Sweden and Lagerbäck win, but bow out

Olof Mellberg scored twice as Lars Lagerbäck ended his time in charge of Sweden with a 4-1 win against Albania, but not progress to the FIFA World Cup finals.

Portugal success
Sweden needed to win but even then only had a remote chance of gaining a play-off berth heading into the match; and their worst fears were realised when Portugal gained the victory they required against Malta to ensure Lagerbäck's charges could only finish third. Sweden at least kept their end of the bargain with Marcus Berg and Anders Svensson joining Mellberg on the scoresheet.

Profitable set-pieces
Home hopes were raised when Mellberg rose to head in a Rasmus Elm corner after only six minutes before substitute Berg made it 2-0 in the 40th minute, having replaced the injured Johan Elmander, by seizing on a weak back-pass. Mellberg soon scored after another set-piece, delivered by Sebastian Larsson, to make it three at the break. Albania replied when Hamdi Salihi (56) headed in from a corner before Svensson beat two players and ran half the field to finish the scoring for the hosts.