No hiding meant no way to avoid the criticisms of Freddie Ljungberg, the former Arsenal and West Ham United midfielder, who was frank in his assessment of Jon Dahl Tomasson's men while working as a TV pundit for the game.
"It's just totally horrible, you might say. Disappointing," Ljungberg told Viaplay viewers at half-time, by which time Sweden had already conceded goals to Elvis Rexhbecaj and Vedat Muriqi.
A veteran of two World Cups, Ljungberg was not happy with Sweden's style of play from the off: "It was crystal clear from the start and we have huge problems, What the hell is going wrong?"
Ljungberg's sentiments are echoed by many Sweden fans and pundits alike, whose patience with Tomasson and his tactics is already running out, after this result followed the giving away of a late equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Slovenia on Friday.
However, another legend of the Sweden national team and now Director of Football at the Swedish Football Federation (SvFF), Kim Kallstrom, has given his and the SvFF's backing to the Danish coach.
"We have absolute confidence in him," he told the assembled media after last night's match, before stressing that Tomasson's team setup is not the only thing to focus on.
"A game system is one part of football, then it's also the performance we deliver. You can analyse it in many ways. We have put in good performances and you can't put everything on the system."
However, Kallstrom was quick to point out that improvements must be made: "Of course, you have to analyse what you can do differently, so you don't fall into those traps in future. I think everyone saw it was a performance that wasn't at the level you need to be at in World Cup qualification."
Tomasson kept faith in the starting XI that ultimately drew with Slovenia on Friday amid some costly defensive and goalkeeping mistakes. The most notable change in personnel came with 18 minutes to play, as Alexander Isak was brought on for his first minutes of the 2025/26 season.
"We have to analyse this performance. The leadership team, the players. It's all players' combined performance against all Kosovo players' performance that decides it, and there they were better than us," he added.
And Kallstrom and the SvFF believe Tomasson is the man to increase those performance levels.
"We believe in Jon as national team coach and in the players we have. Then it's about delivering. We can't just stop here when we've built something up over a period. We can't make changes all the time."
It's extremely important for us to go to the World Cup. Of course, we are in a much more difficult situation after this result. At the same time, it's far from over. It's still alive.
Review all the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers on Flashscore.