Sweden advances to IFAF European semifinal after defeating Switzerland in qualifying round 

By Aidan Wohl

The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) European semifinal will once again feature the Swedish national team after Team Sweden defeated Switzerland 31-6 in the qualifying round this past weekend. 

It was overall domination for Sweden who played a solid game on both sides of the ball against an underdog Swiss team who hadn’t played a snap since losing to Team Russia 36-9 a year ago. 

The game showed unpredictability in the beginning as Switzerland jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after Swiss defensive back Jonathan Falk ran back a pick-six on its first defensive snap. However, Sweden was not flustered and stayed focused throughout the rest of the contest. The momentum clearly shifted to the Swedish sideline though after Anton Jallai’s 67 yard touchdown reception which tied the game at six apiece. 

As Sweden’s coaching staff had planned, young quarterback Ture Nilsson checked in for Philip Juhlin as the signal caller and once Sweden had the game seemingly in hand, Juhlin told the coaches to let Nilsson finish the game. This decision ended up helping Sweden’s efforts. The Swedes kept their foot on the pedal, scoring on drive after drive on the ground and in the air. Running back Oliver Lundberg assisted the offense, capping off a 75 yard drive with a five yard touchdown on the team’s next drive. 

Sweden wasn’t done there though, getting the ball back with 33 seconds before halftime. Nilsson then marched his team down the field and connected with receiver Kevin Börzsei on the left side of the endzone for another six points, giving the Scandinavian squad a convincing 19-6 lead going into half time 

The Swedish defensive unit stepped up in the second half, not allowing the Swiss a chance to come back in the game. 

Anton Jallai wasn’t done after his touchdown in the first half, hauling in another touchdown to put them up 25-6.  

Cornerback Ben Praspopsin delivered a huge spark defensively and put the nail in the coffin for Switzerland after intercepting a pass to give Sweden the ball with excellent field position and eventually scored another touchdown, giving them a 31-6 victory.

 Head coach BD Kennedy and Sweden will look to take on its next opponent in the IFAF European Championship semifinal round in 2023.