After the victory against Finland (72-62) and the narrow loss against world four Slovenia (89-94) in November, Sweden is second in its World Cup qualifying group.

It is a national team in tailwind that is getting ready for the double meeting with Croatia.

The first away in Zagreb on Friday, the second at home in Norrköping on Monday.

Both matches are broadcast on SVT.

- It is very good energy right now.

Fun to gather and meet everyone again.

That Jonas (Jerebko) is back will also help us a lot, says Håkanson to SVT Sport.

What do you mainly bring with you from the previous qualifying window?

- The energy we had and the defensive game.

We won the first match, but I think we played much better in the loss against Slovenia.

That we can play this well after just a few training sessions with new national team captains and a match in the bag, that is something we will build on.

- It would have meant a lot to be able to beat Croatia away, especially in that hall with that audience.

It's a world nation, but we definitely have a good chance of beating them.

It would have been very big.

"Crowded wherever we play in Sweden"

It feels like positive winds are blowing in Swedish basketball right now?

- Absolutely.

The association does a lot of good things and every time we are at home and play it is full wherever we are, as long as it is cruel.

We have many good players now who play at a high level and have established themselves in the major leagues, says Håkanson.

Sweden has never qualified for a basketball World Cup and only twelve teams from Europe will make it to the finals next autumn.

In this context, it can be mentioned that Blågult is 51st in the world rankings, with 27 teams from Europe in front of it.

As a Swedish supporter, do you dare to dream of a World Cup place?

- Dream, absolutely!

But we have always said that the goal is to get to a European Championship.

Now we are in the middle of a World Cup qualifier and will give it a try.

We are in good shape and can win matches, but we do not have huge chances to get to the World Cup.

How good is this national team and how far can you go?

- I absolutely think we are good enough to reach a European Championship.

If you look at our squad, there are many who play in Spain and in other good leagues, there are many who are at an age when you are usually at their best, we have a very good feeling in the group.

Reaching the European Championships is a reasonable goal.