Sweden Euro 2016 team profile: Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads his country's summer hopes

World Ranking: 35

Best European Championship finish: Semi-finals, 1992

How they qualified: Zlatan Ibrahimovic led his country to their fifth successive Euros, scoring a brace in the second leg of the play-off against their neighbours Denmark, winning 4-3 on aggregate. Their group campaign was less convincing however, finishing third behind Austria and Russia in Group G.

Fixtures: Group E - Republic of Ireland (13 June), Italy (17 June), Belgium (22 June)

Squad -

Goalkeepers: Andreas Isaksson, Robin Olsen, Patrik Carlgren

Defenders: Ludwig Augustinsson, Mikael Lustig, Andreas Granqvist, Erik Johansson, Victor Nilsson Lindelof, Martin Olsson, Pontus Jansson

Midfielders: Jimmy Durmaz, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg, Oscar Hiljemark, Kim Kallstrom, Sebastian Larsson, Oscar Lewicki, Pontus Wernbloom, Erkan Zengin

Strikers: Marcus Berg, John Guidetti, Emir Kujovic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Expectations: Anything is possible for Sweden, with Ibrahimovic arriving at the tournament in what is surely his last chance to do something special for his national team. A group with Belgium, Italy and the Republic of Ireland looks tough, but no player in the world likes a big challenge more than the expected Manchester United signing, and reaching the round of 16 is a realistic ambition.

Manager: Erik Hamren has been in the Swedish dugout since 2009, having garnered a good reputation in Scandinavia at Danish outfit AaB and Norway's Rosenborg.

Originally sharing his role at Rosenborg with his national team duties, he assumed full-time responsibilities for his home nation in 2010. Since then he has had a mixed bag of results, securing European Championship qualification two tournaments running but failing to reach the 2014 World Cup following play-off defeat to Portugal. The 58-year-old is expected to leave his post after the tournament.

Prediction: Round of 16 – Sweden finished bottom of their group, behind England France and Ukraine, in 2012 despite the presence of Ibrahimovic. However, the 34-year-old arrives at the tournament on the back of his most prolific campaign ever, having scored 50 goals in 51 matches for Paris Saint-Germain, and is hoping for a major role this summer before starting his expected new chapter at Old Trafford.

And while Sweden could struggle against Belgium's widespread talent, they should not be too afraid of the Republic of Ireland or an Italy side with a much-depleted midfield. If they can beat the Irish in the first game they will fancy their chances of progression.