Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick to put Sweden on the brink of World Cup qualification.
Gyokeres was given the backing from new Sweden head coach Graham Potter last week ahead of the play-off semi-final against Ukraine, and repaid the faith in a 3-1 win on Thursday night.
Breaking the deadlock inside six minutes, the Gunners No9 scored two further goals in the second half, completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Victory for Sweden has seen them progress to the World Cup play-off final where they will face Poland for the right to qualify directly for this summer’s showpiece tournament.
The reward for the winner will be to join the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F.
Speaking after the game, Ukraine head coach Serhiy Rebrov heaped praise on Gyokeres.
“I believed in my team throughout the match,” he said.
“We did everything we could and had chances to score, but their early goal hurt us, just as it did in the second half. We finished the match well, but it wasn’t enough.
“Viktor Gyokeres made the difference tonight. He showed his quality and proved he’s one of the best strikers in Europe.”
If Sweden do qualify for the World Cup, they will have Gyokeres to thank after his impressive performances during the Nations League.
Gyokeres netted nine goals in the most recent Nations League campaign to claim the top scorer award ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (eight) and Erling Haaland (seven).
Those strikes played a big role in helping Sweden to earn promotion to League B as they topped Group C1 ahead of Slovakia, Estonia and Azerbaijan.
Furthermore, as group winners, Sweden have benefitted from a format change in regards to the World Cup qualifiers after a dismal qualifying campaign as they missed out on a top-two finish.
However, as one of the four best-ranked Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their World Cup qualifying group, they advanced to the play-offs and are now one win away from another appearance at the finals.
