England's record of Swedish failure

England's record against Sweden in competitive fixtures makes stark reading. Played six, won none, plenty of pain, quite a lot of blood and more than a few tears. As an inspirational tool, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The two countries have played 18 times since their first official meeting in 1923. Prior to that, England had won all four "unofficial" encounters by margins ranging from 5-1 in a friendly in June 1914, to 12-1 during the 1908 Olympics. Since then, the Scandinavians have inched closer to parity and in recent years have had the upper hand. Their last defeat to England was in a friendly at Wembley in 1968.

Of the nine games since, three have been friendlies, including the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last November. That game needed a dubious David Beckham penalty to give England the lead. Even without four of their best players – Henrik Larsson, Patrik Andersson, Olof Mellberg and Freddie Ljungberg – the visitors still shared the spoils with a Hakan Mild equaliser.

In the six fixtures that have actually mattered, Sweden have never lost. The first competitive meeting, a qualifier for Italia '90 in October 1988, finished 0-0 at Wembley, where the home side lacked any kind of goal threat despite possessing the varied talents of Gary Lineker, John Barnes and Peter Beardsley. The reverse fixture in Stockholm in September 1989 saw the same result, which left England needing a point against Poland to qualify. The match will forever be remembered for captain Terry Butcher's blood-spattered performance, after he played the second half with 10 stitches in a head wound sustained in the first period.

If that was painful, then the next meeting, in England's final group match in the opening phase of Euro '92 was agony. Graham Taylor's side, without the services of key players such as Paul Gascoigne, John Barnes and Mark Wright, managed to take an early lead against the tournament's host nation, but ended up on the end of a disastrous 2-1 defeat. Added to which, Taylor chose to substitute Gary Lineker with half an hour still remaining. It proved to the striker's last England game and he left the pitch one goal short of equalling Bobby Charlton's international scoring record of 49 goals.

After 0-0 draws against Denmark and France, England desperately needed a win. They lost, Tomas Brolin scoring the goal that sealed their fate. The only England survivor from that match is Martin Keown.

And so to 1995, and the Umbro Cup featuring Brazil, Japan and Sweden where Terry Venables was to continue experimenting ahead of Euro '96. England lost 3-1 to Brazil in the final game, having earlier narrowly beaten Japan 2-1 and secured a fortunate 3-3 draw against a superior Sweden. The result came courtesy of two goals in the last two minutes, including a spectacular equaliser from Darren Anderton.

By their next meeting – the first qualifier for Euro 2000, in Stockholm in September 1998 – Glenn Hoddle was at the helm. As in Euro '92, England took an early lead, this time through Alan Shearer. As in 1992, the Swedes came from behind to win, Johan Mjallby heading the winner. He moved to Celtic (and a hero's welcome) shortly afterwards.

The reverse fixture, at Wembley in June 1999, was historic. Not the result, which was 0-0, pushing England further towards a play-off, but because Paul Scholes became the first England player to be sent off in a Wembley international. A happy history it is not.