Eriksson coached in ten countries: Sweden, Portugal, Italy, England, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, China and the Philippines.

[9] Eriksson was heavily influenced by Karlskoga's player-manager, Tord Grip, who favoured the English style of play that Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson had brought to the country.

[9] IFK finished second in the Allsvenskan and won the Svenska Cupen for the first time in the club's history, defeating Åtvidabergs FF 6–1 in the final.

He put results ahead of flair, emphasised tactical awareness and work rate, and he reined in the team's old cavalier style.

[15] Eriksson's international breakthrough came during the spring of 1982, when he led IFK to the first ever UEFA Cup for a Swedish club, defeating Valencia in the quarter-finals and Kaiserslautern in the semi-finals.

[17] Eriksson's influence was immediate, winning the Primeira Divisão,[17] the Taça de Portugal and finishing runners-up in the 1982–83 UEFA Cup to Anderlecht.

[21][32] Eriksson had signed in October 2000 to be the new manager of the England national football team from June 2001, but was asked to resign by Lazio president Sergio Cragnotti in January 2001,[33] with the club eleven points behind their capital city rivals Roma.

[34] Following the resignation of England manager Kevin Keegan after a home loss to Germany in October 2000,[35] The Football Association (FA) pursued Eriksson as his replacement.

[37] On 6 October, a late free-kick equaliser by David Beckham ensured a 2–2 draw with Greece at Old Trafford, sending England directly to the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

[40] After winning their first qualifying match in Slovakia, England drew at home with Macedonia and were then booed off by their fans after losing a friendly to Australia.

[45] Although it was England's first-ever defeat in a World Cup or European Championship qualifying match under Eriksson, it brought his position under pressure and he was criticised, both by some fans and by commentators from the BBC, for his alleged lack of charisma and tactical awareness.

[48] England finished top of Group B at the finals, beating Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, before a 2–2 draw with Sweden, although the English press considered their performances far from satisfactory.

[50] BBC Sport pundit Phil McNulty wrote a scathing review of Eriksson's period in charge, writing that he was unable to change games after England went behind, refused to drop Beckham and could not combine Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in midfield.

[53][54][55] In July 2006, after his final match with England, ESPN reported that he had turned down the chance to manage Jamaica, as well as an unknown participating club in the UEFA Champions League.

[59] Before the season started, he signed striker Rolando Bianchi, along with midfielders Gélson Fernandes, Geovanni, Martin Petrov and Elano; and defenders Vedran Ćorluka and Javier Garrido.

[62] In Spring 2008, owner Thaksin Shinawatra said that he would replace Eriksson after only one full season due to an "avalanche of very poor results which is unacceptable at this level".

This link was strengthened by reports of members from the Portsmouth board flying to Mexico City to discuss contract offers with Eriksson and a possible compensation settlement with the Mexican Football Federation.

[75] Large-scale investment in new facilities were promised,[77] and Sol Campbell and Kasper Schmeichel joined the club from Premier League teams.

[85] Despite defeating North Korea in the final group game 3–0, Ivory Coast failed to qualify for the knockout stage, along with their opponent.

[91] Boosted by the loan signings of players such as Kyle Naughton and later Yakubu, results steadily improved under Eriksson as Leicester gradually began to climb the table, until a good run of form in the new year saw Leicester win seven of their first eight league games of 2011, and also take Premier League title challengers and eventual cup winners Manchester City to a replay in the FA Cup.

[92] On 18 February 2011, after an injury time winner from Martyn Waghorn at home to Bristol City, Leicester had climbed to seventh in the table, and just one point off a play-off place.

[94] Eriksson spent big in a bid for promotion in the summer of 2011, including multimillion-pound transfer fees on Matt Mills and Jermaine Beckford.

[99] Three players who were signed by Eriksson – Kasper Schmeichel, David Nugent and Paul Konchesky – were part of the Leicester team that won the 2013–14 Championship and survived relegation from the 2014–15 Premier League under Nigel Pearson.

[103] On 17 November 2012, Norwegian media reported that Eriksson was in talks with Vålerenga, about the possibility of taking over the soon to be available manager job for the Oslo-based club.

[119] On 27 October 2018, Eriksson returned to international football after he was appointed head coach of the Philippines national team on a six-month contract.

The team's gameplay was primarily based on creating a numerical advantage in the opposing half rather than controlling the ball, and through looking to attack and score as quickly as possible, while minimising risk.

[142][144][145][146] During the 1999–2000 scudetto-winning season, he often deployed either Roberto Sensini or Matías Almeyda alongside Diego Simeone in midfield, to help cover for the team defensively.

On the flanks, he often alternated Pavel Nedvěd, Roberto Mancini, or Alen Bokšić on the left, and one of Sérgio Conceição, Attilio Lombardo or Dejan Stanković on the right.

[142] Eriksson initially fielded two strikers – Marcelo Salas and Simone Inzaghi – before abandoning this system early into the 1999–2000 season, alternating one of them up-front as a lone centre-forward; Inzaghi would provide depth to the team with his runs, or get onto the end of passes and score, while Salas would look to get onto the end of crosses and long balls, or drop deep to link-up with the midfield and hold up the ball.

[156] In October 2016, Eriksson announced he was to take legal action against Mazher Mahmood, on the basis that the January 2006 News of the World story had cost him the England coaching job.