Graham Potter returned to Swedish soccer Monday as coach of its underperforming national team on a short-term mission: To qualify for the World Cup.
After a turbulent six years working in the Premier League, the 50-year-old Englishman has taken his first job in international soccer in the country where his coaching journey began in earnest — back in 2011 at Ostersund, a small, unheralded team that he guided from the fourth tier to Sweden's top division.
Fourteen years later, he will take charge of a national team filled with stars from the Premier League like Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres but underachieving after losing three straight games in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
After firing Danish coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, the Swedish Football Association has hired another foreign-born coach in Potter on an initial deal that will see him take control for the team's final World Cup qualifiers against Switzerland and Slovenia next month. He will also coach Sweden in the World Cup playoffs in March, which Sweden is likely to reach by virtue of winning its most recent Nations League group.
If Sweden qualifies for the World Cup, Potter will lead the team at the tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Potter understood the initial nature of the role, telling a hastily arranged news conference: “For me, it's very simple — there's no talk of building or changing or philosophy or anything like this. It's just to win games to get to the World Cup.”
Where it started
The appointment marks a return to Sweden for Potter, who coached Ostersund from 2011-18 — leading the team from the amateur ranks into Sweden’s top league in 2015 and the Swedish Cup title in 2017.
That qualified Ostersund for the Europa League, where it advanced to the knockout stage before losing to Arsenal despite winning the second leg 2-1 at Emirates Stadium.
Potter was regarded as a forward-thinking coach with a team-orientated playing philosophy and open to outside-of-the-box ideas about squad unity. During his time at Ostersund, for example, the club developed a “Culture Academy” where players learned skills such as stand-up comedy, art, dancing and rapping, and performed them in front of the city’s inhabitants to challenge mental processes and decision-making under pressure.
With a lofty reputation, Potter — who had a modest playing career in England's lower leagues — returned to Britain to coach, firstly at Swansea and then in the Premier League with Brighton.
He was the first manager hired by Chelsea's new American ownership and didn't last seven months in a tenure played out in chaotic circumstances before being fired in April 2023. His most recent coaching stint was also underwhelming, at West Ham from January to September this year.
“With Graham Potter, we are getting a strong and experienced leader who has been tested at the absolute highest level,” Swedish FA president Simon Åström said.
Potter said he was “very humbled by the assignment, but also incredibly inspired.”
“When you're a kid, you dream of the World Cup,” Potter said. “The opportunity to help a country that's so close to my heart, that's played an incredibly important role in my career and life … to have this opportunity to help and get to the World Cup is incredibly exciting.”
Underperforming stars
Sweden’s squad boasts high-profile players including Isak and Gyökeres — the starting strikers for Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively — Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall, and wingers Anthony Elanga of Newcastle and Roony Bardghji of Barcelona.
However, the team is in last place in its World Cup qualifying group on one point from four games, after successive humiliating defeats to Kosovo either side of a loss to Switzerland.
Tomasson was unable to get the best out of Sweden's attacking riches. Now it's Potter's turn and he wants to find a better balance in the team.
“From my experience of Swedish football, my respect of Swedish football and what I learned from Swedish football, the collective is the most important thing,” Potter said, adding: “We've clearly got some top players but football isn't about the 11 best, it's the best 11.”
___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer