Sweden exit European Championship at Group Stage after defeat to Greece

[p]Three-set defeats to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/KYAO21L5/"]Italy[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/slovenia/bRQQqXZj/"]Slovenia[/a] either side of a 3-2 loss to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6HFFhPwi/"]Czech Republic[/a] had left [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/jB475yLK/"]Sweden[/a] in the bottom two of the six-team Group A in Modena, but with fixtures against fellow strugglers [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/greece/jZpx026C/"]Greece[/a] and Slovenia to come, the Swedes still had a chance to grab a top-four place and reach the knockout stages.[/p][p]That chance was ended against the Greeks, who held their nerve at the end of the first set to take a 25-23 victory, before again keeping Sweden at arm's length in the second, taking it 25-21.[/p][p]With their tournament on the line, [b]Sweden got themselves in front early in the third set and extended their lead, and won nine of the last 12 points to secure a 25-17 win[/b], just their fourth set victory of the championship.[/p][embed guid="41b0b987-e2ab-425e-bbf2-805e9d55a161" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbK-szccjGg" social-type="youtube" /][p]However, needing to produce something similar two more times, [b]Sweden let a 16-14 lead slip in set four, as Greece went on a 5-0 run and then kept chipping away at the advantage to win 25-20[/b]. That secure the match 3-1, taking the southern side to two wins from their four matches.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/slovakia/dOuH8nUJ/"]Slovakia[/a] do still have the chance to qualify, but their meeting with Sweden on 16th September is likely to decide the wooden spoon in the group. [/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/volleyball/europe/european-championships/"]Follow the 2026 Men's European Volleyball Championship on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]