Sweden will feed off the hurt of numerous near-misses when they face Spain in the Women’s World Cup semi-finals on Tuesday in Auckland.

Sweden beat Japan 2-1 on Friday to reach their third semi-final in the last four World Cups, and their fifth overall, but they have never gone on to win the tournament.

Peter Gerhardsson’s side were also semi-finalists at last year’s European Championship and have been beaten finalists at the last two Olympics.

“We have had a lot of good results in recent tournaments so it is not a coincidence that we are in this situation and I think that it is time,” Sweden’s Chelsea midfielder Johanna Kaneryd told reporters on Sunday.

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