Elanga's Goal Sends Sweden Through, and He Did Not Realize It at First

Anthony Elanga became Sweden’s hero on Thursday night, but he did not understand immediately that his equalizer had already secured the team’s place in the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup. The Newcastle forward scored in Sweden’s 1-1 draw with Japan, a result that helped Sweden advance as one of the best third-place finishers.

After the goal, Elanga said he was urging his teammates to keep attacking. “After the goal I immediately shouted to my teammates, ‘Come on, we have to attack now!’” he said. “I didn’t know we had already secured qualification because of this point, but I am very happy about it. I think they even tried to shout it to me.”

Sweden coach Graham Potter said the confusion explained a lot. “Yes, that explains a lot,” Potter said. “We could not have said it more clearly, but he probably understood it differently. I really like that kid.” Victor Lindelöf defended his teammate, saying, “I know how that happens, sometimes you just disconnect during the pre-match meeting.” Alexander Isak joked, “I asked him if that really happened, and unfortunately it is true. He was a little frustrated at the end of the match, now I understand why.”

Sweden finished Group E with 4 points and a goal difference of 0, behind the Netherlands on 7 points and Japan on 5. The article noted that even with a narrow loss, Sweden could still have advanced, but only depending on other results and with the risk of being eliminated.