Graham Potter said he will 鈥渄ust off my cowboy hat鈥� after fulfilling his short-term mission to get Sweden to the .
The English coach was in October after the national team鈥檚 abject qualifying campaign that contained two draws and four defeats from its six group games.
The Swedes were afforded a second chance to qualifying through the playoffs by virtue of winning its lowly Nations League group the previous year and they took full advantage, beating Ukraine in the semifinals on Thursday and then Poland 3-2 in Stockholm on Tuesday.
Sweden will be playing Tunisia, the Netherlands, and then Japan in Dallas in Group F at the World Cup being held across the United States, Canada and Mexico starting in June.
Potter said it was an 鈥渋ncredible鈥� feeling, adding: 鈥淚鈥檓 going to have a beer and then think, 鈥榃ow, we鈥檙e going to Dallas.鈥� I鈥檒l have to dust off my cowboy hat, won鈥檛 I?鈥�
Viktor Gyokeres grabbed Sweden鈥檚 decisive goal in the 88th minute against Poland, which twice came from behind and looked the likelier winner heading into the final minutes.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 perfect, but who cares?鈥� Potter said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to the World Cup, baby. Wow. Yeah, I can鈥檛 analyze it.鈥�
After a turbulent six years working in the Premier League with Brighton, Chelsea and then West Ham, Potter took his first job in international soccer with Sweden.
It was the country where his coaching journey began in earnest 鈥� back in 2011 at , a small, unheralded team that he guided from the fourth tier to Sweden鈥檚 top division.
Now he鈥檚 going to the World Cup.
Potter will hope to regain some of his top players who missed the playoffs because of injury, including Liverpool鈥檚 Alexander Isak and Tottenham鈥檚 Dejan Kulusevski.
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