Sweden v Russia background

Having last met in UEFA European Championship qualifying in 1964, Sweden and Russia's memories of a UEFA EURO 2008 finals encounter may be sharper as the sides reconvene in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group G.

Match background
• Sweden have met Russia four times since the demise of the Soviet Union, with the record W2 D1 L1 (W1 D0 L0 in Sweden – W0 D1 L0 in Russia).

• Two of those encounters came at final tournaments, firstly at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United states, where Tommy Svensson's Sweden beat Pavel Sadyrin's Russia 3-1. Oleg Salenko (4) scored an early penalty, but Tomas Brolin (39) replied by half-time and Martin Dahlin (60, 81) gave Sweden the points – condemning Russia to an early exit.

• The teams in Detroit on 24 June 1994 were:
Sweden: Ravelli, R Nilsson, P Andersson, Björklund (Erlingmark 89), Ljung, Brolin, Thern, Schwarz, Ingesson, Dahlin, K Andersson (H Larsson 84).
Russia: Kharin, Gorlukovich, Popov (Karpin 40), Onopko, Khlestov, Nikoforov, Mostovoi, Kuznetsov, Salenko, Borodyuk (Galyamin 51), Radchenko.

• The sides' most recent encounter was at UEFA EURO 2008. Roman Pavlyuchenko (24) and Andrey Arshavin (50) were on target in a 2-0 win that propelled Guus Hiddink's Russia into the knockout phase and sent Sweden, then coached by Lars Lagerbäck, home.

• The teams in Innsbruck on 18 June 2008 were:
Russia: Akinfeev, Ignashevich, Kolodin, Arshavin, Semak, Bilyaletdinov (Saenko 66), Zyryanov, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko (Bystrov 90), Semshov, Anyukov.
Sweden: Isaksson, M Nilsson (Allbäck 79), Mellberg, Hansson, Stoor, Svensson, Ljungberg, Ibrahimović, Elmander, H Larsson, D Andersson (Källström 56).

• Sweden encountered the Soviet Union seven times with the record W3 D2 L2 (W1 D2 L1 at home – W2 D0 L1 away). Those games included a 2-0 Sweden win at the 1958 World Cup, in Stockholm, and a 1964 UEFA European Championship quarter-final.

• Valentin Ivanov (62) put Konstantin Beskov's USSR ahead in the first leg in Solna on 13 May 1964, but Kurt Hamrin (88) salvaged a draw for Lennart Nyman's Sweden. It ended 3-1 in Moscow on 27 May 1964, Viktor Pondelnik (32, 56) scoring twice, and Valeri Voronin adding a third (83) after Kurt Hamrin (78) had pulled one back. The USSR went on to lose 2-1 to Spain in the final.

• Before the formation of the Soviet Union, Russia beat Sweden 4-1 in Moscow on 4 May 1913, but drew 2-2 in Stockholm on 5 July 1914.

• Sweden and Russia have met in five UEFA age-group competitions with the Swedes' record W1 D1 L3. Most recently the sides drew in the semi-finals of the 2013 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Slovakia, Russia eventually winning 10-9 on penalties en route to winning the competition.

• The nations' clubs have met in 16 UEFA competition games, with the Swedish sides' record in those games reading W4 D3 L9.