Sweden reach quarters by progressing past Czechs in battle of the co-hosts

[p]Three wins and two defeats at home in Gothenburg had seen [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/nuDXN7Ba/"]Sweden[/a] finish third in Group D, but there would be no home advantage in the knockout stage, and a Round of 16 clash against the Czechs with the crowd firmly against them was always going to be a tough ask.[/p][p]Yet, the Swedes dealt with the pressure well, [b]recovering from 7-4 down to level at 8-8 in the first set, before turning 9-9 into an 11-7 advantage[/b]. The away side kept nudging further clear, at one point leading by eight, before winning the opening set 25-19.[/p][p]Neither side led by more than two early in the second set, before [b]Sweden silenced the home crowd with a 5-0 run, turning 14-14 into a 19-14 lead[/b]. The Czechs rallied, cutting the deficit back to one at 22-21, but [i]Blagult [/i]just managed to keep their noses in front, taking a crucial 25-23 win.[/p][embed guid="e42f893a-d156-45e5-878b-5ae4fed8009e" url="https://x.com/CEVolleyball/status/2094496361697702355" social-type="twitter" /][p]That gave Sweden three chances to reach the last eight, but they only needed one - following another tight start, the hosts opened a three-point lead at various moments, before [b]the Scandinavians again put together a well-timed streak of 5-2 to level at 21-21, and then scored the final four points in a row to win the set 25-21 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/volleyball/czech-republic-8dhw5vxS/sweden-nuDXN7Ba/?mid=GWHOfEkA"]the match 3-0[/a][/b] to reach their second ever quarter-final after 2021.[/p][p]Sweden were beaten 3-0 in the group stage by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/WOxNzHzR/"]Italy[/a], and they will need to put that behind them quickly, as they will meet the Italians again in the quarter-finals in Brno on 2nd September. Italy beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bulgaria/p8EJiqgc/"]Bulgaria[/a] 3-0 in the round of 16 to stay unbeaten in the tournament, losing just one set in six matches.[/p][embed guid="38d6fd82-b798-4397-82ea-981a925fa8f8" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDKuZmzZhTo" social-type="youtube" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/volleyball/europe/european-championships-women/"]Follow the 2026 Women's European Volleyball Championship on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]