Sports News | Without Ibrahimovic, Sweden Reaches World Cup Playoff Final

Stockholm, Mar 25 (AP) Robin Quaison kept alive Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hopes of playing in another World Cup for Sweden.

With the suspended Ibrahimovic watching on, Quaison came off the bench and scored in the 110th minute as Sweden beat the Czech Republic 1-0 after extra time to advance to one of the playoff finals in European qualifying for the World Cup on Thursday.

Also Read | IPL 2022: Will There Be an Opening Ceremony To Kickstart Mega Event?.

It was a well-taken goal, too, with Quaison exchanging passes with Alexander Isak before slotting home a low finish from close range at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.

Sweden must now travel to play Poland on Tuesday in a shootout for a place in the tournament in Qatar over November and December.

Also Read | Swiss Open 2022: PV Sindhu Storms into Quarter Finals, HS Prannoy Books Kashyap Clash; Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty Suffer Shock Defeat.

The 40-year-old Ibrahimovic should be available for that match after serving his suspension, though he has been troubled by an Achilles tendon injury in recent weeks.

The Czechs missed out on qualifying for a first World Cup since 2006. Sweden reached the quarterfinals at the 2018 tournament in Russia.

Poland received a bye to the playoff final after its scheduled opponent, Russia, was thrown out of qualifying following the country's invasion of Ukraine. AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)