Sweden and Japan's Thrilling Clash: Elanga's Impact

Japan and Sweden spent 45 minutes shadowboxing. The ball moved, the players ran, but the match never quite caught fire.

Then the second half arrived – and the game tore itself open.

Japan struck first on 56 minutes, slicing through Sweden with the kind of crisp, one-touch move that had been missing from the opening period. Daizen Maeda arrived to finish it off, a sharp end to a slick passage of play that finally gave the contest a pulse.

The shock to the system jolted Sweden awake.

Barely had Japan settled into their lead when Anthony Elanga cut in from the right and ripped the game back. The Newcastle United winger drove inside, opened his body and, on his weaker left foot, sent a superb strike arcing beyond the goalkeeper. A moment of pure, individual quality, and his second goal of the tournament.

More importantly, it dragged Sweden level and, as it turned out, dragged them into the knockouts.

From there, the match lurched into chaos. Sweden knew a point would be enough to squeeze through as one of the best third-placed teams, but the players on the pitch did not all have that clarity. The bench frantically ran the numbers; the players chased a winner as if their lives in the tournament depended on it.

No one embodied that manic energy more than Elanga.

"I was just screaming: 'Come on, we can go for more'. I’m glad we’re through, I didn’t know that at the end," he admitted afterwards. He kept pushing, kept running, even as instructions rained down from the touchline telling him the job was already done.

Sebastian Larsson and the rest of the staff tried to get the message across as the minutes bled away. Elanga simply refused to throttle back.

"I think they were trying to scream to me," he said. "I obviously wanted to keep running. I got cramp at the end but didn't want to stop running. I'm happy and the whole team is too."

His teammates could only shake their heads. Alexander Isak, who came within inches of turning one point into three when his late header cannoned off the crossbar, confessed he had to pull Elanga aside.

He gave him "a bit of a telling-off" once he realised the winger had no idea Sweden were already safe. "He was a little frustrated towards the end of the match, and you can understand why now," the Liverpool forward said, still half in disbelief.

On the touchline, Graham Potter saw the funny side. The Sweden manager, who had spent the closing stages trying to calm a team intent on chasing a winner, could only laugh.

"That explains a few things. We couldn't have been clearer... Bless him! But I love him," he said, the exasperation softened by admiration. Captain Victor Lindelof joined in the teasing, joking that Elanga must have slept through the pre-match permutations briefing: "He can't have been awake enough."

Behind the humour sat a serious tactical call that paid off. Potter had made big changes for this decisive Group F fixture, trusting his squad after the bruising, heavy defeat to the Netherlands. Elanga came into the starting XI. Jacob Widell Zetterstrom was handed the gloves.

"We analysed the game against the Netherlands. We had to defend the box and wide areas better [today]," Potter explained. "We decided to use Jacob's attributes because I think he's a fantastic goalkeeper. His distribution was very impressive. Anthony comes in and offers a counter-attack threat and his pace is destabilising for the opponent."

The response he demanded arrived. Sweden were more secure in their own area, more aggressive in transition, and far more resilient when Japan tried to turn the screw. When Isak’s header thumped the bar late on, it underlined how close they came to flipping the group on its head.

Instead, they settled for the draw that carried them through in third place, behind the Netherlands and Japan, but crucially still alive.

That position in the standings shapes a daunting but intriguing path. By avoiding Japan’s route, Sweden also avoid a direct collision with Brazil, who now face the Samurai Blue. Potter’s side are likely to meet the winner of Group I in a tie pencilled in for June 30, with the outcome of France vs Norway set to determine the exact opponent. Germany, winners of Group E, also loom as a potential hurdle.

Elanga, true to form, refuses to blink.

"Both are good teams. It will be a challenge. All teams are good, but we are ready for what comes," he said, a player who runs until he cramps and chases goals even when the maths says he can stop.

Three games. Four points. A level goal difference. After a bruising start, Sweden look like a side that has finally found its balance – and, with Elanga in this kind of mood, they will not go quietly into the knockout rounds.