 2–0 with three minutes to go before the break.
The qualification for the World Championship 2026 is played for Sweden's part during the autumn of 2025. The number one in each of the twelve qualifying groups is directly qualified for the World Championship playoffs in the USA, Canada, and Mexico 2026.
An additional four places in the World Championship playoffs are filled after a playoff where the twelve group seconds in the World Championship qualification, together with the four highest-ranked group winners from the Nations League 2024 (of the remaining teams), participate.
The playoff is decided in the spring of 2026 in four groups where semifinals and finals are played in single matches.
Sweden's opponents in the qualifying group are Slovenia, Kosovo, and Switzerland.
Sweden's qualifying matches:
5 September, Slovenia–Sweden 2–2
8 September, Kosovo–Sweden 2–0
10 October, Sweden–Switzerland
13 October, Sweden–Kosovo
15 November, Switzerland–Sweden
18 November, Sweden–Slovenia
