Sweden – Kosovo

Sweden host Kosovo at the Friends Arena in Solna on Friday in the World Cup qualifiers. The Blagult, second only to favorites Spain in Group B, are looking to take another step closer to securing their place in the Qatar showpiece. With three wins in four games, the Nordic country has nine points in the bag, four fewer than La Roja. However, they have two games in hand over the 2010 world champions. Kosovo, meanwhile, are participating in only their second ever World Cup qualifiers, and have already accumulated more points (4) than last time (1).

There have only been two clashes between the sides before, with Sweden coming out on top on both occasions. The first was a slender 1-0 friendly victory in 2020 while the Blagult then saw off Kosovo 3-0 in the reverse fixture last month in the qualifiers.

Given the quality and experience in their ranks, Sweden are the favorites to win the contest. Kosovo, who didn’t score against Sweden in either of their previous clashes, have struggled with attacking deficiencies in general during the qualifying campaign. That may make Sweden’s task easier as they boast the strongest backline in the group with only three goals conceded.