Graham Potter's Swedish Revival at the World Cup

Graham Potter walked out to Sweden training in Texas last week wearing a Stetson. A playful nod to the World Cup’s return to the United States, yes, but also an easy punchline for those who felt he was coaching in football’s last-chance saloon.

Two sackings in 15 months. Chelsea, then West Ham. A reputation that had once been burnished at Brighton now looked badly scuffed.

Yet in Monterrey, under the Mexican night sky, there was nothing jokey about Sweden.

They were brutal.

They ripped Tunisia apart 5-1 in their Group F opener at Estadio Monterrey, a statement win from a team many assumed would just be passing through this tournament.

“You never know, that's the truth,” Potter said afterwards. “You never know how things are going to go. We were optimistic because we felt confident in the work.

“But until the game is played you don't know for sure. That's the beauty of sport. We are delighted with how we performed tonight and it's a great start for us.”

A great start and a striking contrast. Sweden scored more in 90 minutes against Tunisia than they managed in their entire qualifying group stage, when they mustered only four goals under Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Under the Dane, their World Cup hopes had already drifted away. Automatic qualification disappeared, confidence with it, and by the time Potter arrived in October, the damage was done. Sweden finished bottom of their group behind Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia, without a single win in six games.

They survived on a technicality, not momentum. Their Uefa Nations League ranking of 34 handed them a route into the play-offs. Potter grabbed it.

Sweden edged past Ukraine, then Poland, to sneak into the World Cup. It was a lifeline for a national team and a manager at the same time.

For Potter, this was never the plan. He started the season in the Premier League at West Ham, only to be dismissed in late September after just six wins from 23 league games. That followed his bruising spell at Chelsea, where the job seemed to swallow him whole after his rise at Brighton.

The Englishman had grown prickly with the media in those high-pressure roles, worn down by scrutiny and expectation.

With Sweden, he looks different. Lighter. Sharper. Almost like he has gone back to where his coaching identity was forged.

This is the country where he took Ostersunds FK from the fourth tier to the Allsvenskan, lifting the domestic cup and guiding them into Europe. Those seven years rewired his career – and, in his words, a part of who he is.

“I feel very Swedish when I'm working,” he told BBC Sport before the tournament. “I even look a bit Swedish. Two of my children were born in Sweden. I had seven unforgettable years at Ostersunds, with memories that will stay with me for life.

“I came from the fourth tier of Swedish football, which is quite low, and worked my way up through the system to the Allsvenskan.

“You almost become Swedish in a coaching sense because of the experiences you have. I think it has definitely helped.

“Now I'm working for the Swedish FA as head coach of the national team, so I feel very Swedish.”

His Instagram feed has reflected that bond: family walks in the forests, Nordic literature, cultural events. The image is of a man at ease in his surroundings.

But the work has been anything but gentle.

Sweden arrived in Mexico and the USA needing structure, belief, and a spark up front. The return to full fitness of Alexander Isak has given Potter exactly that. The Liverpool striker, signed for £125m, led the line with authority against Tunisia and formed a slick, dangerous partnership with Arsenal forward Viktor Gyokeres.

They dovetailed superbly, each assisting the other’s goal. For a coach who has often been accused of lacking ruthlessness in the final third, this must have felt like vindication.

Isak and Gyokeres give Sweden a front line that can trouble anyone in this tournament. Power, pace, intelligence. If they stay fit and in rhythm, this is no longer a side that simply grinds; it can cut teams open.

Around them, though, Potter still has work to do. Experience at this level is thin. Only Victor Lindelof has played at a World Cup before, with goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfelt an unused substitute in Russia in 2018. The rest will need guiding through the noise, the travel, the pressure.

The new expanded format helps. A five-goal win in the opener leaves Sweden well placed to reach the last 32. The numbers are on their side.

The opponents will not always be.

Tunisia, ranked 56th in the world, folded once Sweden turned the screw. Netherlands, waiting on Saturday, will not be so generous. They arrive as one of the favourites for the competition and will test every inch of Potter’s new project.

“We just focus on what we can do, we focus on our performances,” Potter said in his post-match press conference. “It doesn't matter what people think from the outside or opinions.

“That's the beauty of the World Cup everyone has predictions and forecasts but we have to focus on our job and how we play as a team.

“We will meet another top team at the weekend who are one of the favourites for the competition.”

History offers an intriguing echo. Sweden’s two best World Cup campaigns both ended in third place: in 1958, under another English coach, George Raynor, and in 1994, when the tournament was also staged in the USA.

No one is talking about semi-finals yet. Not seriously. Not after the chaos of qualifying.

But in Monterrey, Sweden looked like a team with a plan and a coach with something to prove. The man in the cowboy hat has stepped back onto the biggest stage, this time with a nation that feels like home and a front line that can frighten anyone.

The saloon doors are open again. Now we find out how long Graham Potter can stay at the bar.