Sweden vs Korea Republic. FIFA World Cup Group F.
Nizhny Novgorod StadiumAttendance42,300.
Monday 18 June 2018 17:17, UK
Sweden opened their World Cup campaign with a 1-0 victory over South Korea in Group F thanks to Andreas Granqvist's penalty, which was awarded after the use of video technology.
Janne Andersson's side were awarded a penalty in the 64th minute when VAR helped overrule referee Joel Aguilar's original decision for a challenge on Viktor Claesson by Yong-Joon Lee inside the penalty area, from which Swedish captain Granqvist fired home (65).
It proved to be the only goal of the game as Sweden won their opening game at a World Cup for the first time since 1958 to move level with Mexico at the top of Group F following their shock 1-0 win over Germany on Sunday.
The two sides looked evenly matches in the opening stages of what was a tight affair, but Sweden eventually began to dominate proceedings, taking control of the midfield battle.
The first chance of the game fell to Sweden and indecision in the South Korea defence saw the ball drop to Marcus Berg on the edge of the six-yard box, but the striker's poor finish was saved by Hyun-Woo Cho.
The ball fell for Berg again on the half-hour mark and he was denied again, this time by an excellent last-ditch block from Young-Gwon Kim.
South Korea rarely threatened as an attacking force but talisman Heung-Min Son showed his threat on the break, using his pace to get to the byline but his cut back was intercepted by Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist.
Both sides came out with more attacking intent after the break as Emil Forsberg's shot flashed over the crossbar and Ja-Cheol Koo's header hit the side netting.
Sweden were then presented with the opportunity to break the deadlock midway through the second half, courtesy of VAR.
The referee initially played on following Lee's challenge on Claesson before halting play with South Korea on the attack and pointing to the penalty spot after being given advice from VAR and watching the replay on the pitchside screen.
Granqvist took full advantage, rolling the ball into the bottom corner to score Sweden's first goal in 402 minutes of international football and secure a crucial three points.
When Sweden needed a match winner, the captain, Granqvist, stepped up and delivered for Andersson's side.
It had been 402 minutes since Ola Toivonen scored Sweden's last international goal against Chile back in March.
And after VAR intervention, they were handed the chance of breaking that run and a nervous looking Granqvist stepped up, tucking the ball into the bottom to score his side's first goal at a World Cup since 2006.
He also made a couple of crucial interventions at the other end of the pitch to cap an excellent captain's display as Sweden got their campaign off to a winning start.
Sweden play Germany on Saturday at 7pm while South Korea face Mexico, also on Saturday at 4pm.