Sweden Crushed Luxembourg - Now Serbia Awaits

Sweden ended up in a tough qualifying group and saw France and England take direct spots to the European Championship.

But the first hurdle in the playoff was easily cleared, not least after the away win on Friday.

Luxembourg did manage to create a threat at the beginning of the match at Gamla Ullevi, following sloppy Swedish passing play.

But if the double match wasn't decided after 4–0 on Friday, two quick Swedish goals definitely put a stop to any Luxembourgish hopes of a turnaround.

In the end, it was 8–0, which meant that Sweden won the double match with a total of 12–0.

There were some beautiful goals. I'm happy and satisfied, but so extremely focused on the next task, says national team captain Peter Gerhardsson to SVT, already setting his sights on the double match against Serbia.

Debut for Wijk

As the numbers suggest, the match picture was relatively uniform, with a massive Swedish superiority and a Luxembourg that barely managed to leave their own half.

It had gone just over eight minutes when Filippa Angeldahl got a shot from distance and scored 1–0 via the post.

Three minutes later, it was time again, when Johanna Rytting Kaneryd took advantage of a rebound and made it 2–0.

The comfortable starting position before the match meant that national team captain Peter Gerhardsson made a lot of changes to the starting lineup compared to the away match.

This opened up for 20-year-old Häcken talent Hanna Wijk, who made her national team debut and played the entire match on her right-back position.

Wijk, like the other Swedish defenders, often played a good bit into the opponent's half when Sweden pushed for more goals.

And more goals came.

After 25 minutes, Fridolina Rolfö missed a penalty. But just three minutes later, another chance came. This time, Filippa Angeldahl stepped in as penalty taker and made it 3–0.

The Floodgates Open

Then it was the floodgates open for Luxembourg during a few unfortunate minutes before halftime.

In just a few minutes, it was 4–0 (Julia Zigiotti Olme), 5–0 (Stina Blackstenius), and 6–0 (own goal).

Luxembourg continued to fight valiantly in the nearly vertical uphill battle, but couldn't prevent newly substituted Rebecka Blomqvist from making it 7–0 a quarter into the second half.

And not even when Blomqvist made it 8–0 a few minutes before full time.

After the expected – and large – win, Sweden now only has one hurdle left before the European Championship in Switzerland next year.

In the November-December shift, a double match against Serbia awaits, who eliminated Bosnia-Herzegovina with a total of 6–3.