Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s international career ended in a damp squib when Sweden lost 1-0 to Belgium in their Group E match on Wednesday and failed to reach the last 16.
Radja Nainggolan’s fine shot after 84 minutes sent Belgium into the knockout stages and a game against Hungary as it finished second in the standings, level on six points with group winner Italy.
The Swedes ended at the bottom on one point and Ibrahimovic’s bold promise that he would never finish with a disappointment proved to be mistaken.
He tried in vain to inspire his team and had a second-half effort ruled out for off-side but Belgium, without ever producing its most fluent football, had enough quality to deal with Sweden’s sporadic attacks and create opportunities of its own.
“Zlatan has done a lot of important things in his career and would have wanted to go further here,” Belgium captain and Man-of-the-Match Eden Hazard told reporters.
“It was a difficult match, complicated for our defenders. In the first half we had some possession and created chances. Nainggolan scored an important goal and from then on we had to manage the game. I’m very disappointed,” Sweden coach Erik Hamren said.
“We were talking before the game about the honour of representing Sweden and of being here but I couldn’t have asked for much more from my players. I’m proud of them, even though we lost.”
Belgium 1 (Nainggolan 84) bt Sweden 0
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