The Swedes deserve their place in the quarters but they are joined by a few uninspiring teams, which is a shame given the quality on the other side .Update the list. Now one of Sweden, Russia, Croatia, England or Colombia will be in the World Cup final. By the end of Tuesday night you can shrink it even further, once either England or Colombia progress to the quarter-finals. Sweden are still in the mix because they beat fellow unadventurous European side Switzerland in an uninspiring match in St Petersburg, a game that laid bare just how poor this half of the draw is.
It was not the worst game in the world but it was not the best, and it was never going to be. There were a few well-worked chances, and a few not-so-well-worked, but too often both sides were undone by dreadful finishing. The breakthrough goal, fittingly, came via a deflection. It was a slow, patient game, as it was always going to be. These sides are here because they have been more solid than their group opponents, some of them more illustrious than others.
Sweden topped their group, with Germany bottom. Ironically the Swedes were beaten by Joachim Low’s side – when you have a man advantage but play for a draw that can happen – but they deserved their place in the last-16 all the same. And so did Switzerland, who held Brazil to a stubborn draw and outmanoeuvred Serbia, another similarly dour European team. But games like this are the price to be paid when the bigger sides are unexpectedly knocked out. Should Germany have been here instead? No, of course not. Would it have been more fun, either in terms of performance or at least the story? Probably.
Some will argue that that is beside the point, or even wildly unfair on two teams who have come to the World Cup, done what they usually do and have done it well. But all the same, it proves that the five – soon to be four – teams on this side of the draw really do have a unique opportunity to make the final in Moscow the weekend after next, and it is not necessarily a good thing. Sweden could certainly frustrate whoever they face next, and whoever they face after that, although it would probably not make for pretty viewing.
And surely few people outside the country would want to see it? They are not easy to beat – this was their fifth clean sheet in the last six games – and they will surely sit back and frustrate whoever they face in the quarters, as they did against Italy in the play-offs – when they had chances to win in Milan but looked clueless on the break – and as they tried to do against Germany in Russia.
Italy had plenty of issues, of course, and even this chaotic German side managed to win. Low’s dysfunctional outfit took advantage of Sweden’s negativity, and that is what England or Colombia should focus on doing themselves.