Only three European countries - England, Spain, and Germany - rank higher than world number five Sweden.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter when the groups for the European Championship 2025 are drawn on December 16.
Ranking and similar coefficients are not taken into account when the teams are seeded. Instead, it's the performances in the previous European Championship qualifiers that count, and Sweden belongs to the worst half of the teams that qualified for the tournament.
There are a lot of national teams that perform very well in football right now. The championship in Switzerland is going to be tougher than ever, says London City midfielder Kosovare Asllani.
Can get World Championship finalists
In a tough qualifying group, Sweden finished behind both France and England, with a total of eight points. Therefore, Sweden lands in the third pot in the draw, and can end up in a group with both World Championship finalists from last year, Spain (pot 1) and England (pot 2).
When it's championship time, it's a different feeling, and that's where we're often strong. I still think we stand up well against such opponents, but it's about having injury-free players and players in form, says Asllani.
You usually get tough teams in the group stage, we'll just have to wait and see. If you want to win, you have to win against all nations. But no one probably wants us in their group anyway.
Filippa Angeldahl, who plays alongside Asllani in the Swedish midfield, isn't losing sleep over the draw either. That Sweden is low-seeded is more of a problem for others.
We know we'll get to meet two good teams. That's just the way it is, but I think it's more of a shame for the other teams, says Angeldahl.
Good championship record
Sverige's national team coach Peter Gerhardsson usually has the mantra of never worrying about things he can't influence. Now Sweden is in pot 3, and he'll have to work with that.
What he does know is that his national team usually performs when it's championship time. Since he took over in 2017, Sweden has won Olympic silver, two World Championship bronzes, and finished in a shared third place in the European Championship.
We've had some bumpy roads to championships sometimes. But during championships, you get to become a bit more like a club team, you get more time together. And that's where we've been very good, says Gerhardsson.
It's one of the reasons why we've gone so far in championships.
The European Championship 2025 takes place in Switzerland from July 2 to 27.
A total of 16 nations will compete for the championship title, divided into four groups of four teams.
The draw for the group stage takes place in Lausanne on December 16. Before the draw, the teams are divided into four pots based on their results in the European Championship qualifiers.
The exception is the host country Switzerland, which didn't have to qualify and has been placed in the first pot.
Pot 1: Switzerland (host nation), Spain, Germany, France.
Pot 2: Italy, Iceland, Denmark, England.
Pot 3: Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Belgium.
Pot 4: Finland, Poland, Portugal, Wales.
