Graham Potter said he will “dust off my cowboy hat” after fulfilling his short-term mission to get Sweden to the World Cup.
The English coach was hired by Sweden in October after the national team’s abject qualifying campaign that contained two draws and four defeats from its six group games.
The Swedes were afforded a second chance to qualifying through the playoffs by virtue of winning its lowly Nations League group the previous year and they took full advantage, beating Ukraine in the semifinals on Thursday and then Poland 3-2 in Stockholm on Tuesday.
Sweden will be playing Tunisia, the Netherlands, and then Japan in Dallas in Group F at the World Cup being held across the United States, Canada and Mexico starting in June.
Potter said it was an “incredible” feeling, adding: “I’m going to have a beer and then think, ‘Wow, we’re going to Dallas.’ I’ll have to dust off my cowboy hat, won’t I?”
Viktor Gyokeres grabbed Sweden’s decisive goal in the 88th minute against Poland, which twice came from behind and looked the likelier winner heading into the final minutes.
“We weren’t perfect, but who cares?” Potter said. “We’re going to the World Cup, baby. Wow. Yeah, I can’t analyze it.”
After a turbulent six years working in the Premier League with Brighton, Chelsea and then West Ham, Potter took his first job in international soccer with Sweden.
It was the country where his coaching journey began in earnest — back in 2011 at Ostersund, a small, unheralded team that he guided from the fourth tier to Sweden’s top division.
Now he’s going to the World Cup.
Potter will hope to regain some of his top players who missed the playoffs because of injury, including Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski.
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