Kristian Jones edged ahead of Gustav Bergman in the last handover to give Britain a narrow advantage at the Arena Koldinghus in the Danish city.

But Britain’s hopes of pulling off a surprise victory were dashed when Alexandersson quickly stamped her authority on the race, moving clear of Megan Carter Davies.

Alexandersson was joined by her team-mates as the Swedish quartet crossed the finish line in 58min 49sec.

Britain had a one-second advantage going into the final leg but finished over a minute behind Sweden, while Norway overcame challenges from Switzerland and hosts Denmark to take bronze.

Lina Strand, who got Sweden off to a strong start, hailed the performance of Alexandersson who captured a tenth successive gold medal, boosting her overall world title haul to 16.

"You don’t want to have to beat Tove on the last leg, it’s hard task for all those girls," Strand told insidethegames.

"I am happy to be in the team with Tove - there is no limit to her ability.

"Anything can happen in a relay - one mistake and you are done.

"We like to be at the top, but we cannot be too confident.

"We had to do our best to get rid of the other strong teams like Switzerland and Britain.

"It feels really good now.

"I was in the team when we won our first sprint relay in 2017 and now I am back so it is nice to win again."

Seeking to defend their title, Strand quickly put Sweden in front with Norway’s Ane Dyrkorn and Switzerland’s Simona Aebersold tracking her early on.

Strand gave Sweden a 17-second cushion over Switzerland at the first handover after a tiring Aebersold stumbled in the closing stages of the leg.

Max Peter Bejmer then established a gap of more than 30 seconds as he forged ahead in what proved to be a telling second leg.

The Czech Republic, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark were all battling for medal positions before a big navigational mistake changed the race.

Britain, France and Lithuania capitalised on that error as they moved into the top four along with Sweden.

Ralph Street also cut Britain’s deficit to 15 seconds as Sweden got to the halfway point within 30 minutes.

Bergman took over for Sweden but Jones soon reeled him in, closing to within nine seconds as he launched a fightback.

Roared on by the home crowd, Denmark moved into third position thanks to a battling run from Jakob Edsen, with France and Lithuania following behind.

Jones continued to claw his way back before moving ahead of Bergman when he handed over to Alexandersson.

Davies tried to push ahead only to be caught by Alexandersson who moved six seconds ahead.

Alexandersson and Davies chose different routes, and this proved to be crucial as the Swede carved out an unassailable lead thanks to her clever route.

The gap grew larger as Alexandersson powered clear to secure an emphatic victory for Sweden, finishing 1:02 ahead of Britain in second.

With Andrine Benjaminsen digging deep in the closing leg, Norway finished 1:41 back in third after battling past Switzerland and Denmark in a tight tussle for bronze.

Competition is due to continue on Tuesday (June 28) with the men’s and women’s sprint knockout race at the Arena Østerstrand in Fredericia before the sprint events are scheduled to be held at the Arena Byparken in Vejle on Thursday (June 30).