A Tale of Two Fairytales as Lincoln Prepare for Swedish Champions

They might have been Swedish champions, but Lincoln Red Imps' next opponents, Mjällby AIF, currently sit tenth in the Allsvenskan.
After 12 league matches, Mjällby have recorded four wins, four draws and four defeats. Their last five matches, including league fixtures and club friendlies, have produced three draws and two defeats.
Among their recent outings was a friendly away to Copenhagen, a side Lincoln Red Imps know well from their UEFA Conference League group stage campaign, with Mjällby losing 5-3.
The Swedish side also arrive in the second round of the Champions League after a thrilling 4-4 draw against Allsvenskan leaders Sirius earlier in July and a 2-1 home defeat to AIK.
It is not the strongest run of form. Mjällby's most recent victory came on May 14 when they defeated Hammarby in the Svenska Cup. Unlike Lincoln Red Imps, however, the Swedish side are in the middle of their domestic season.
That gives them a physical fitness advantage over Lincoln, who have only had their pre-season preparations since May before beginning their European campaign.
Mjällby AIF secured their first Swedish league title with three matches remaining in October 2025 before claiming their first-ever Svenska Cup in May 2026.
Ironically, although the Swedish side will almost certainly start as favourites against Lincoln Red Imps, it is the Gibraltar champions who possess the greater experience in European competition. This will be Mjällby's Champions League debut, with the club having no previous experience in UEFA competitions.
Mjällby were promoted from the Superettan at the end of the 2019 season. Before winning the league in 2025, their highest finishes had been fifth place in both 2020 and 2024. Their league and cup double now looks unlikely to be repeated this season, with the club sitting tenth in the table, 16 points behind leaders Sirius.
Notably, with Sweden having competed at this summer's FIFA World Cup, Mjällby saw one of their players feature in their opening match against Tunisia. Elliot Stroud became the first Mjällby player to appear in a World Cup.
The 23-year-old replaced Gabriel Gudmundsson in the 65th minute, completing a meteoric rise to the international stage after making his Sweden debut only weeks earlier against Greece.
Stroud is expected to be among the players in Mjällby's squad for the tie against Lincoln Red Imps.
The Swedish club's history bears several similarities to that of Lincoln Red Imps. Mjällby have often been described as a modest club from a small fishing village.
Their league triumph stunned Swedish football. The club is based in the fishing village of Hällevik, on Sweden's Baltic coast, where a population of around 1,500 is served by Strandvallen Stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 7,000—more than double that of Europa Sports Stadium.
Built in 1953, the stadium became the setting for what many have described as one of Swedish football's greatest modern fairytales, with Mjällby winning the league after never previously finishing higher than fifth.
With one of their key players having featured at this summer's World Cup and the club preparing for its first Champions League campaign, Mjällby continue their fairytale journey with Lincoln Red Imps providing the next obstacle.
The Gibraltar champions will recognise much of what Mjällby are experiencing, having travelled a similar path themselves. Once dismissed as a "pub team" before their famous victory over Celtic, Lincoln Red Imps have written their own fairytale. The difference is that they have sustained that success over the past decade.
Never expected to progress beyond the early qualifying rounds, Lincoln not only reached the UEFA Conference League group stage for a second time last season but also recorded several victories, missing out on the knockout phase only on goal difference.
The Champions League second-round tie has therefore become more than a meeting between the champions of Gibraltar and Sweden. It is a clash between two clubs whose recent histories have been built on defying expectations and continuing to dream.