EXCLUSIVE: Swedish showdown in final highlights player growth success says Sweden coach Gustavsson

Hacken enjoys the edge after their initial clash in Stockholm one week prior, with Felicia Schroders first half strike securing a slight lead for the away side as they head home to Gothenburg for the crucial second match at 16:00 CEST.

Observing the opening fixture at Hammarbys 3Arena was Swedens womens national team manager Tony Gustavsson, who has selected numerous players for the squad that are taking part in this final or have progressed to major European leagues and teams after starting out at top Swedish outfits.

A previous Hammarby manager who later assisted the United States and led Australia, he came back to his native country last year to take charge of its womens national side and Gustavsson chatted with Flashscore during the first game, expressing high praise for the coaching and player nurturing in Swedish football, while staying positive about steering Sweden to the 2027 FIFA Womens World Cup.

In your role as national team manager, how significant is it to witness two Swedish clubs reaching the final of a European tournament?

"It’s amazing! It’s a credit to the club football in Sweden and what a great job all the clubs are doing with player development. It’s a clear signal to the rest of Europe as well that in this country there are a lot of good coaches and a lot of good players."

Besides this final, we saw the mens team earn World Cup qualification and Swedish talents securing high value transfers to elite clubs. Is Swedish football thriving at present and how can you capitalise on that?

"First of all, credit should be sent to the ones who deserve the credit and that’s these people (referring to coaches) that do an amazing job with player development. It starts with grassroots football - I’ve been part of that as well - so it’s nice after being abroad for almost nine years to come home to Swedish football and see what they’ve done in terms of developing players, it’s amazing. And, as a national team coach, you know what it’s like, you borrow the players for nine days and try to make the best of it, but all the development happens in clubs."

Regarding the two managers who have brought their sides to this final (Hammarbys William Stromberg and Hackens Elena Sadiku), is there anything you can take from their approaches?

"Always! I think we can learn a lot from each other as coaches. I’ve talked to them and, I think, those two are also two examples of the quality of coaches in Sweden. Look at all the coaches who have gone abroad now as well, to top clubs in top leagues, both on the women’s and men’s sides, it says a lot about coaches in Sweden as well and the quality. And that straight away goes down to the pitch and player development as well. It starts with coaches and leadership."

You have experienced varied outcomes in World Cup qualifying thus far, how assured are you of reversing the trend and what changes will you implement in upcoming fixtures?

"First and foremost, the most important thing is that we have everything in our own hands now, in June. Two wins and we’ve qualified for the World Cup. If we don’t manage to do that in the direct qualification spot in June then we know we have playoffs in October and November, so, it’s just all on June now to try and take the direct spot with two wins, and if not, we’ll go for the playoffs!"