So what if we are at the bottom with 1 point from 4 games? With the wild card in hand, we can overtake at any time! The magically flat team in the World Cup preliminaries.

Another upset in the European World Cup qualifiers. The Swedish team, ranked 32nd in the world, lost again. They lost 0-1 at home to Kosovo. Not only did they suffer a double defeat, but they also suffered a three-game losing streak. What is even more exciting is that the striker combination of Isaac and Dzhekeresh, who have 200 million euros, actually scored no goals in three consecutive games. It is really a complete mess!

Although the Swedish team ranked last with 1 draw, 3 losses and 1 point in the 4 rounds of world qualifying: they lost to Slovenia 0-2 in the first round; they lost to Kosovo 0-2 away in the second round; they lost to Switzerland 0-2 in the third round; they lost to Kosovo again 0-1 in the fourth round. , 6 points less than the second-ranked Kosovo, and 4 less goal difference. It is basically hopeless to compete for the second place in the group in the play-offs, but they are not panic at all. They have a "Shang Fang Sword" in their hands, and they can overtake in a corner anytime and anywhere, and directly enter the play-offs!

What is going on? According to FIFA's new rules for the World Cup qualifiers, in addition to the top two teams in each group, the European region also has 4 World Cup play-off seats, which will be allocated to the best-performing teams in the UEFA Nations League, but only if these teams do not advance directly through the World Cup qualifiers. In last season's UEFA Nations League C-League, they were in the same group as Slovakia, Estonia, and Azerbaijan, and were successfully promoted as the first in the group. The teams directly competing with the Swedish team for the "UEFA Nations League Wild Card" are: Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, and England. However, judging from the current standings, they will all advance through the main game, so the Swedish team is as stable as rock!

In other words, even if they don't win a game in the World Cup preliminaries, they can still rely on the "backdoor channel" of the UEFA Nations League to play in the play-offs and continue to compete for World Cup tickets. Many European media began to question whether the Swedish team was "strategically lying down." "Aftonbladet" bluntly said: "Sweden don't seem to be in a hurry to score points. They know that even if they are at the bottom, they can still sneak into the play-offs based on their UEFA Nations League results." The fans' ridicule was straightforward: "You can enter the World Cup with the UEFA Nations League, but you will never win respect." At the same time, it was also dubbed by fans as "the best team in this world preliminaries."

It is worth mentioning that Sweden is not unknown in the history of world football - they have reached the semi-finals of the World Cup three times, and even won the runner-up on home soil in 1958. In the past 20 years, they have also entered the World Cup main matches many times and are a veteran team in Europe. But now, this former strong team has been reduced to the point where it has to rely on "play-off guarantee", which is really sad. If they don't regain their fighting spirit as soon as possible, even if they are lucky enough to enter the play-offs, it will only be a delayed exit.