Sweden threw off their campaign at Germany/Netherlands 2025 with a victory against fellow European side Czechia, 31:23, making a big step towards the main round.

GROUP G
Sweden vs Czechia 31:23 (17:13)

While the Scandinavians were favoured to take a victory in this encounter, it was their rivals which opened up an early 2:0 lead, thanks to goals from Dominika Zachová and Kamila Kordovská. However, Sweden quickly bounced back and responded with a strong 5:0 run, taking advantage of Czechia’s missed shots and turnovers.​

The Swedes went on to lead for quite a while, but a 3:0 run fuelled by Charlotte Cholevová’s goals saw Czechia drawing level at 10:10. However, a team time-out taken by Tomas Axnér helped his team to regroup, and they enjoyed their own 3:0 surge to pull clear again. Centre back Jenny Carlson, who has just recovered from an injury, entered the game well, and left wing Clara Lerby scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half, as the Nordic team had a solid four-goal advantage going into the break.​

Things changed after the restart, as neither side could score in the first five minutes of the second half, and then Veronika Malá’s goals propelled Czechia to a 3:0 run, helping them reduce the gap to just one goal, 16:17. Good goalkeeping from Sabrina Novotná was also an important factor, as the 25-year-old – who was named hummel Player of the Match – made 17 saves in total during this encounter.​

However, her Swedish colleague Johanna Bundsen also made an impact, helping the Scandinavians restore a four-goal gap in the 47th minute, 25:21. As a result of good goalkeeping from both sides, the score remained unchanged for five minutes again before Lerby broke that deadlock with a 7m shot, further increasing her team’s lead.

In the closing stage of the game, Czechia seemed to lose power and belief in their success, and Sweden were entirely dominant on the court. Bundsen ended the match with 12 saves and a 34% saving efficiency, while 10 of her teammates put their names on the scoresheet – with Lerby and Emma Lindkvist becoming the top scorers with six goals each.​

hummel Player of the Match: Sabrina Novotná (Czechia)