Bollen är i rullning för en jämställd fotboll : En tematisk innehållsanalys om Sportbladets gestaltning av de svenska dam- och herrlandslagen i fotboll

Sammanfattning: This study’s aim and purpose was to analyze how the Swedish tabloid Sportbladet portrayed the Swedish women’s and men's national teams in soccer under two different championships, 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020. A thematic content analysis was used as the method to analyze 65 different articles from Sportbladet. 22 articles from 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 43 articles from UEFA Euro 2020. The research questions for this study were:Q1: How is the Swedish women's national soccer team portrayed during the 2023 Women's World Cup by Sportbladet? Q2: How is the Swedish men's national soccer team portrayed during UEFA 2020 by Sportbladet?Q3: What differences can be seen in how the two national teams are portrayed? The findings of the study were similar to prior studies in the field of sports and gender. The result of this study reveals that there still is more reporting about male soccer but a new finding our study made was that it is starting to equal out. A large number of the articles about the women’s national team were about performance-irrelevant aspects, such as relationships on and off the field. There were also articles of how players took a stand on different social issues such as equality. The Swedish men’s national team was portrayed as still having a higher value and prestige by receiving more coverage. There were also more articles about performance- relevant aspects such as preparation, success and honor. Unlike the Swedish women’s national team, the men’s team received much more criticism by Sportbladets writers. The largest difference in the portrayal of the two national teams was that the women’s national team portrayed more with more performance-irrelevant aspects while the men's national team was portrayed with their performance. The men’s national team were also portrayed more as strong individuals, while the women were portrayed largely as not being as strong and needing male guidance. A noticeable difference was also how the success was illustrated, the Swedish women's national team were praised a lot as a group while the male players were praised for their individual performances. A contribution from this study was that the only articles about sexism, such as looks and clothing, were directed towards the men, which goes against what previous studies have found.