Beating the odds in soccer - Sweden hasn't had two straight wins in a soccer World Cup since 1958, a year when Sweden lost in the final against Brazil. Prior to losing to England in the quarterfinals Sweden had again won two straight matches after 3-0 against Mexico and 1-0 against Switzerland. Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden entered the 2018 World Cup with lower expectations, but after winning against South Korea, losing against Germany, they showed up on June 27 to score three to win in the second half against Mexico and went on to the round of 16.

After winning the July 3 match against Switzerland the Swedish team was ready for the quarterfinals against England, which won over Colombia 4-3, also on July 3. To everyone's chagrin, Sweden lost against England 0-1 on July 7.