Anthony Elanga’s Brutal 6-Word Outburst in Tunnel Shortly Before Sweden Sack Manager

It’s been a very bad international break for Sweden this October as their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup took a major blow. Indeed, back-to-back defeats mean that manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has been sacked.

The first loss came at home against Switzerland, with Granit Xhaka and Johan Manzambi scoring as the game ended 2-0. Things then reached a new low in their latest outing, however, with Kosovo picking up a shock 1-0 win in Gothenburg.

This appeared to be the final straw for the Swedish Football Association, as they fired Danish boss Tomasson, who failed to last two years on the job. Local outlet SportBladet noted that he took Sweden to the B division of the Nations League, but when the World Cup qualifiers started, ‘everything went wrong’.

In a press release, Simon Astrom, chairman of the Swedish FA, explained:

Elanga SlamsTomasson’s Swedish System

Tomasson’s record as a Swedish manager was pretty dismal. In 18 matches, he lost seven times. He did pick up nine wins, but they were largely against teams they’d expect to beat, while there were also two draws.

It seems he steiggled to get the best out of his star players too, Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres both failed to impresses in the recent run of games, with Swedish press remakring that the players looked ‘completely broken’ during the 1-0 loss to Kosovo.

Summing up the mood in the Swedish camp, Anthony Elanga were heard making some rather damning comments in the tunnel directly after the defeat. Radiosporten’s reporter Jonas Enarson allegedly heard the Newcastle United winger exclaim:

It’s noted, though, that once Elanga had gathered himself, he then offered a calmer comment, adding: “We also have to take responsibility.”There can be no doubt about it, things were going very wrong for Sweded on the pitch, leaking to high tensions off it. As such, it’s no surpriseTomasson has been sacked.

Sweden sit bottom of Group B in World Cup qualifying with just one point from four games. They’ll need a remarkable turnaround in form to secure a play-off spot, with their next games to come in November away at Switzerland and then at home vs Slovenia.

Upon the sacking, former Sweden player Kim Kallstrom added as part of the official statement: “We have a group of players that we believe in very much and want to create new opportunities for them to deliver. We have faith that this team can make it to the World Cup if the chance for the playoffs is there in March.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jon for this period. Jon has been professional in his relationship with the players, the leaders in the national team staff and with SvFF. It is always sad to go our separate ways, but football is results-based and we have reached a point where results are not enough.”