Victory is Sweden's sole aim

Sweden are aiming to secure an automatic passage to next year's FIFA Women's World Cup when they tackle Finland at the Keskuskenttä stadium in Pietarsaari tomorrow.

Denmark defeat
The Swedes appeared to be cruising to China by steamrollering all before them in Group 2 before Denmark usurped their position at the section summit with a surprise 2-1 defeat of their Scandinavian neighbours in Copenhagen earlier this month - their first victory against their great rivals since 1994.

Play-off
The Danes, who have finished their UEFA Women's Championship campaign, are three points clear of Sweden, who will return to the top with a triumph by any margin against Finland because their 4-1 defeat of Denmark in Malmö last September has given them a superior head-to-head differential. The Danes would then face a two-legged play-off in the summer against France with the winner of that tie tackling either Iceland or England for UEFA's fifth and final World Cup berth.

Poor record
Finland and Sweden have met on 25 occasions, with the Finns winning just once in 1976. Despite their dreadful record against Wednesday's opponents, Finland coach Mikael Käld believes Sweden are fallible. "I saw Sweden play against Switzerland and to be honest they were not all that impressive," he said. "At the same time it seemed as if a lot of the Swedish players were mentally and physically tired, and as we know they were far from at their best against Denmark."

'A tight encounter'
Käld expects a close game, even though Sweden thumped his side 8-1 when they met in Umeå last year - the Finns scoring two own goals and conceding a penalty. He continued:  "I am happy that all my players are available and I expect a tight encounter. Finland have to give everything to win this match and we will aim to ride our luck through counterattacking football."

Call returns
Marika Domaski-Lyfors, the Sweden coach, has selected a 21-player squad for the must-win match, with Bälinge IF's Sara Call returning after sitting out the Denmark defeat through injury. Lyfors admits her side must improve their passing if they are to rescue their World Cup qualifying campaign, saying: "This has become more exciting than was necessary. We were very passive in the match against Denmark and never got our short passing going which is usually our strong suit - that has to improve against Finland."