Andersson on Sweden's 1994 World Cup triumph and third place finish

As Tomas Brolin left Genoa's Stadio Luigi Ferraris with his head hung low on 20 June 1990, he must have wondered how Sweden's World Cup dream could have gone so wrong. The Blågult had just suffered their third consecutive 2-1 defeat, this time to Costa Rica, following losses to Brazil and Scotland. For the first time in their history, Sweden had been eliminated from a World Cup without a single point.

Fast forward four years, and Sweden were presented with a golden opportunity to put that Italian disappointment behind them at USA 1994. Coach Olle Nordin had been replaced by Tommy Svensson, and the former international pulled off his first masterstroke by bolstering his forward line with Martin Dahlin, who had been overlooked for Italia '90 but impressed during qualifying, and above all Kennet Andersson, who had returned to form after two difficult years.

The turning point: Cameroon draw

For Andersson, the spark that set Sweden on the path to an unexpected podium finish was not their 3-1 victory over Russia, their 1-1 draw with Brazil, or even his late equaliser against Romania in the quarter-finals, but their opening draw against Cameroon.

“You have to understand that half of the team had played in the 1990 World Cup and had lost 2-1 three times, and now we were trailing 2-1 again, this time to Cameroon,” Andersson said in an exclusive interview with FIFA. “For me, the moment that changed everything was when Martin [Dahlin] equalised to make it 2-2. We were already better than four years earlier.”

After finally breaking their 2-1 curse, Sweden began to breathe easier.

Svensson's tactical masterstroke

Impressed by Andersson's cameo against Cameroon and, above all, by his attitude in training, Svensson quickly pulled off his second masterstroke by finding a way to combine him with Dahlin and Brolin to form a trio that would go down in Swedish football history, even if it meant tweaking his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation.

“He [Svensson] changed the way he played,” said Andersson. “Putting Brolin on the wing was risky. But he was very modern, because at that time most coaches had a fixed system. He really adapted his way of playing to the players he had. He was very brave and very smart.”

Brolin was initially reluctant to break up the partnership he had formed with Dahlin, but he was soon reassured not by his coach, but by tireless right-back Roland Nilsson, one of the survivors of the ill-fated 1990 campaign.

“Brolin didn’t want to play as a traditional winger, but Nilsson told him not to worry about the defensive side of the game, so Brolin played more like a free no10, just a little more out wide. It was a genius decision by Tommy [Svensson].”

The three musketeers

The trio hit the ground running. “In the end, I scored five goals, Dahlin got four and Brolin scored three. He [Brolin] was even named in the team of the tournament, so it all worked out perfectly.”

Many observers simply assumed that Sweden had stumbled across an almost telepathic relationship between Andersson and Dahlin up front, but that could not be further from the truth.

“Sometimes, people ask how we were able to play so well together when we only met up in the national team,” said Andersson. “But the answer is simple: I’d known him since I was 15. We played together in the youth national teams, in the under-21s, and we even did our military service together. We knew each other very well.”

Two of Dahlin's four goals at the World Cup came from assists from Andersson – two pinpoint crosses that are well worth watching.