Sweden lost 3-2 in the penalty shootout after 18-year-old Holmberg sent her shot soaring over the bar in a remarkable shootout that saw 14 players take penalty kicks.
Holmberg was in tears after her miss as she walked back towards her devastated teammates, but Swedish icon Ibrahimovic reached out to provide some solace.
"I held a sad daughter in my arms about an hour after the match," Holmberg's father Ola Persson shared with Swedish radio on Friday.
"She is resilient and has received tremendous support from the team, fans, friends, and family; she even received a text from Zlatan this morning."
Sweden's all-time leading scorer for the men's national team is a part-owner of Holmberg's club in Stockholm Hammarby and the 43-year-old sent a message to the young defender encouraging her to take the next penalty, and the one after that, while urging her to keep believing in herself.
"The key point is that no one defines a career by those misses; in fact, it's the opposite—you need to grow from those experiences," Persson stated.
Check out the match report from Thursday's game on Flashscore.
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