The game between the USWNT and Sweden will be broadcasted on FOX on April 10, at 1 p.m. ET. Moreover, U.S. Soccer is finalizing a second match in Europe for April 13 to complete the USA’s April FIFA window.
The most recent meeting between the Americans and Swedes came in Vlatko Andonovski’s debut as USWNT head coach on Nov. 7, 2019. The game ended 3-2 in favor of the USA in the country’s capital, Washington D.C. The U.S. and Sweden also met earlier that year in group play at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where the Stars and Stripes came out on top after a 2-0 victory.
The USA leads the series 23-6-11 all-time against Sweden. Only three of those matches have taken place in Sweden. The two nations first met for the first time in 1987, but it was not until the 24th meeting on July 5, 2008, that the USWNT played in Skelleftea. Forward Carli Lloyd made the difference in that game, scoring the game’s lone goal to help the U.S. to win. The teams also played in Halmstad on June 16, 2012, which ended in a 3-1 victory for the Stars and Stripes, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath scoring the goals. Midfielder Rose Lavelle scored the single goal that separated the two nations in their last meeting in Sweden on June 8, 2017.
The USWNT will return to Europe after five home games in Orlando, Fla., including the three wins at the 2021 SheBelieves Cup in February and the two against Colombia in January. The U.S. defeated the Netherlands 2-0 in Breda last November.
Andovovski made it clear that he wants his team to play against top nations in preparations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
“We want to play as many of the top teams as possible to prepare for the Olympics and Sweden certainly falls into that category,” said Andonovski. “They are proven winners, have tremendously athletic players, are led by an excellent coach and are tactically savvy and experienced. We need as many tests as possible like the ones we’ll face at the Olympics and these games in Europe will give us that. We only have a few matches left before we have to pick the Olympic Team so we need the players to show how they can impact the success of our team and we need to see them do it against world class-teams.”
Sweden dominated its UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 qualifying group to earn its berth in the 2022 UEFA Women’s Championship finals. The Swedes outscored their opponents 40-2 in Group F, winning seven and drawing one of their eight games.
Sweden’s six all-time wins against the USA are the most by any country except Norway. Eight of their previous 40 meetings have come at world championships – six at the World Cup and two at the Olympics.
