Sweden National Team announce that Graham Potter is the new head coach.
Official Statement:
Graham Potter becomes the new head coach of the men's national team. The goal is to create optimal conditions to reach the World Cup in the summer of 2026.
- Together with the players, I want to fulfill the supporters' dream of a championship summer, says Graham Potter.
After only one point after the first four matches in the World Cup qualifiers last autumn, the board of the Swedish Football Association decided to terminate national team coach Jon Dahl Tomasson's assignment last Tuesday.
The men's national team will be led by Graham Potter starting on Monday, 20 October. The contract extends over the ongoing qualification period with matches against Switzerland and Slovenia in November and a potential playoff in March, and will automatically be extended to cover the World Cup finals next summer if Sweden qualifies.
- I am very humble in the face of the task, but also incredibly inspired. Sweden has fantastic players who week after week perform in the world's best leagues. My job will be to create the conditions so that we as a team perform at the highest level to take Sweden to the World Cup next summer, says Graham Potter.
Graham Potter, 50 years old from England, has extensive experience in British football and good knowledge of Swedish football after seven successful years (2011-2018) at Östersunds FK. After his Swedish sojourn, during which Graham Potter, among other things, took Östersund FK into European cup competitions, he has had several coaching assignments in England at clubs such as Swansea City (Championship), Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, and West Ham in the Premier League.
Swedish Football Association's Chairman Simon Åström is satisfied with the swift handling to find a good solution for the men's national team.
- It remains our goal to qualify for the World Cup next summer. Our hope is to play the playoffs in March, and all the decisions we have made now have been taken with the aim of optimizing the conditions to reach our goal. We have worked systematically and focused on this process over the past week, and with Graham Potter we get a strong and experienced leadership that has been tested at the absolute highest level, he says.
Kim Källström, Football Director at SvFF:
- It feels really good that Graham is coming in as the head coach of the men's national team. We are all aware of the situation we are in and believe that with his leadership qualities, he will be able to bring the team together in a good way. He is tactically skilled at creating the conditions to win matches and has the ability to identify the strengths of players and how they can best interact.
The new national team captain of the men's team takes office today and will immediately start work in preparation for the upcoming World Cup qualifier.