Gyokeres the saviour: How Arsenal’s striker led Sweden from fiasco to World Cup fairy tale

Sweden World Cup qualifier: Viktor Gyokeres blasts hat-trick to eliminate Italy

James Okafor | GlobalBeat

Viktor Gyokeres struck three times at Friends Arena to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit and fire Sweden into the 2026 World Cup at Italy’s expense.

The Arsenal striker’s 20-minute first-half blitz sent Stockholm into delirium and completed a comeback that looked impossible after Sweden folded in Rome last month.

Failure would have meant back-to-back qualifying disasters for the Scandinavians, who missed the 2022 tournament in Qatar and spent 2024 ranked outside Europe’s top 20. Coach Jon Dahl Tomasson, already under fire from tabloids demanding “games that don’t look like algebra”, had gone into internal exile for three days after the first leg, emerging only to tell photographers he was “responsible for the stench”.

Tuesday’s return leg was still two minutes old when Gyokeres wrestled the narrative away from the critics. Picking up a loose pass from Gianluca Mancini, he accelerated past last defender Alessandro Buongiorno, opened his hips and curled a right-foot shot inside the far post. Friends Arena erupted as if the roof had lifted. “We felt the stadium breathe again,” midfielder Yasin Ayari told Swedish radio after the match.

Italy briefly steadied themselves, but the 26-year-old forward punished them again in the 18th minute. Dejan Kulusevski surged through midfield, slipped the ball right to Gyokeres, and watched him chop inside Buongiorno before lashing low past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Swedish television commentator Niklas Holmgren screamed himself hoarse: “It’s Viktor against the world, and the world is losing.”

By the 31st minute the impossible was reality. Gyokeres rose above Federico Dimarco to meet a Viktor Claesson cross, heading downward so hard the bounce carried the ball over Donnarumma before Italy’s keeper could react. Up in the directors’ box, even outgoing Italian FA president Gabriele Gravina slumped forward in disbelief. Sweden led 3-0 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate, and Stockholm’s public-address system blasted “Dancing Queen” to 49,436 swaying yellow shirts.

Tomasson’s answer to Italian desperation was a back five and relentless pressing. Centre-back Hjalmar Ekdal cleared one Nicolo Barella effort off the line in the 67th minute after goalkeeper Robin Olsen was beaten by a deflection. Italy coach Luciano Spalletti threw on Mateo Retegui and Wilfried Gnonto, but Sweden clung on, chipping seconds with every throw-in delayed drop and every substitution handshake strung out like a drumbeat.

The final whistle brought a pitch invasion that began near the away end and instantly swarmed every blade of grass. Gyokeres disappeared beneath bodies before emerging shirtless, his torso smeared in yellow and blue paint. “I can’t feel my legs,” he told broadcaster SVT over the din. “Tonight I am Swedish steel.”

Reaction in the mixed zone was equally raw. Veteran defender Victor Lindelof wiped away tears as he admitted he “thought the dream was dead two years ago.” Italian midfielder Bryan Cristante offered only four words. “They wanted it more,” he said, then turned and slammed a door.

Back in Rome, Corriere dello Sport splashed a one-word headline — “VERNACOLA,” roughly “humiliation” — across its front page. Swedish paper Aftonbladet ran an expansive photo of Gyokeres arms outstretched, headline reading “Arsenal’s Viking drar oss till VM” (“Arsenal’s Viking drags us to the World Cup”). Betting agencies slashed Sweden’s name to 35-to-1 outsiders for the tournament itself, down from 75-to-1 at kickoff.

The result ends Italy’s run in consecutive failures; the Azzurri will miss a second straight World Cup after their shock loss to North Macedonia in 2022 qualifying. Spalletti, hired last year to reboot a squad that conquered Euro 2021 but missed Qatar, will now face an inquest from federation bosses who have spent 18 months promising fans the nightmare was over. “My fate is a small matter,” he told Rai Sport. “What matters is Italy learns to stay humble.”

Tomasson, who grew up in Copenhagen but pledged his coaching career to Sweden after a playing spell with Helsingborgs, pointed to a broader payoff. “We told the players the shirt never asks your passport,” he said, referencing a squad that contains refugees from Somalia and Bosnia. “If you bleed yellow here, you’re home.”

Economists at Stockholm’s Handelshogskolan estimate qualification will add $120 million to consumer spending on merchandise, travel to the U.S., and summer television rights. Retailer Intersport reported midnight queues for replica jerseys after Gyokeres’ treble, with its online store crashing twice under traffic spikes from Denmark and Finland seeking knockoff scarves.

Two uncomfortable questions remain. Sweden will open the World Cup next June against the host United States in New Jersey, but star playmaker Emil Forsberg limped off with a groin injury in added time on Tuesday, casting doubt over his availability. The squad must also solve defensive frailty that allowed Italy nine shots on target over two legs. Tomasson joked he will “sleep one night first,” but FA technical director Stefan Pettersson told reporters the staff would convene in May to assess centre-back depth.

Background

Sweden last appeared at a World Cup in Russia 2018, where they topped a group containing Germany and Mexico before a narrow quarter-final exit to England. The squad then missed Qatar 2022 after finishing behind Spain and surprise package Georgia in their group stage, sparking criticism of former coach Janne Andersson’s defensive style.

Viktor Gyokeres joined Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon in January 2025 for £68 million after scoring 27 goals in Portugal and has since added 11 in the Premier League. Born in Sweden to a Hungarian father and a Brazilian mother, he chose the country of his birth despite FA courtships from both Brazil and Hungary. He is the first Swedish player to net a hat-trick in a World Cup qualifier since Marcus Allback against Armenia in 2003.

What’s Next

Sweden will convene in Malmo on May 25 for a five-day training camp before friendlies against Ghana in Stockholm and Turkey in Gothenburg. Their World Cup group also contains Nigeria and Mexico, with the top two finishers guaranteed passage to the knockout stage. FIFA will confirm American host cities on May 8, and Swedish federation officials are lobbying to move the Sweden-USA kick-off from humid Orlando to San Francisco’s breezier Levi’s Stadium.

Railway officials announced additional night-train service between Stockholm and Copenhagen next week to carry fans south to suppliers looking to preorder crate after crate of weak beer. The yellow tide, it seems, is already on the move.