Sweden will take on Portugal Nov. 15 and Nov. 19 for a spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The blue and yellow finished second in group C while Portugal was the runner up in Group F. The eight best second-place teams are competing for the final four European spots in the tournament, which is in Brazil.
The Swedes claimed one of the playoff spots with a 2-1 win over Austria on Oct. 11. The two teams entered the match level on points. Sweden essentially had to win that match as its final qualifier was against Germany, a team Sweden has never beaten in either a European Championship or World Cup qualifier. Sweden lost the Oct. 16 clash 5-3.
Sweden has faced Portugal three times since 2007 and played to draws all three times, including last year at the 2012 European Championship. Sweden learned who its opponent would be Oct. 21 when FIFA held the playoff draw.
“This is a tough challenge but that would have been the case with every team of course,” said Sweden manager Erik Hamrén. “Portugal is for sure a very good team, and these will be two exciting games. They are at a very high level but as we have seen in the qualifiers they have also struggled against some weaker opponents. But they're an absolute top team when everything is considered.”
The home-and-home will feature the latest clash between two of the top football stars in Europe in Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden.
“That is an extra bonus,” Hamrén said. “These are two top stars and they are very important for their teams. This will be an extra match in the match.”

Winning against Austria
Ibrahimovic sent Sweden into the playoffs when he scored a late winner against the Austrians. Martin Harnik fired Austria in the lead in the 29th-minute. Sweden drew level soon after the interval through Martin Olsson and star striker Ibrahimovic then struck the winning goal with four minutes left to ensure his side finished second in Group C behind winners Germany.
Austria, which was also striving for the playoffs, had the brighter start as Harnik put them in front. The Trabzonspor forward swept the ball home at the far post off a Marc Janko lay-off.
Sweden applied pressure but Austrian goalkeeper Robert Almer stopped shots from Alex Kacaniklic, Ibrahimovic and Johan Elmander. At the other end, Andreas Isaksson superbly denied David Alaba with his feet, then saved from Aleksander Dragovic as Austria sought a second goal before the break.
Sweden held firm though and then drew level ten minutes into the second half when Olsson headed home Ibrahimovic's cross. Boosted by that goal, Sweden turned up the pressure and Ibrahimovic and Anders Svensson drew fine saves out of Almer.
Despite that, it looked as though Sweden would have to settle for a point as the match edged toward full-time still locked at 1-1, but captain Ibrahimovic had other ideas as he brilliantly brought down Olsson's long ball forward before slotting a left-footed shot past Almer to seal the win.

Germany on Friends Arena
Four days later, Sweden took on Germany at Friends Arena in Solna and the Germans were out for a measure of revenge after blowing a 4-0 lead last year in Berlin as Sweden rallied for a 4-4 draw.
Sweden started off on a tear, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Tobias Hysén and Alexander Kacaniklic, before Arsenal's Mesut Ozil pulled one back just before the break. The Germans then ran riot in the second-half with Bayern Munich's Mario Gotze coming on to equalize before Andre Schurrle netted a perfect hat trick, while Hysén pulled one back for the Swedes.
The Germans finished with a perfect 9-0-0 record in the qualifiers and are riding a 37-game unbeaten streak in combined UEFA and FIFA qualifying matches.