Sweden beat South Korea 1-0 in both countries’ first match at the 2018 World Cup in Russia thanks to a penalty from captain Andreas Granqvist that was awarded thanks to The Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Joel Aguilar had initially dismissed Swedish pleas for a second-half spot-kick, but for the second time at the 2018 World Cup VAR came into play and after reviewing Kim Minwoo’s tackle on Viktor Claesson the referee deemed it was a foul.
Captain Andreas Granqvist calmly converted the penalty to earn his team valuable three points in Nizhny Novgorod and put them above Germany in an intriguing Group F following Mexico’s stunning 1-0 victory over the holders Sunday.
Competing at a World Cup for the first time since 2006, Sweden deserved to win a match which was peppered with more fouls than flair.
