• Sofia Jakobsson is one of Sweden’s most experienced and influential players

• Winger has been speaking to FIFA ahead of her fourth FIFA Women’s World Cup

• Having won bronze and silver medals in recent years, Jakobsson is going for gold

The best players rise to the biggest occasions and, at the last FIFA Women’s World Cup™, no-one stepped up for Sweden more than Sofia Jakobsson.

When the Swedes stunned two-time champions Germany in the quarter-finals, Jakobsson scored a fine goal and walked away with the Player of the Match award. When they beat England to win the third-place play-off, she repeated the trick.

Those goalscoring, award-winning exploits were no surprise to anyone who had followed this Swedish stalwart’s stellar career. Jakobsson had, in fact, won her first Women’s World Cup medal eight years before adding that second bronze to her collection in 2019, having been a rising star in Sweden’s 2011 campaign.

Fast forward to today and the winger can reflect with pride on close to 150 international appearances, two Olympic silver medals and goal-laden spells with the likes of Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Montpellier and Real Madrid. But having yesterday blown out the candles on her 33rd birthday cake, Jakobsson knows she is running out of time to add one missing and much-coveted ingredient: a major trophy with her country.

Sweden’s big-game player discussed that ambition, and the prospects of achieving it at Australia & New Zealand 2023, in an interview with FIFA.

It makes me incredibly proud. I have pulled on the Swedish national team jersey many times and played in three World Cups already, so this will be my fourth. And I know it will be fantastic fun. I am very proud and happy every time I get to play for my country. I've been able to do it over a hundred times but I am still just as proud every time it happens. And I hope to do it many more times in the future.

I would say that I am a player who fights a lot for the team. I’m a fast player who wants to run forward, create chances for my team-mates, but also score myself.

I definitely had a great World Cup. That equalising goal against Germany was a great feeling. To do that, especially against such good opposition, and also to help the team to win that game, was special.

Then, of course, in the third-place match against England, I was able to score an incredible goal. I was very proud of the team at that World Cup, and also of my own performance.

To play at a World Cup and win a medal is an incredibly big achievement. But I think this team has even more to offer and that we can hope and aim for getting the best medal of all at this World Cup. That would be fantastic.

Peter is a fantastic coach. He has developed our team by finding a balance between holding the ball but also maintaining what we have always done well - and that's our transition game.

We also play an incredibly good defensive game, where we are organised, tough and win a lot of duels. I think we have taken another step forward as a team [under Gerhardsson]. We have proved that in big tournaments like the World Cup and the Olympics.

There are always tough groups in the World Cup and, because of the progress women’s football has made, the matches are getting tougher and tougher. I haven't played against South Africa and Argentina for a while, so it will be nice to play against them, whereas Italy are a team we have a little better grip on. It's a tough group.

That would be absolutely fantastic. Playing in a championship game is the biggest thing you can do for your country, so of course we want to do it. It is our goal to win the tournament, to be number one, and I think with this squad we can achieve that ambition.

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