Italy prove too strong and hand co-hosts Sweden first loss at European Championship

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/nuDXN7Ba/"]Sweden[/a] gave themselves an excellent chance of progressing to the Round of 16 by beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/montenegro/Ac2uNzzE/"]Montenegro[/a] 3-0 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/slovakia/bLaP0AUJ/"]Slovakia[/a] 3-2 in their first two matches in Gothenburg, but home advantage was sure to be tested by reigning world and Olympic champions, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/WOxNzHzR/"]Italy[/a].[/p][p]The backing from the Scandinavium crowd was with them, but going 4-0 down in the opening set didn't help the Swedish cause. [b]Another strong run from the Italians, turning a 7-4 lead into 12-4, was enough to hold them at bay at take the first set, 25-18.[/b][/p][p]Italy had won their first two matches by 3-0 scorelines, yet they came close to dropping a set for the first time in the competition in the second.[/p][p]Sweden again began on the backfoot but recovered to level three times, including at 9-9, but couldn't get the go-ahead point before Italy grew the lead back to four. However, [b]the Swedes rallied, levelling at 17-all before going two points clear at 20-18 and 22-20. Yet, Italy proved their worth when it mattered, winning five of the final six points to take the set, 25-23.[/b][/p][embed guid="5259e36e-11df-4c79-ae5a-73d1cb4ddcc9" url="https://x.com/CEVolleyball/status/2091586136518836670" social-type="twitter" /][p]In the third, Sweden kept pace early on but [b]after a 5-0 run put Italy 11-5 clear,[/b] the Mediterranean side gradually increased their advantage, [b]winning the set 25-14 and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/volleyball/italy-WOxNzHzR/sweden-nuDXN7Ba/?mid=Cx3J7bCl"]the match 3-0[/a].[/b][/p][p]After a rest day on Monday 24th, Sweden will return to action on the 25th against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/croatia/QmVQ5KML/"]Croatia[/a] before completing their group stage against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/WSCmiNN9/"]France[/a] the following day. They sit in third place in Group D, and a win over Croatia and other results going their way will see them reach the last 16.[/p][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]