WWC Report Card: Sweden, with Jennifer Ast

Jennifer Ast delivers a blunt verdict on Sweden’s tournament: absolutely not mission accomplished, with the team stinking up the field in almost every way and not even doing it in a spectacular meltdown. When your best game is a goalless group draw, she writes, things are not good, and Sweden now face an Olympic play-off they will not win unless individuals and the team get their acts together quickly. England exceeded her expectations: she knew they would escape their group but not that they would pass Norway or regroup after Japan to beat Germany. Germany’s unimaginative, lethargic third-place showing surprised her, and she calls rumours of undiagnosed injuries a blight. Bottom marks go to FIFA for its meltdown and for using the tournament as a turf guinea pig.