Defeating Korea Republic in their opening match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ saw Sweden overcoming a 60-year drought. The Scandinavians hadn’t won their first match at a World Cup since 1958, when the tournament was held in their own backyard.
Since then, Sweden have qualified for seven World Cups but failed to gain a win in each of their opening matches, with draws in 1974, 1978, 1994, 2002 and 2006. In 1970 and 1990, they lost their first-up encounters.
Though the current crop of players are playing in their first ever World Cup, many of them have experienced the opening match hoodoo when playing at the UEFA EURO in 2012 and 2016. That the Swedes could finally put an end to the opening-match curse was the result of hard work, combined with a lot of mental training.
When Janne Andersson took over as head coach for the Swedish national team in 2016 he brought Daniel Ekvall with him, a sports psychology advisor, who worked with Andersson for several years at his previous club IFK Norrkoping. Ekvall has become an important figure in creating what has become the biggest strength of the Swedish team, the group cohesion.
“We have worked a lot with Daniel Ekvall, and learned what is important for us so that we can be as mentally ready as possible. That’s something we will continue to do and the trust we have in this group among the players and the staff makes me believe we are better prepared than in previous tournaments,” said captain Andreas Granqvist the day before Sweden’s opening match against Korea Republic.