Anthony Elanga played the role of Sweden hero, despite not immediately knowing it, as Sweden and Japan played out to a fantastic 1-1 draw in Dallas, a result which saw both teams progress to the World Cup Round of 32.
Daizen Maeda opened the scoring for Japan in the 56th minute with a wonderful effort. The goal came just minutes after Tunisia cut the deficit to 2-1 against the Netherlands, meaning that Japan only needed another goal to win Group F.
However, that scenario was only alive for a couple of minutes as both the Netherlands and Sweden would score to put the group standings more or less to rest.
While Sweden wouldn’t have been eliminated with a defeat, they certainly would have been biting their nails until the last group-stage match was played. Instead, they have a date with either France or rivals Norway to look forward to.
Meanwhile, Japan isn’t exactly rewarded for its second-place finish, as they’ll have a date with Brazil to look forward to in the World Cup Round of 32.
Sweden reaction
One of the more hilarious and innocent moments of the World Cup came at the full-time whistle, as Anthony Elanga slumped to the ground, thinking that the draw wasn’t enough to qualify for the next round. Sweden manager Graham Potter only had this response: “That explains a few things. We couldn’t have been clearer… Bless him! But I love him.”
“I was just screaming: ‘Come on, we can go for more’. I’m glad we’re through, I didn’t know that at the end,” Elanga admitted to reporters, also explaining that he ignored instructions from the sidelines thinking that they needed a winner.
“I think they were trying to scream to me,” Elanga said. “I obviously wanted to keep running. I got a cramp at the end, but didn’t want to stop running. I’m happy, and the whole team is too.”
Sweden opted to change their formation for their duel with Japan, deploying a 3-4-3 to mirror the Samurai Blue, a tactic that worked phenomenally with Elanga dominating on the right side and Victor Lindelof moving up to play in midfield, where he played at Aston Villa for much of the season.
“In the back five, we felt we had to deal with their (attacking) five in the last line, with a bit more of full-back profile than a centre-back profile, because of the movement of their No 10s,” Potter said.
“We were a little bit open against the Netherlands, and sometimes that comes from (having to make) too many defensive decisions. We’re still working out, to be honest, how to use Alex and Viktor in and out of possession.
“It made sense for us, engaging in that way, but it’s still not easy because although you’ve got a direct opponent, there’s still somebody on your shoulder. The numbers match, but we still have to make sure the distances are good, and we’re compact as a team.”
Japan reaction
Japan showed everyone why they’ve qualified for seven straight World Cups, now making the knockout stages in four of their last six tournaments. Unfortunately, they have yet to win a knockout-stage match and they’ll be hard-pressed to do so in their upcoming clash with Brazil. However, Japan are clearly one of the most organized teams in the tournament, with Brazil also far removed from their best days.
Though manager Hajime Moriyasu will be somewhat disappointed that they didn’t get the win, he’s much happier to not fall to a third-place spot and potentially play the waiting game.
Moriyasu spent far less time reflecting on the match, clearly already focusing on their upcoming clash with the five-time World Cup winners.
“I think it’s a far better result than advancing in third place by relying on other teams.
“As we aim to reach the top of the world, we were again able in this tournament to do what we had to by getting through the group stage under our own power.
“I think a match against Brazil will again be an extremely good experience for the development of Japanese soccer. The opponent is strong, of course, but I think we also have a chance to win. So I want to find that chance and prepare properly as a team so that we can move on to the next stage.”
It won’t be the first time Moriyasu and Japan faced off against Brazil, as the two played a friendly in Tokyo last year, with Japan coming out on top. However, things will be much more serious this time around.
“Personally, I am looking forward to being able to play against that kind of Brazil. A serious Brazil.
“In the past, from Brazil’s point of view, Japan may have been an opponent it could easily beat,” he said. “But given last year’s friendly match, I think the fact that it now recognizes we are not an opponent it can beat easily is already a sign of the growth of Japanese soccer.
“Brazil truly has top-level strength in the world, so we respect it. But in a contest, you never know what can happen. We also have a chance to win, so I would like us to prepare properly and challenge Brazil.”
Group F final table
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 |
| 2 | Japan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | -10 | 0 |
Sweden and Japan’s Knockout stage journey
We already know that Brazil will meet Japan in the World Cup Round of 32 in Houston, Texas, on June 29th. There will be plenty of conflicted supporters of both sides, as relations between the two countries are immensely strong. In fact, the most Brazilians who live outside of Brazil live in Japan and vice-versa.
The winner of the Brazil-Japan match will face off against the winner of the Ivory Coast and the Group I runner-up (Norway or France) in New York on July 5th in the Round of 16.
On the other side of the bracket, Sweden is well over 99% likely to face the winner of that same match between France and Nordic rivals Norway in the Round of 32. That match will take place in New York on July 30.
Should Sweden advance, they’ll take on the winner of Germany and (99% likely to be) Paraguay on July 4th in Philadelphia in the Round of 16.
