Sweden 3-2 Bosnia and Herzegovina: Gyökeres penalties seal promotion

Sweden beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-2 at Strawberry Arena in Solna on Saturday to win UEFA Nations League League B Group 4 with a game to spare. Daniel Svensson and two Viktor Gyökeres penalties put Sweden 3-0 up at half-time before headers from Armin Gigović and Sead Kolašinac set up a tense finish, according to UEFA's official match centre.

Match facts

• Result: Sweden 3-2 Bosnia and Herzegovina (half-time 3-0)
• Competition: UEFA Nations League B, Group 4, Matchday 5
• Venue: Strawberry Arena, Solna
• Scorers: Sweden - Svensson 5', Gyökeres 11' (pen), 45+2' (pen); Bosnia and Herzegovina - Gigović 47', Kolašinac 62'
• Red cards: Zlatan Bajramović (Bosnia and Herzegovina assistant coach) 24'
• Attendance: 51,049
• Referee: Simone Sozza (Italy)
• Next: Poland v Sweden, Tuesday 17 November, Wrocław; Bosnia and Herzegovina v Romania, Tuesday 17 November, Zenica

How the match unfolded

Svensson headed in Anthony Elanga's cross after five minutes for his first senior international goal. Goalkeeper Viktor Johansson saved from Haris Tabaković moments later, and in the 11th minute Gyökeres converted a penalty after being pulled back by Stjepan Radeljić.

Alexander Isak thought he had made it 3-0 midway through the half, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside against Gyökeres in the build-up. Bosnia's assistant coach Zlatan Bajramović was then shown a straight red card on the bench. Tabaković went off injured before the break, and two minutes into stoppage time Gyökeres scored a second penalty after Kolašinac fouled Svensson.

Bosnia struck two minutes after the restart. Substitute Ermin Mahmić crossed and Gigović, who played for Sweden at under-21 level according to SVT, headed in; the goal stood after a VAR offside check. Johansson kept out Ermedin Demirović and Kerim Alajbegović, but in the 62nd minute Kolašinac headed in Alajbegović's corner for his first goal for his country. It came a minute after Dejan Kulusevski came on for his first Sweden appearance in two years.

Johansson also denied substitute Amar Memić late on, and Kolašinac missed a final chance deep into stoppage time. Sweden coach Graham Potter told Viaplay, as quoted by Göteborgs-Posten, that "we will learn a lot from the second half", adding: "Our goal was to win the group and we have done that."

What does the result mean for the group?

UEFA's standings after the completed matchday show Sweden on 13 points, Bosnia and Herzegovina on eight, Poland on four and Romania on three after Romania's 2-1 win over Poland. Sweden can no longer be caught, and the Swedish FA's competition page states that the group winners move up to League A, while the second- and third-placed teams play promotion/relegation matches in March 2027. Bosnia are now certain to finish second.

Sweden are unbeaten in the group, with two wins over Romania, 2-1 in Solna and 1-0 in Bucharest, a 3-1 home win over Poland and a 1-1 draw in Zenica. The crowd of 51,049 beat the 50,151 that the Swedish FA listed before the game as the men's team record at Strawberry Arena.

What happens next?

The group ends on Tuesday 17 November. Sweden visit Poland, who beat Romania 6-0 in October, at the Stadion Miejski in Wrocław, while Bosnia and Herzegovina host Romania at Bilino Polje in Zenica. Both games kick off at 19:45 UK.

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