Jan Andersson will no longer coach the national team if Sweden fails to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2024, as confirmed by him and the Swedish Football Association on Monday. The 61-year-old coach, who has been in charge since 2016, has faced criticism due to a weak start in the qualifiers, earning only six points from five matches, placing the team third in Group F. Complaints about Andersson peaked in September when Sweden suffered a humiliating 3-1 home defeat to Austria.
Andersson stated in a statement: "The only thing I was thinking about is that we will qualify for the Euros. But after the loss to Austria, questions about my future arose, and that's why we want to clarify what will happen now." He added, "I still believe we will qualify for the Euros and we will do our utmost to seize this opportunity, with three qualifying matches remaining this fall."
Swedish Football Association president Fredrik Reinfeldt confirmed that if Sweden fails to qualify, Andersson will leave his position when the qualifiers end. Sweden has lost three of its qualifying matches so far and is seven points behind Belgium and Austria, the two teams currently occupying the qualifying spots. Sweden will face Belgium on October 16 for their next match before finishing their campaign against Azerbaijan and Estonia in November.
