Over four days at the Estadio Vallehermoso in the Spanish capital, teams from 16 nations competed in all track and field disciplines, with one male and one female athlete from each country taking part.
Winning an event earned your team 16 points, 15 for coming second, right down to one point for a last-place finish.
An all but guaranteed 16 points for the yellow and blue were lost by the fact 12-time world record holder Armand Duplantis would not be competing in the men's pole vault.
In the end, Sweden took just one maximum across the event, as a throw of 68.36m gave Daniel Stahl victory in the men's discus.
However, second places for Thobias Montler (men's long jump), Wictor Petersson (men's shot put) and Maja Askag (women's triple jump) ensured a steady stream of points for the team.
Fanny Roos (women's shot put) finished third, while Henrik Larsson (men's 100m) finished fourth with a season's best time.
In total, Sweden recorded 288.5 points to finish ninth, one place higher than they managed in 2023. They were over 50 points clear of the relegation zone, but over 140 down on Italy, who retained the title they won two years ago.