BUDAPEST. What kind of greenhorns are knocking on the national team’s door?

Benjamin Nygren stood in front of Europe’s most inhospitable stands with his hands behind his ears.

What did you say then?

We should probably be very clear about what kind of task it was, what kind of team it was that was going to take on it.

30 degrees in the air, sixty thousand Hungarians in the stands, the black shirts of the Carpathian Brigade behind Robin Olsen’s back. Dominik Szoboszlai as the engine of play in one team, Hugo Larsson as the engine of the other. Marco Rossi’s hundredth international match as Hungarian national team captain, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s thirteenth as a Swede.

A quarter of an hour before kick-off, the sing-along, as always here, to Ismerős Arcok’s national romantic Nélküled anthem thundered down from the stands.

Feeling: This is going to be tough.

In Hungary, all but three players in the starting eleven had made at least 20 international appearances, in Sweden’s eleven we only had Robin Olsen, Ken Sema and Anthony Elanga – and of the three, only Olsen has been a supporting wall over time.

And yes, it was tough. That was the whole point of this trip.

Sweden reminded of Sweden

Szoboszlai conjured up an opening cross ball behind Ken Sema after half a minute, after five minutes Robin Olsen had been forced into a good save and a monster save.

Sweden understood their limitations, it wasn’t the same kind of forward-rushing man-to-man defense as usual – but they still had problems with Hungary’s pointless attack. Rolland Sallai (who had played right-back in Turkey) floated around, Gazdag ran into the gaps, and often Sweden was left with five defenders while Szoboszlai dropped down playably twenty meters further down.

Hungary was grinding against Gabriel Gudmundsson and Ken Sema on their right wing, creating some and dominating the match. But that was expected, nothing strange at all.

What was surprising was that Sweden reminded us of Sweden, that in terms of ideas there wasn’t that much difference between this team full of freshmen and the team that normally plays. You can’t compare the quality, of course, but the ideas were there.

Hjalmar Ekdal built plays and knocked out team parts without trembling. Sweden played the ball centrally among five or six Hungarians without choosing any easy ways out. Because this is how Sweden plays, the way they want to play.

Benjamin Nygren didn’t get everything home, but he showed himself to be constant, wanting to link the game forward. Anthony Elanga looked relieved in his central solo role. Yasin Ayari and Hugo Larsson found him with deep passes from 50 meters, and Sweden grew into the match. They made Hungary start longing for summer vacation, made Szoboszlai feel like he had actually played 58 games this year, and that this one wasn’t that fun anymore.

Sweden? Young, untested, inexperienced, reserved Sweden?

Just as fun as ever.

You can’t play theater

The most impressive thing was that the team, despite everything being new, held together for 90 minutes. The defensive play on corners was questionable before the break, there were a few early losses of the ball that disturbed the first twenty – but otherwise it was steady, sure, Swedish.

Individually you can add to everything.

The relatively experienced ones gave stability, Robin Olsen (you’re a little worried about how it will go if he starts playing a lot of football for Malmö between training camps) was a world-class goalkeeper, Isak Hien led his back line with his chest first. And the only thing I want from Hugo Larsson is that he makes sure to make himself even more playable, grabs the ball even more – because when he has it, it’s impossible not to love what he does. The simple is difficult, the difficult is simple, the 360-view and the ambition.

Before the break, he let himself be marked out by Schäfer from time to time, he could have asked for the ball even more often. He could have asked Yasin Ayari for advice: “How do you think in order to influence a football match in every single situation?”

You can’t pretend in football, you can’t play theater. An identity is not words on a piece of paper – but this is a team that is starting to find an identity, a conviction that is strong enough to seep down into the broad layers.

Immediately after the break, Hjalmar Ekdal quickly gets the ball after a free kick, waits for Elanga’s first run and finds Benjamin Nygren, who bends the ball into the far end.

There’s a lot to be said about the celebration, a provocation against Hungary’s black bloc. Unnecessary, perhaps. Immature. But it also says something about cockiness and not apologizing for yourself.

Sweden didn’t apologize here, Yasin Ayari got a 2-0 goal for free from the Hungarian goalkeeper, Elanga had two-three chances to increase the lead.

They were at their best when they poured in, when they turned up the tempo and struggled – in the game with the ball, in the game without.

What does that mean going forward, what does it say about how well it can go against really tough opponents? That is and remains the million dollar question for Jon Dahl Tomasson and his football. But you meet the teams you meet, you have the players you have.

On National Day 2025, Sweden traveled to Budapest and faced an experienced opponent in front of 60,000 home fans.

They won 2–0, they won with newcomers.

They won with their hands cockily cupped behind their ears.