Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be the focus of attention as the former Serie A star takes on Italy with Sweden in UEFA EURO 2016 Group E.

Previous meetings

• Italy’s record in 22 meetings with Sweden is W10 D6 L6 (W4 D2 L4 in competitive games).

• Erik Hamrén’s first match as Sweden coach was against Italy in Cesena in November 2009, when defender Giorgio Chiellini scored the only goal in a friendly victory for the Azzurri. That was the teams’ last meeting.

• Italy ended Sweden’s UEFA EURO 2000 ambitions with a 2-1 group stage win (in which current Italy coach Antonio Conte was an unused substitute), but the Blågult gained a measure of revenge four years later in Portugal when a 1-1 draw, courtesy of Ibrahimović’s equaliser, helped to eliminate the Azzurri.

• Sweden’s 3-2 triumph in the 1950 FIFA World Cup group stage helped them through at Italy’s expense. Twenty years later the roles were reversed as Italy won 1-0 in Toluca, Mexico – the last time the nations met in a World Cup fixture.

EURO facts – Italy

• This is Italy’s ninth EURO final tournament and their sixth in a row since missing out on the 1992 edition in Sweden. Only twice have they failed to advance through the group stage – in 1996 and 2004.[VIDEO src=”2353256″ size=”smallLandscape” align=”Right” caption=” EURO 2000 highlights: Italy 2-1 Sweden” ]

• Italy won the 1968 EURO and have been losing finalists twice since – in 2000 and 2012.

• Italy (W7 D3) were among four teams undefeated in qualifying alongside England, Austria and Romania. The team have the longest ongoing unbeaten UEFA European Championship qualifying run, having avoided defeat in each of their last 30 matches.

• The only Italian club to have played a UEFA game in Toulouse is Napoli, who lost 1-0 in the first round of the 1986/87 UEFA Cup.

EURO facts – Sweden

• Sweden are competing at their fifth successive EURO finals, and their sixth in total. They have not made it through the group stage since reaching the quarter-finals of UEFA EURO 2004.

• Sweden’s greatest feat to date is reaching the final of the 1958 World Cup as hosts, losing 5-2 to Brazil. In their best EURO campaign they progressed to the last four of the 1992 edition, succumbing 3-2 to Germany.

• Ibrahimović was the second highest scorer in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying with 11 goals – including three in the play-offs.

Coach and player links

• Play together:
Thiago Motta and Salvatore Sirigu (Italy) & Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – Paris Saint-Germain

• Have played together
Stephan El Shaarawy (Italy) & Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – Milan, 2010–12

Mattia De Sciglio (Italy) & Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – Milan, 2011–12

Gianluigi Buffon (Italy) and Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – Juventus, 2004–06

Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini and Ciro Immobile (Italy) & Albin Ekdal (Sweden) – Juventus, 2008–10

Giorgio Chiellini (Italy) and Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) – Juventus, 2005–06

Ciro Immobile (Italy) and Andreas Granqvist (Sweden) – Genoa, 2012/13

• Ekdal also played for Siena, Bologna and Cagliari, with Sweden team-mates Andreas Granqvist (Genoa, 2011–13) and Andreas Isaksson (Juventus, 1999–2001) also having represented Italian clubs.

• Conte was among Isaksson’s Juventus club-mates.

• Sweden’s Oscar Hiljemark (Palermo) and Pontus Jansson (Torino) play in Serie A.

• Sweden’s John Guidetti has an Italian grandfather.