Zlatan bicycle kick: four goals in Sweden 4-2 England (2012)
On 14 November 2012, Sweden beat England 4-2 in a friendly at the new Friends Arena in Stockholm, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored every Swedish goal himself (20′, 77′, 83′ and 90+2′). England led 2-1 at the break through Danny Welbeck and a debutant, Steven Caulker, before Ibrahimovic took the match apart and finished with the 30-yard overhead kick that would win the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award. That stoppage-time strike, the Zlatan bicycle kick against England, is the one everybody remembers.
A match England were winning became one man’s highlight reel, and the stadium itself had a longer history with England than anyone in the away end realised.
Key Facts
- Sweden 4-2 England, an international friendly at the Friends Arena, Solna, Stockholm, on Wednesday 14 November 2012, in front of 49,967 spectators.
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored all four Sweden goals: 20′, 77′, 83′ and 90+2′.
- England led 2-1 at half time, the interval score Sweden 1-2 England.
- Danny Welbeck (34′) and Steven Caulker (37′, on his only England cap) scored for England, both before the break.
- The fourth goal, a roughly 30-yard overhead kick after a Joe Hart clearance, won the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award ahead of Nemanja Matic and Neymar.
- Roy Hodgson managed England, Erik Hamren managed Sweden, and the referee was Svein Oddvar Moen of Norway. Steven Gerrard won his 100th England cap.
- This was the first football match played at Sweden’s new national stadium, the Friends Arena, successor to Rasunda, and Ibrahimovic scored the ground’s first goal.
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England were winning this match at half time
For about half an hour, the story was going the other way. Ibrahimovic put Sweden ahead in the 20th minute on a counterattack, a toe-poked finish that also brought the first goal in the newly built arena. Then England responded twice inside three minutes late in the first half. Ashley Young broke down the left and crossed low for Welbeck to volley in at the far post, and three minutes later Gerrard curled in a free-kick that Caulker slid home at the back post. England went in at the interval ahead, Sweden 1-2 England, with Welbeck and the 20-year-old Caulker having turned the match around.
Caulker’s goal came on the only England cap he would ever win. The night was thick with debuts and milestones on the England side. Raheem Sterling, aged 17, came on for his first cap, and Gerrard was marking his 100th appearance, becoming only the sixth Englishman to reach the mark, in a group that already held Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and David Beckham. None of that is what anyone remembers.
Zlatan four goals England: the sequence in order
The second half belonged entirely to the Sweden captain. On 77 minutes he cushioned a long Anders Svensson ball on his chest and volleyed past Joe Hart to level it at Sweden 2-2 England. Six minutes later he drove a free-kick into the bottom corner for 3-2, the goal that made him the first man to put three past England since Marco van Basten did so at the 1988 European Championship. Then came the fourth. The table below tracks every goal with the running score home team first.
| Minute | Scorer | Score (Sweden first) |
|---|---|---|
| 20′ | Ibrahimovic | Sweden 1-0 England |
| 34′ | Welbeck | Sweden 1-1 England |
| 37′ | Caulker | Sweden 1-2 England |
| 77′ | Ibrahimovic | Sweden 2-2 England |
| 83′ | Ibrahimovic | Sweden 3-2 England |
| 90+2′ | Ibrahimovic | Sweden 4-2 England |
The Zlatan bicycle kick that won the Puskas Award
In stoppage time, with Sweden already ahead, Hart raced off his line and cleared a long pass with an awkward header just outside his own penalty area. Ibrahimovic, roughly 30 yards out and with his back to goal, hooked an overhead kick over Hart and two defenders and into the net. Gerrard, who had just won his 100th cap, called it “one of the best goals I’ve ever seen live.” Ibrahimovic himself put it down to a mix of luck and skill.
The goal outlived the result. Fourteen months later, at the FIFA gala in Zurich in January 2014, it took the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award for goal of the year, beating efforts by Nemanja Matic and Neymar. A dead friendly, a scoreline most England fans would rather forget, and the single most replayed goal of Ibrahimovic’s career all came out of the same 92 minutes.
A new stadium, and an old memory of England
This was the first football match played inside the Friends Arena in Solna, the 50,000-seat successor to Rasunda as Sweden’s national stadium, and it was fitting that Ibrahimovic, the reigning Swedish player of the year, scored the ground’s first goal. The building itself had already been opened with a ceremony on 27 October 2012, so 14 November was the sporting debut rather than the day the doors first opened. There is a longer echo. Rasunda, the ground the Friends Arena replaced barely a kilometre away, had been formally inaugurated back in 1937 with a match against the same opponent, when England beat Sweden 4-0. Seventy-five years apart, Sweden opened both national stadiums against England, and only the second time did the home side win.
READ MORE: More one-man wrecking jobs from football’s great individualists →
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Zlatan’s Four Goals Against England
What was the score when Sweden played England on 14 November 2012?
Sweden beat England 4-2 in an international friendly at Stockholm’s new Friends Arena on 14 November 2012. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored all four Sweden goals. Danny Welbeck and Steven Caulker replied for England, who were 2-1 up at the interval before collapsing in the second half.
Did Zlatan really score all four goals in Sweden 4-2 England in 2012?
Yes. The story behind “Zlatan four goals England” is literal: Ibrahimovic scored every one of Sweden’s four goals on 14 November 2012, at 20′, 77′, 83′ and 90+2′. No other Sweden player found the net. England’s only goals came from Welbeck and Caulker in the first half.
What was Zlatan’s fourth goal against England, and did it win an award?
The fourth goal was a roughly 30-yard overhead bicycle kick in stoppage time, struck with his back to goal after Joe Hart headed a clearance out of his box. Ibrahimovic hooked it over Hart and two defenders. It was named the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award winner for goal of the year, presented at the FIFA gala in Zurich in January 2014. It beat shortlisted goals by Nemanja Matic and Neymar.
Was England winning the 2012 friendly in Sweden at any point?
Yes, England led 2-1 at half time in Stockholm on 14 November 2012. Ibrahimovic had put Sweden ahead on 20 minutes, but Welbeck equalised and Caulker headed England in front before the interval, giving a half-time score of Sweden 1-2 England. Ibrahimovic then scored three times after the break to turn it around. England had led with about ten minutes of the first half remaining and still lost by two.
Who scored for England in the 4-2 defeat to Sweden in 2012?
Danny Welbeck and Steven Caulker scored England’s goals in the 4-2 loss to Sweden on 14 November 2012. Welbeck volleyed in an Ashley Young cross on 34 minutes, and Caulker turned in a Steven Gerrard free-kick on 37 minutes. Both goals came in the first half. Caulker’s, remarkably, was scored on what turned out to be his only England cap.
Was Steven Gerrard playing a milestone match in Sweden 4-2 England?
The Sweden friendly on 14 November 2012 was Steven Gerrard’s 100th cap for England. That made him only the sixth Englishman to reach 100 international appearances, after Bobby Charlton, Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, David Beckham and Peter Shilton. It was also Gerrard who provided the free-kick for Caulker’s goal. He later called Ibrahimovic’s fourth one of the best goals he had ever seen in person.
Had anyone scored a hat-trick against England before Zlatan did in 2012?
Yes, but not for a long time. Ibrahimovic’s hat-trick, completed with his free-kick on 83 minutes, made him the first player to score three against England since Marco van Basten at the 1988 European Championship. That is a gap of 24 years between individual hat-tricks conceded by England. Ibrahimovic then added a fourth, going one better than van Basten had.
Where was Sweden 4-2 England played, and what was the attendance?
The match was played at the Friends Arena in Solna, a municipality on the northern edge of Stockholm, in front of 49,967 spectators. The venue was Sweden’s new national stadium, with a football capacity of 50,000, replacing the nearby Rasunda. It was the first football fixture staged there. Ibrahimovic’s opener was the first goal scored at the ground.
Did the Friends Arena open on the day of the Sweden v England match?
Not quite: 14 November 2012 was the arena’s first football match, not the day the building opened. The Friends Arena had already been inaugurated with a ceremony on 27 October 2012, about three weeks earlier. The Sweden v England friendly was its sporting debut, and the venue’s opening is dated to that fixture. Ibrahimovic scored the first goal on the pitch.
What happened when England first played at Sweden’s old national stadium?
Sweden also opened their previous national stadium, Rasunda, against England. Rasunda’s formal inauguration came in 1937 with a friendly in which England beat Sweden 4-0. When the Friends Arena replaced it barely a kilometre away in 2012, Sweden again chose England as the opponent for the first match. The difference was the result: England won 4-0 at the old ground, Sweden won 4-2 at the new one.
Who managed England and Sweden in the November 2012 friendly?
Roy Hodgson managed England and Erik Hamren managed Sweden in the friendly on 14 November 2012, with Svein Oddvar Moen of Norway refereeing. It was a low-stakes fixture in the international calendar, played months before the sides met again. For England it was a chance to blood young players, with Raheem Sterling among the debutants at 17. For Sweden it became a personal showcase for their captain.
Why is Sweden 4-2 England remembered as a Zlatan match rather than an England one?
Because one player scored all four Sweden goals and produced an award-winning finish, the match is filed under Ibrahimovic rather than under England’s defeat. England had led 2-1 and were beaten by a single man’s second half, capped by a goal later voted the 2013 FIFA Puskas Award winner. The friendly had no competitive consequence, so what survives is the individual performance. For most viewers it is simply the “Zlatan four goals England” night.
Zlatan, four goals, and one England night that belonged to him
England went to Stockholm, led at the break, and came home having watched one man score four times and win a goal-of-the-year award off their goalkeeper’s clearance. If you want more evenings where the record book ends up in one player’s name, keep working through our On This Day archive.
Sources: UEFA, England International Database, Sports Illustrated, StadiumDB.
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