Women's EURO 2022: Sweden vs Portugal match facts, stats, ones to watch

Sweden vs Portugal: Head-to-head

• Sweden and Portugal round off their UEFA Women's EURO Group C campaigns at Leigh Sports Village as they renew rivalries for a second time in 2022.
• The sides had differing fortunes on Matchday 2 after both recording a draw in their group opener. Sweden followed up their point against the Netherlands at Bramall Lane with a 2-1 success against Switzerland at the same venue.
• Portugal were unable to produce a repeat of their spirited Matchday 1 fightback in their second outing in the section. Having come back from two down to rescue a 2-2 draw against the Swiss at Leigh Sports Village, they appeared to be heading for a repeat against the Netherlands at the same ground, before eventually succumbing 3-2.
• Sweden will go through if they avoid defeat. If the Netherlands, against Switzerland, and Sweden both win or both draw, first place will be decided on overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, then disciplinary rankings then coefficient.
• Portugal will go through they win and Netherlands avoid defeat, as Portugal would finish above Sweden on head-to-head. If Switzerland and Portugal win, the group is decided among the four teams on overall goal difference, then overall goals scored, then disciplinary rankings, then coefficient.
• The nations are facing each other for the second time in just under five months, Sweden having recorded a 4-0 victory in a friendly tournament in the Algarve on 20 February thanks to a quartet of second-half goals. Hanna Glas, Amanda Ilestedt, Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius all struck for the Blågult, who would win the competition three days later via a penalty-shoot out against Italy.
• That made it successive victories against Portugal for Sweden, who were 2-0 winners at the same tournament in March 2020 with Sofia Jakobsson and Fridolina Rolfö scoring either side of half-time.
• Portugal were 2-1 victors when the sides met in that same friendly competition a year earlier, despite going behind, with Sweden reduced to ten players following the dismissal of Julia Zigiotti Olme just before the break. Diana Silva (71) and Cláudia Neto (90) turned the game around for the Selecção after Nathalie Björn's 68th-minute opener.
• Sweden have won seven of their last eight matches against Portugal, the exception that 2-1 loss in March 2019.
• This is the first major tournament encounter between the teams and only their third competitive fixture.
• The sides' only other competitive games came in the qualification campaign for the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. Sweden were victorious in both meetings en route to topping the group, winning 4-1 in Setúbal in November 2005 before a 5-1 success in Trelleborg six months later.
• Portugal have beaten Sweden just twice, that March 2019 win their first since a 2-0 success in a Lisbon friendly in April 1997.
• Sweden are appearing at their 11th EURO, fewer only than Italy and Norway (both 12). The Blågult have reached the quarter-finals or better on each previous occasion, alternating between being eliminated in the semi-finals and the last eight since their most recent final appearance in 2001, when they lost in extra time to hosts Germany.
• Sweden were the inaugural European champions in 1984, Ulf Lyfors' team lifting the trophy on English soil with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out success against the home side in Luton after a 1-1 aggregate draw (1-0 h, 0-1 a).
• Portugal are appearing at their second EURO final tournament following a group stage exit in 2017. The Selecção's only victory at the finals was their 2-1 Matchday 2 win against Scotland in Rotterdam, but Francisco Neto's squad would go on to be eliminated due to their inferior head-to-head record after a three-way tie for second with the Scots and Spain, who qualified along with Group D winners England.
• Sweden sealed their spot at an eighth successive EURO by clinching first place in Group F, winning seven and drawing one of their eight fixtures, scoring 40 goals and conceding only two. Their only failure to record maximum points came with a 1-1 draw against eventual runners-up Iceland in Reykjavik in September 2020.
• Portugal, who lost 1-0 on aggregate to Russia in the play-offs, were awarded their place at EURO 2022 on 2 May by the UEFA Executive Committee. The Selecção das Quinas reached the two-legged tie by virtue of their runners-up spot in Group E behind unbeaten Finland, Portugal winning 19 points from a possible 24 despite only scoring ten goals. They dropped points only against Finland, drawing 1-1 at home against the eventual group winners in November 2019 before a 1-0 defeat in Helsinki in February 2021.
• The 2-1 Matchday 2 victory against Switzerland was the sixth time in seven Women's EURO tournaments stage that Sweden have won their second group game.
• With her winner against the Swiss, Hanna Bennison became the third youngest Swedish scorer at a Women's EURO, aged 19 years 270 days.
• Bennison struck the first goal by a Swedish substitute at the tournament since Linda Fagerström in 2001.
• Caroline Seger made her 18th UEFA Women's EURO appearance on Matchday 2, surpassing Victoria Svensson's national record. Only three players have featured in more finals matches; Italy's Patrizia Panico (19), Norway's Solveig Gulbrandsen (20) and Germany's Birgit Prinz (23).
• The Blågult have lost just two of their 20 EURO group stage matches (W12 D6).
• The Matchday 1 draw with Switzerland made Portugal the first side in EURO finals history to avoid defeat having trailed by two goals at the interval.
• Ana Borges set a new Portuguese appearance record with her 146th outing for her country against the Netherlands, moving past Carla Couto's previous landmark.
• Portugal have conceded at least two goals in four of their five Women's EURO matches and are still to keep a clean sheet at the finals.
• The Selecção have struck twice in three of their last four EURO fixtures.

Ones to watch: Sweden

Stina Blackstenius

• The 26-year-old scored the final goal in the last meeting between these sides, Sweden's 4-0 friendly tournament success in the Algarve in February.
• Blackstenius struck her side's third goal in a 3-1 comeback victory in a friendly against Brazil on 28 June.
• The forward hit five goals as Sweden claimed the silver medal at the Olympic Games last summer, including the opener in the 1-1 final draw against Canada before she was substituted ahead of the shoot-out defeat.
• No player scored more Sweden goals at EURO 2017 than Blackstenius' two, level with Lotta Schelin.

Hanna Glas

• The 29-year-old opened the scoring in Sweden's 4-0 defeat of Portugal in February.
• That was Glas's first senior international goal on her 52nd appearance for the side.
• The defender was an unused squad member at EURO 2017, but featured in all seven matches as the Blågult finished third at the World Cup two years later.
• Her long-range strike for Bayern München against Chelsea in the 2020/21 UEFA Women's Champions League semi-final first leg was picked by UEFA's technical observers as the competition's goal of the season.

Amanda Ilestedt

• The 29-year-old struck Sweden's second goal in February's victory against Portugal.
• The centre-back was part of the Sweden squad that reached the last four of EURO 2013 although she did not make an appearance at the finals.
• Ilestedt captained Sweden to the 2012 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship title, beating Spain in extra time in the final in Turkey.
• The defender featured in all six matches as the Blågult won silver at the Olympic Games in 2021.

Ones to watch: Portugal

Carolina Mendes

• The 34-year-old spent a year playing Swedish club football with Djurgården IF after joining from Russian side FC Rossiyanka in 2016.
• Mendes was a team-mate of Blågult forward Johanna Rytting Kaneryd at the Stockholm club.
• The forward hit a hat-trick in a 4-0 2023 World Cup qualifying win against Israel on 25 November.
• The Braga player scored two of Portugal's three goals at EURO 2017, including the Selecção's first ever strike at a major tournament in the 2-1 win against Scotland.

Diana Silva

• The 27-year-old scored the equaliser in Portugal's last win against Sweden, the 2-1 friendly tournament success in March 2019.
• Silva has featured in all eight of the Selecção's 2023 World Cup qualifiers, scoring three goals.
• The forward was among seven Portugal players who featured in all three matches at EURO 2017.
• She won the 2021/22 Taça de Portugal Feminina with Sporting CP, finishing as the club's leading goalscorer in all competitions with 22 goals.

Jéssica Silva

• The 27-year-old had a short spell with Swedish club Linköpings in 2014, before returning to her first side Clube de Albergaria.
• The attacker was a Linköpings team-mate of Sweden's Jonna Andersson, Stina Blackstenius, Magdalena Eriksson and Fridolina Rolfö.
• Silva was named in Portugal's initial squad for EURO 2017 in the Netherlands, but was forced to drop out due to an injury sustained in training ahead of the finals.
• The Benfica forward has played in all eight of Portugal's 2023 World Cup qualifiers, starting seven.