Elanga Scores Sweden Into the Knockouts, Then Misses It at First

Anthony Elanga became Sweden’s hero on Thursday night, then briefly appeared not to realize he had secured the team’s place in the knockout stage. The Newcastle forward scored the equalizer 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 shouted to his teammates, “Come on, we have to attack now!” He later admitted, “I didn’t know we had already qualified thanks to that point, but I am very happy about it. I think they even tried to shout it to me.”

Sweden coach Graham Potter said, “Yes, that explains a lot. We couldn’t have said it more clearly, but he probably understood it differently. I really like that kid.” Defender Victor Lindelof defended his teammate, saying, “I know how it happens, sometimes you just switch off during the pre-match meeting.” Alexander Isak joked, “I asked him if that really happened, and unfortunately it is true. He was a bit frustrated after the game, now I understand why.”

Sweden finished Group F with 4 points and a goal difference of 0, behind the Netherlands on 7 points and Japan on 5. Even a narrow loss could still have left Sweden with a chance to progress, but it would have depended on other results and could have eliminated them from the knockout rounds.