How can you go to the World Cup with only two points won?

Sweden's first ever win which mattered to the World Cup was against Ukraine (3-1) in the playoff semi-final just six days ago, and on Tuesday they defeated Poland to qualify for the competition. So, Italy and Poland, who had 18 and 17 points during the WC qualifiers (Sweden had two) are out and the Graham Potter’s team is in.

Fair or not? And how is it even possible? The UEFA Nations League. Formed in 2018 as a tournament for the top men's national teams under the European football organization. The idea? To replace mostly meaningless international friendly matches with competitive, meaningful fixtures, to improve competition quality, and provide a pathway for qualifying for major tournaments like the European Championship.

But most of the players and fans are seeing it as another competition for UEFA to make more money and to compete with FIFA, while players remain tired and without motivation in a busy schedule.

One of the first players to publicly go against this competition was Kevin De Bruyne. In June 2022, ahead of the Nations League tournament which started just after the footballing season, he said that competition is “unimportant in my eyes. Just glorified friendlies after a long and tough season. I am not looking forward to it“. So why are we writing about it?

Well, it’s because of that league and the rules behind it Sweden made it to the World Cup even after terrible results in the qualifications. To be perfectly clear, their win over Poland on Tuesday night was legitimate and fair. They played better and scored one goal more than Robert Lewandowski’s team but the rule due to which they got there seems unfair. What are we talking about?

Gyokeres' late golden goal launches Sweden straight to World Cup

When the 2026 World Cup qualifiers finished, Sweden was the last in their group with only two points and no wins. Team like Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia all had more points, so the Swedes missed out on a top-two finish, which would have guaranteed direct qualification for the World Cup (for first place) and a playoff spot (for second place).

But the new rule was in place by then and the Gyokeres and his teammates made the most of it. In addition to the runners-up from each of the twelve qualifying groups, the four highest-ranked teams from the last Nations League that did not qualify for the World Cup were given a second chance. Sweden, winners of their League C group, were among them, as were Romania, North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland. But it was Graham Potter's team who made it all the way and will play at the World Cup thanks to this rule even though they had only two points during the qualifications. Maybe FIFA and UEFA should think twice about this unfair situation.