Linköping is a city in southern Sweden, with around 167,000 inhabitants as of 2024. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping and is well known for its cathedral. Linköping is the center of an old cultural region and celebrated its 700th anniversary in 1987. Dominating the city's skyline from afar is the steeple of the cathedral.
The Swedish Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league, and the highest division in the Swedish ice hockey system. The league currently consists of 14 teams. The league was founded in 1975, and while Swedish ice hockey champions have been crowned through various formats since 1922, the title and the Le Mat Trophy have been awarded to the winner of the SHL playoffs since the league's inaugural 1975–76 season.
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, technique, ball control, and physical dominance. He is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and is one of the most decorated footballers in the world, having won 34 trophies in his career. He scored over 570 career goals, including more than 500 club goals, and scored in four consecutive decades between the 1990s and the 2020s.
Svenska cupen is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compete, comprising the 16 teams from Allsvenskan and the 16 teams of Superettan together with 64 teams from lower tiers of the league system. The winners qualify for the qualifying stages of the UEFA Europa League. The winner is awarded the Gustaf VI Adolf cup.
The Sweden men's national ice hockey team is governed by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world and a member of the so-called "Big Six", the unofficial group of the six strongest men's ice hockey nations, along with Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and the United States.
The Sweden women's national football team, nicknamed Blågult, represents Sweden at international women's association football competitions. It was established in 1973 and is governed by the Swedish Football Association.
Sara Caroline Seger is a Swedish former footballer who played as a midfielder and club captain for Damallsvenskan club FC Rosengård. She was the long-standing captain of the Swedish national football team until she announced her retirement from international football in December 2023. At 240 caps, Seger is the most capped player in Europe, male or female.
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest Nordic country and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a population of 10.6 million, and a low population density of 25.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (66/sq mi); 88% of Swedes reside in urban areas. They are mostly in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden's urban areas together cover 1.5% of its land area. Sweden has a diverse climate owing to the length of the country, which ranges from 55°N to 69°N.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Association in Swedish, is an association of Swedish ice hockey clubs. It was established in Stockholm on 17 November 1922 by representatives from seven clubs. Before then, organized ice hockey in Sweden had been administered by the Swedish Football Association. In 1920, Sweden became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). In addition to ice hockey, SIF is also responsible for inline hockey.
The Sweden women's national handball team is the national team of Sweden. It is governed by the Swedish Handball Federation and takes part in international handball competitions.
Hockeyettan is the third tier of ice hockey in Sweden. As of the 2015–16 season, the league consists of 39 teams divided geographically into four groups. Hockeyettan operates a system of promotion and relegation with HockeyAllsvenskan and Division 2.
Sweden competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, from 7 to 23 February 2014. The Swedish Olympic Committee sent 106 athletes to the Games, 61 men and 45 women, to compete in nine sports. 38 of the 98 events had Swedish participation. The youngest athlete in the delegation was freestyle skier Sandra Näslund, at 17 years old, while ice hockey player Daniel Alfredsson was the oldest athlete at 41. Alfredsson competed in his fifth Olympics, and he thus became the first Swedish ice hockey player that has participated in five Olympic tournaments. 55 athletes were Olympic debutants. Sweden won 15 medals in total, making the Sochi games Sweden's most successful Winter Games ever in terms of medals. However, the number of gold medals (2) was lower than in the two previous Winter Games.
The men's tournament in ice hockey at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held in Sochi, Russia between 12–23 February 2014. For the fifth consecutive Olympics, players from the National Hockey League participated. Twelve countries qualified for the tournament; nine of them did so automatically by virtue of their ranking by the International Ice Hockey Federation, while the other three took part in a qualification tournament.
The 2013–14 SHL season was the 39th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 14 September 2013 and ended on 8 March 2014. The following playoffs began on 15 March 2014 and ended on 21 April 2014. It was the first season since the league changed name from Elitserien to Swedish Hockey League in June 2013.
Kiruna IF is an ice hockey club based in Kiruna, Sweden. As of the 2014–15 season, they will play in Hockeyettan, the third level of ice hockey in Sweden. Their home arena is the Lombiahallen.
The 2014–15 SHL season was the 40th season of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). The regular season began on 10 September 2014 and ended on 5 March 2015. The following playoffs began on 12 March and ended on 23 April 2015.
Sweden participated at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing from 16 to 28 August 2014. 32 athletes have been selected to compete at the games.
The 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the tenth season of the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden under that name. The league featured 14 teams, including Stockholm-based AIK, who were relegated from the SHL following four seasons in the top league. Also joining HockeyAllsvenskan was HC Vita Hästen, which marked the return of elite-level hockey to Norrköping. A previous Vita Hästen club had played in Sweden's second-tier league until the 1995–96 season, but following that club's bankruptcy in 1996, the new Vita Hästen club rebuilt from the bottom of the league system, culminating in their promotion back to the second tier in the 2014 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers.
Sweden competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 to 20 August 2016. Swedish athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era, except for the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. They extended their medal-winning streak to 47 straight Olympic Games by obtaining a silver in women's road race.
Sweden is competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. They won ten medals; one gold, four silver and five bronze.
