Our prediction for this World Cup 2026 match:
Sweden
Match Time & Date:
12/10/2021
20:45
Prediction: 2-1
Greece
Sweden and Greece square off against each other in a highly-anticipated World Cup qualifier at Friends Arena. The Swedes aim to build on a 3-0 win over Kosovo, and a triumph over Greece will see them move one step closer to securing automatic qualification for the next year’s showpiece tournament. The Nordic side are eager to get their revenge on Greece for a 2-1 loss in Athens, and we are positive that the hosts will leave their hearts on the field.
A man to watch in the home team will be Real Sociedad attacker Alexander Isak, who scored a wonder goal in the triumph over Kosovo, while experienced attacker Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains in the recovery room. The Greeks, on the other hand, are eyeing their third consecutive group win, but seeing that Sweden are a real force to be reckoned with at home, the visitors are likely to return to Athens empty-handed. The bad news for the visitors is that defender Georgios Tzavellas is banned for the match.
Highlighted Player (Karl-Johan Johnsson):
Born in Ranneslov (Sweden) on January 28, 1990 Karl-Johan Johansson started his youth career at his home-town club Ranneslovs GIF. In 2005 he joined Halmstadts and four years later he made his first-team debut for HBK. The 187-cm-tall goalkeeper made 67 appearances in the league for Halmstads and in 2013 he signed for NEC as a free agent.
Karl-Johan Johnsson played 30 games for the Dutch club during the 2013/2014 Eredivisie campaign and in the summer of 2014 he moved to Randers. The Swedish shoot-stopper spent two seasons at Randers and in 2016 he moved to French club Guingamp. It has to be noted that he managed to keep nine clean sheets in 37 appearances for Guingamp in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 campaign.
His contract with the club expires on June 30, 2020. Speaking of his international career, Karl-Johan Johnsson has 17 caps for Sweden U21 and he made his senior debut in 2012 against Qatar.
Highlighted Team (Greece):
Former European champions Greece played their first official match on April 7, 1929, with the team suffering a heavy 4-1 loss to Italy in Athens. The Greeks booked their place at the FIFA World Cup finals in 1994 for the first time ever, but they failed to impress at the showpiece tournament in United States of America.
The Galanolefki were eliminated in the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup as well, but they made it to the knockout stages of the tournament in Brazil four years later. However, the Greeks were more than unfortunate not to book their place in the quarter-finals as they were beaten by Costa Rica on penalties. However, Greece did remarkably well to win the 2004 European Championship and that is considered the national team’s biggest success.
Otto Rehhagel outplayed the likes of France and Czech Republic in the knockout stages to set up a meeting with hosts Portugal in the title game. Thanks to Angelos Charisteas’ goal 12 minutes into the second half Greece won the European Championship.
