Sven-Goran Eriksson wanted Abba to write England World Cup song

England fans could have cheered on the World Cup squad in 2002 with a rousing anthem from the superstars of Abba – had Sven-Goran Eriksson got his way.

The former manager had a dream that his Swedish countrymen would compose and perform a hit to rally the team at the tournament, he has posthumously revealed.

But although the band's Benny Andersson said 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' to the idea, Eriksson's bosses at the FA refused to take a chance on the plan, vetoing it on the grounds – ironically enough – that Abba's members were not English.

Eriksson – who died of pancreatic cancer in August at the age of 76 – revealed the plan in his soon-to-be published autobiography, A Beautiful Game.

It came about after David Beckham led England to an historic 5-1 away win in Germany in September 2001, putting the team on course for the finals in Japan and South Korea the following year. 

Read More

EXCLUSIVE
'I did nothing wrong': Sven-Goran Eriksson's blast from beyond the grave on Ulrika and Faria Alam

Showing tactical nous sometimes lacking in his teams, Eriksson then asked his long-term ally and assistant England coach Tord Grip to approach Abba star Andersson about writing an anthem, possibly with his bandmate Björn Ulvaeus.

Eriksson wrote: 'I didn't have anything to do with the song, but it gave the accordion-playing Tord Grip the idea to get his friend Benny Andersson and the England team together and into the top ten. I said to Tord, 'What if Abba wrote our song? You know him well. Call Benny!' And Benny bought in right away, 'I'd be happy to, and I don't need to be paid a huge sum. This is a great honour!' '

But when a delighted Eriksson revealed his plan to the FA chairman at the time, Geoff Thompson, and the board, he met his Waterloo.

Writing in his memoirs, Eriksson explains they responded: 'No, you can't do that.'

He replied: 'Why not? Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson have virtually never written a song that didn't become a hit!' He explains: 'The answer was that Björn and Benny were not Englishmen. 'Well, I'm not English either, but I work here,' I sighed, exasperated.

'I still don't understand how they could say no to Abba. The English have their principles, and this was clearly one of them.'

Eriksson's side went out in the quarter finals, losing 2-1 to Brazil – who went on to win the cup – after Ronaldinho lobbed goalkeeper David Seamen from distance for the winner.

While Abba have scored nine No 1 singles and ten chart-topping albums in the UK, England's hit song for 2002 was provided by TV presenters Ant and Dec.

Their track, We're On The Ball –featuring such lyrics as 'Sven's the man, he's got a plan' – made No 3 in the charts.

Not quite Winner Takes It All...