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On 4 September 2014, Ibrahimović scored his 50th international goal in a 2–0 friendly match victory over
Estonia, making him the Swedish national team's
all-time leading goalscorer. Earlier in the same match, he equaled
Sven Rydell's record of 49 by scoring the opening goal.
[227] On 8 September, he made his
100th appearance for Sweden in a
Euro 2016 qualifier against
Austria at the
Ernst Happel Stadion in
Vienna.
[228]
On 14 November 2015, Ibrahimović scored the winning goal for Sweden in a 2–1 victory in the home leg of the
Euro 2016 qualifying play-off against rivals Denmark. Three days later, he scored both Sweden's goals of a 2–2 draw in
Copenhagen to qualify the nation for the
Euro 2016 finals.
[229] Ibrahimović scored 11 goals during the qualifying phase, making him its second-top goalscorer after
Poland's
Robert Lewandowski.
[230] On 11 May 2016, Ibrahimović made the final
23-man squad for Sweden at Euro 2016. As captain, he played every minute of Sweden's
three group matches, but did not score any goals. He managed only one shot on target during the tournament.
[231] Sweden finished in last place in their group and as a result were eliminated along with seven other teams in the group stage.
[232] On 21 June 2016, Ibrahimović announced that he would retire from international football immediately after Sweden's last match at Euro 2016.
[233]
In November 2017, after Sweden clinched qualification for the
2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia by defeating
Italy in the
second qualifying round,
[234] there was speculation about a possible return of Ibrahimović to the national team.
[235][236] Ibrahimović himself expressed his wish to represent Sweden in the World Cup.
[237][238][239] However, in April 2018, Sweden manager
Janne Andersson stated that Ibrahimović will not be called-up for the World Cup, thus ending any possibility of a return.
[240] Later in June, Ibrahimović blamed the Swedish media for his World Cup absence.
[241]