Sweden on recovery trail in Qatar

The Scandinavian nation is the most successful in the history of the tournament, having picked up a total of 11 medals, including four gold - two during their period of utter domination of the sport during the 1990s and two in the 1950s.

But recent results have not been on the same level, and Sweden missed out on the 2007 World Championship in Germany and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Current coaching team Staffan Olsson and Ola Lindgren took over in 2008 and progress has been steady, if unspectacular. A run to the Olympic final in London three years ago - when they lost to France - indicated improvement, but that was tempered by failure to qualify for the 2013 World Championship in Spain.

The current side though is showing signs of recovery, with a trio of quality goalkeepers in Mattias Andersson, Andreas Palicka and Johan Sjöstrand, a solid defensive unit including Magnus Jernemyr and captain Tobias Karlsson, and the likes of Niklas Ekberg in attack and Kim Andersson in the back court.

And with Andreas Nilsson, a Champions League winner with Hamburg in 2013, Sweden can be confident of least making out of their group, which also contains France, Czech Republic, Algeria, Egypt and Iceland.

“A draw for a World Championship is always like a lottery. No matter which teams you have to face, they are strong opponents," Olsson said. "They will be very hard matches, but in the end we will have to see.”

The World Championship in Qatar starts on Thursday.