STOCKHOLM : Sweden thrashed Serbia 6-0 to complete an 8-0 aggregate victory and qualify for next year’s Women’s European Championship finals in Switzerland, where they will be joined by Nordic neighbours Norway and Finland who also won at home in Tuesday’s playoffs.
With seven spots in the finals up for grabs in the second legs, a crowd of 12,378 in Stockholm was treated to a closed roof on the stadium, to protect them from the sub-zero temperatures outside, and a four-goal first-half salvo that ended any Serbian hopes of a comeback.
Filippa Angeldahl gave the Swedes the lead with a penalty in the 16th minute before Kosovare Asllani netted three minutes later and striker Stina Blackstenius added two more before the break.
Midfielder Hanna Bennison added the fifth 12 minutes into the second half and Anna Anvegaard added a brilliant sixth in the final minute of normal time to complete the rout.
The Swedes celebrated their qualification with a tribute to recently-retired Caroline Seger, who won 240 caps for her country and two Olympic silver medals.
In Oslo, Norway cruised to a comfortable 3-0 second-leg victory to secure a 7-0 aggregate win over Northern Ireland, and Finland built on their scoreless draw away to Scotland last week by beating them 2-0 at home to seal their spot.
Things were a lot tighter in Teplice where Diana Silva’s two goals gave Portugal a 2-1 win and 3-2 aggregate success over the Czech Republic to qualify, while Poland’s Ewa Pajor celebrated her birthday with the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Austria to see her side through 2-0 on aggregate.
Belgium take on Ukraine while Ireland host Wales in the other two second legs later on Tuesday.
