Sweden celebrate a goal during their 7-3 victory over Germany at the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football World Championships

Sweden open football World Championships with win

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Sweden opened their home International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Football World Championships with an impressive 7-3 win over Germany on Sunday (5 August).

In front of more than 1,200 fans the hosts’ Johnny Lekander and Hakim Rouass netted a hat-trick each at the Tingvalla IP stadium in Karlstad.

But the Swedish supporters had to wait until the second half to see their team stamp their authority on the game.

A nail-biting first half began with Germany opening the scoring just five minutes in.

Sweden then managed to level the score but the teams were evenly matched, both claiming one more goal each to bring the score to 2-2 after 45 minutes. In the second half the home side found their form, pulling away from the Germans who only managed to score once more.

Argentina v France (4-2)

Argentina enjoyed victory in their opening match against France.

With the score level at 1-1 in the 26th minute, Argentina found the goal once more to take the lead.

France tried to come back in the second half with another goal. However Argentina netted two late goals to bring the score to 4-2 at the final whistle.

Monday (6 August) will feature ties between defending champions Saudi Arabia v and Russia. European title-holders Poland will take on Japan.

About the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Football World Championships

Teams will play in two groups of four ahead of the semi-finals on 16 August and final on 18 August.

Group A features Sweden, France, Germany and Argentina. Saudi Arabia, Poland, Japan and Russia are in group B. All teams in group A will be awarded a 3-0 scoreline for fixtures against South Africa after their late withdrawal.

The World Championships are being hosted in stadiums across four towns – Tingvalla IP and Örsholmens IP in Karlstad; Sannavallen in Kristinehamn; Solviksvallen in Arvika and the Sannerudsvallen in Kil.

Games are being shown live at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport YouTube channel. Information about groups, the schedule and results are available at https://iwfc.se/.

Photographs will be available on request from lucy.dominy@inas.org.