- Consider yourself a World Cup expert? Challenge yourself with our exclusive quiz for free by signing up to our World Cup newsletter. Get it HERE
- See more Daily Mail on Google – save us as a Preferred Source
Graham Potter appeared to be keen to culturally assimilate ahead of Sweden’s group stage matches in Texas by donning a new look on Tuesday evening.
During an open training session for the team in Frisco, the national team head coach stepped out onto the pitch wearing a black cowboy hat, prompting his federation to announce that there was ‘a new sheriff in town’ on social media.
Potter certainly swept into the international set-up like the hero in a western, arriving in Stockholm on the heels of a troubled World Cup campaign led by Jon Dahl Tomasson.
After losing 1-0 to Kosovo with their hopes of qualifying dangling by a thread, the former Brighton manager appointed with just two qualifiers remaining.
Potter was himself seeking a redemption arc after a woeful start to the 2025-26 season with West Ham saw him sacked in September, but spurred on his new side to a spot in North America this summer with two wins on the spin against Ukraine and Poland.
The Sweden head coach’s sartorial hat-tip to his surroundings is not the first time that Potter has shape-shifted on the touchline, undergoing what fans described as a notable style upgrade upon his appointment at Chelsea.
Sweden head coach Graham Potter attempted to blend in with the locals during an open training session in Frisco
The 51-year-old had previously sported the look for his official photo shoot in the build-up to the start of the tournament
Potter opened up on the haircut that had sparked his ‘glow-up’, saying that he had gone to ‘somebody that cuts the lads’ hair’ and it had ‘cost a lot more than (he) thought it was going to’.
A new polo neck jumper also prompted comparison to the Milk Tray man, but Potter was adamant that he ‘used to wear’ it, rather than having specifically changed his style to suit his new Big Six job.
Whether Potter keeps the cowboy hat long-term or not, Sweden will hope the Texan crowd stays on side, playing their Group F matches against the Netherlands and Japan in Houston and Dallas respectively.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport ahead of the start of the tournament, Potter shared how taking up the Sweden job had allowed him to ‘experience positivity through football’ again.
‘I’ve lived failure, studied failure,’ Potter said. ‘I’ve had quite a bit of success as well, you know.
‘When you’re in the top level, it can go well or of course it doesn’t. And you have to deal with that. That’s life.
‘Try to put things into perspective. Take the feedback from people that are important to you and relevant. That can help you improve. And, yeah, in the end, try to find some way of being grateful for everything.
‘Sometimes in football you just can’t rationalise it. You just go, “OK, well maybe it wasn’t meant to be”. And then you try to move on with your life. That’s it really.
‘The learnings you take from these experiences are painful. I won’t share them because it’s f***ing hurt me to get them, you know what I mean? It does. And it should because that’s how you improve. That’s how you get better.’
Which England star has 7 GCSEs? Who has lost half of his finger? Test your knowledge of Thomas Tuchel’s squad with our exclusive quiz HERE.
