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SWEDE SUCCESS POSSIBLE
The Straits Times
|June 30, 2026
Gyokeres confident they can shock France with defensive solidity and clinical finishing
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Viktor Gyokeres warned his Sweden side on June 28 that they will have to be "almost perfect" defensively if they are to cause an upset against France in the World Cup last 32.
The 2022 runners-up will be strong favourites to beat Sweden when they meet on June 30 in New Jersey.
Speaking at Sweden's training base in Dallas, Arsenal striker Gyokeres made no attempt to play down the scale of the task facing his team.
"We will have to be at our best, we have to do our defensive organisation almost perfect and then of course, to take the chances we will get," he said.
Sweden squeezed into the knockouts, thrashing Tunisia 5-1 and then losing to the Netherlands by the same scoreline.
Graham Potter's side, who needed to go through the play-offs to reach North America, edged through from Group F in third place with a 1-1 draw against Japan.
Despite an erratic campaign, Gyokeres said: "We have our confidence. I think we have to believe in ourselves.
This story is from the June 30, 2026 edition of The Straits Times.
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