What if Sweden World Cup 1950
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| Sweden in WC 1950 |
United Kingdom 1970
United Kingdom 1982
France 1994
Yugoslavia 1994
USA 2010
Holland 2002
England 1974
What if Argentina sent this team to Sweden 1958
Sweden won the Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics of 1948 in London. The tournament was small, but a victory was still a victory. It was the first major football tournament since the end of the War. Six Swedish players turned professional after the Olympics. In the 1950's, the Swedish football association did not allow any professional footballers to play for the national team. Consequently, Sweden only fielded amateur players during the World Cup Finals in 1950. Despite of that, Sweden managed to finish third and the best European team in the tournament.
So what if Sweden fielded professional footballers in the WC Finals of 1950? That would have put "Gre-No-Li" in their prime with Lennart Skoglund, Gunnar Andersson and the two remaining Nordahl brothers.
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| Olympic Gold Medal 1948 |
Team
GK: Kalle Svensson
Kalle Svensson was capped 73 times between 1949 and 1958. He played in four big tournaments: 1950 and 1958 WC Finals and 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, finishing in the top 3 in all of them. His 349 matches in the highest league is the third most for a goalkeeper in Allsvenskan. He also has got the less impressive record of being the goalkeeper who has conceded the highest number of goals in Allsvenskan, a total of 575.
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| Kalle Svensson |
Svensson spent his entire career with Malmo FF in Sweden. he went to both WC Finals in 1950 and 1958.
GK: Torsten Lindberg
Lindberg played club football with Husqvarna IF, IK Tord, Örgryte IS and IFK Norrköping. He won a Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics and went to the WC Finals in 1950.
RB/LB: Arne Månsson
Månsson made his debuted with Malmö FF in 1944, where he spent his entire career. He won two league titles with them. He went to the WC Finals in 1950.
CB/CM: Bertil Nordahl (did not go the WC 1950 Finals)
Bertil was the eldest of Nordahl brothers. He played for Degerfors IF before the Summer Olympics in 1948 where Sweden won the gold medal. After the Olympics, he joined Atalanta in Italy, where he was banned from playing for the national team as a professional footballer.
CB: Lennart Samuelsson
Between 1950 and 1955, Samuelsson capped 36 times with Sweden. He went to the1950 FIFA World Cup, where Sweden came third and also won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Domestically he played for Elfsborg and in 1951 he played nine with the French club Nice. His career was cut short due to a broken leg.
CB: Gunnar Johansson
In 1949, Gunnar Johansson made one of the fastest career advancement in Swedish football's history. At the age of 24, he went from Division V with Inlands IF to Gais and then, a part of Sweden's WC team World Cup third place team and finally a professional career with Marseille in France over the course of a year.
LB: Erik Nilsson (captain)
He was a member of Sweden WC team in 1938, where they finished 4th. He would win the Olympic Gold medal in 1948. He also played in the World Cup in 1950, where he was on the All-tournament team. In 1950, Nilsson was awarded the Guldbollen as the year's best Swedish football player. In 2003, he was inducted into the SFS Hall Of Fame. He spent his entire career with Malmo.
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| Erik Nilsson |
Odin started with Mälarhöjdens IK. He went to AIK in 1948 and debuted for this club as the centre forward. Bodin played six seasons in AIK, but mostly as defense player. He was capped once by Sweden. He went to the WC Finals in 1950, without playing a single match.
CM: Sune Andersson
He was a versatile midfielder, who would take any position: left, right or center. He played 28 times for the Swedish national team, scoring four goals, and won a gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics and a bronze at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. His only domestic title was the 1949 Swedish Cup with Solna. His performance at the 1950 World Cup earned him a transfer to A.S. Roma in Serie A, where he played for two seasons and scored 12 goals.
CM: Knut Nordahl
Along with his brothers Bertil and Gunnar Nordahl, he helped Sweden to win the Gold Medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. While his brothers went to Italy and turned professional, he stayed with IFK Norrköping. After the 1950 WC Finals, he joined AS Roma. He was capped 26 times for the Sweden national football team between 1945 and 1950.
LM/CM: Ingvar Gärd
From 1941 to 1950, he played for Malmö FF, usually as the left half. After the WC Finals in 1950, he joined Sampdoria in Italy as a professional. However, he returned home after a season. He was forced to retire due to losing his amateur status.
LW: Lennart Skoglund
Lennart Skoglund is regarded as one of Sweden's greatest players. He played in Italy from 1950 to 1963. His best stint was probably with Inter Milan. He also played for Hammarby IF, Sampdoria and Palermo. He only had 11 caps because Sweden's ban on professional players. He was a star in the World Cup Finals in 1950, where Sweden finished 3rd behind Uruguay and Brazil. He also played in 1958, where they finished 2nd.
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| Lennart Skoglund |
Palmer played with Malmö FF, and in the Italian clubs Legnano and Juventus. He was capped 14 times for Sweden. He attended the WC Finals in 1950, where he was the top scorer for Sweden. His forward line was known as "Pal-Jep-Sko"(Palmer, Jeppson, Skoglund) as a tribute to "Gre-No-Li" of the 1948 team.
FW: Gunnar Gren (did not go the WC 1950 Finals)
Gunnar Gren was part of the famous "Gre-No-Li" trio of forwards at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team during the 1950's. He won a Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics and helped Sweden to finish second at the World Cup finals in 1958. He is considered one of the greatest footballers for both Sweden and AC Milan. In Sweden, he played for IFK Gothenburg, AC Fiorentina, Genoa, and Örgryte IS.
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| Gunnar Gren |
Jeppson began his career with Djurgårdens IF, transferring to Charlton Athletic. He was the second Swedish player to join an English team, after Dan Ekner at Portsmouth. In 1951, he went to Italy, where he played for Atalanta, Napoli and Torino. In 1952 he was sold to Napoli for 105 million lira, a new world record transfer-fee. Capped 12 times. He went to the WC Finals in 1950.
AM: Nils Liedholm (did not go the WC 1950 Finals)
In Italy, Nils Liedholm was known as Il Barone (The Baron). He is probably one of both Sweden and AC Milan's greatest players. He played for AC Milan between 1949 and 1961. Liedholm also won the Latin Cup in 1951 and 1956 and was captain of Milan in the 1958 European Cup Final against Real Madrid, losing 2–3 (after extra time). He was part of the famous "Gre-No-Li" line for both club and country. He won a Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics and helped Sweden to finish second at the World Cup Finals in 1958.
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| Nils Liedholm |
ST/FW: Bror Mellberg
At home, he played with Karlstad BIK and AIK. After a successful World Cup Finals in 1950, he joined Genoa in Italy. After two seasons playing in Italy, he moved to France playing with Toulouse FC, Paris Red Stars and FC Sochaux. He also was a part of Sweden's WC team in 1958.
ST: Gunnar Andersson
He started his career in Sweden, before playing for Danish side Kjøbenhavns Boldklub before being transferred to Olympique de Marseille in 1950. With l'OM, he was also Division 1 top goalscorer in 1951–1952 and 1952–1953 and runner-up in the Coupe de France 1953–1954. He was their all-time leading scorer. He also played for other French teams such as FC Girondins de Bordeaux and AS Aix.
CF: Henry Carlsson (Atletico Madrid)(did not go the WC 1950 Finals)
In 1939, he made his debut with AIK. After winning the Olympic Gold medal in 1948, he moved to play for Stade Français as an amateur. In 1949, he started his professional career with Atletico Madrid. He stayed there until 1953. He was capped 26 times.
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| Henry Carlsson |
ST: Stig Sundqvist
He played 11 games for the Swedish national team and scored 3 goals in the 1950 FIFA World Cup, helping Sweden to a third-place finish and their first ever world cup medal. After the World Cup he left Swedish side IFK Norrköping for the Italian club A.S. Roma, where he remained until 1953.
ST: Gunnar Nordahl (AC Milan) (did not go the WC 1950 Finals)
He is probably one of both Sweden and AC Milan's greatest players. He played with Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm to form the renowned Gre-No-Li line at AC Milan. He was Serie A top scorer 5 times. He is the all-time leading scorer at Milan. He won the Gold Medal at the 1948 Olympics, but was not selected for the WC in 1950. He played two years with Roma before retiring. His brother Bertil and Knut also played for Sweden.
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| Gunnar Nordahl |
Squad Explanation
-- I do not know every single Swedish professional footballers in 1950. I probably miss a few players.
-- Bertil Nordahl, Gunnar Gren, Nils Liedholm, Henry Carlsson and Gunnar Nordahl turned professional after the 1949 Olympics. They did not go to the real WC Finals in 1950. I took all five of them.
-- In the WC Finals, Sweden used the same 9 players frequently: Kalle Svensson, Erik Nilsson, Lennart Samuelsson, Ingvar Gärd, Sune Andersson, Knut Nordahl, Hasse Jeppson, Lennart Skoglund, Stig Sundqvist and Karl-Erik Palmer. I took all 10 of them. The 5 professions + 10 starters = 15.
-- Sweden only took five defenders to Brazil. Erik Nilsson and Lennart Samuelsson were mentioned above. The other three defenders were Arne Månsson, Gunnar Johansson and Ivan Bodin. I took the three remaining defenders and two backup keepers. 15+3 defenders+2 backup keepers = 20.
-- Gunnar Andersson left Sweden before the 1948 Olympics and turned pro before ever playing for Sweden. He had a very successful career in France. Later he had one cap for the French B team. He is the all-time leading scorer for Marseille. He became my 21st player.
-- The last spot was between Stellan Nilsson, Bror Mellberg, Olle Åhlund, Kurt Svensson, Egon Jönsson, Ingvar Rydell and Börje Tapper. I took Bror Mellberg because he played the most in Brazil.
-- Kurt Hamrin, Orvar Bergmark and Åke Johansson had not played for the national team. Bergmark was only 19 years old and Hamrin was 15 in 1950.
-- Kjell Rosén was on the 1948 Olympic team, but did not go to the WC in 1950. However, he earned a move to Torino in 1950 at the end of the Swedish season, I believed. I also discovered that he did not play much that season for Malmo. I suspected that he was injured. So I did not select him.
-- Birger Rosengren was the captain of the 1948 Olympic team, but he retired before the WC Finals in 1950.
-- Other Swedish professional players in 1950 included Pär Bengtsson, Åke Hjalmarsson, Ivar Eidefjäll and Dan Ekner.
Formation
WM Formation
The starting lineup is similar to the 1948 Olympic Gold Medal winning team. Skoglund and Sune Andersson were on the Olympic team.
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