Preview: Sweden vs Greece - prediction, team news, lineups

Sweden conclude their schedule before the World Cup with an international friendly against Greece on Thursday.

At a time when Graham Potter's side are looking forward to an appearance on the biggest stage, Greece have already started preparations for the next UEFA Nations League which starts in September.

Match preview

Having secured World Cup qualification through the back door, Graham Potter currently has Sweden fans on his side as they prepare for just their second appearance at the tournament in five editions.

However, Monday's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Norway - who were 3-0 ahead after 37 minutes without Erling Haaland in their side - served as a reminder that Sweden are still far from the finished article.

During March's playoffs, Sweden followed a 3-1 victory against Ukraine in the semi-final with a dramatic 3-2 triumph over Poland in the final five days later.

Nevertheless, Potter remains without a clean sheet across his five matches in charge, where 11 goals have been conceded, and Sweden have only won two of their last nine fixtures since September 2025.

Although they have been drawn in a competitive World Cup group involving Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia, there is an argument that they are underdogs to progress through to the last 32 unless Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak are firing on all cylinders.

As for Greece, finishing third in a World Cup group involving Scotland and Denmark represents a major missed opportunity to return to the competition for the first time since 2014 and just the third time since 1994.

Greece inexplicitly conceded three goals in defeats to Denmark (twice) and Scotland to lose the momentum generated from their impressive performances in the previous Nations League campaign, where they defeated England at Wembley Stadium in October 2024.

While Ivan Jovanovic is not necessarily under significant pressure ahead of this contest, Greece have only prevailed from one of their last seven games.

Furthermore, they have not scored in three matches, a 1-0 defeat to Paraguay coming either side of goalless draws with Belarus and Hungary.

These nations last met in October 2021 when Sweden prevailed from a World Cup qualifier on home territory by a 2-1 scoreline.

Sweden form (all competitions):

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Greece form (all competitions):

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Team News

Goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt and defender Victor Lindelof are two players who could return to the Sweden XI.

Isak may also feature after scoring on his 28-minute outing as a substitute versus Norway, but Gyokeres will be on the substitutes' bench at best after representing Arsenal in the Champions League final on Saturday.

With Gabriel Gudmundsson having spent the last six weeks sidelined with a hamstring injury, Potter must make a decision over the left-sided player for this contest.

Greece captain Tasos Bakasetas is missing from this contest, so Christos Mouzakitis could be drafted into the midfield.

With Jovanovic needing a result, he may opt against making any further changes after the stalemate with Hungary, but there are 10 players in the squad who have 10 caps or fewer and require more international experience.

Sweden possible starting lineup:

Nordfeldt; Lagerbielke, Hien, Lindelof; Johansson, Bergvall, Svanberg, Karlstrom, Svensson; Isak, Nilsson

Greece possible starting lineup:

Tzolakis; Vagiannidis, Retsos, Koulierakis, Tsimakis; Triantis, Kourbelis; Masouras, Mouzakitis, Tzolis; Pavlidis

We say: Sweden 1-1 Greece

With a key player likely to be rested and his teammates looking ahead to the tournament, Sweden may not play this contest at the intensity that Potter is expecting. Nevertheless, we still think that the Scandinavian nation will have enough quality to earn a share of the spoils, despite their opponents having a point to prove.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.