A sliding-mode grid voltage observer (SMGVO) is proposed and experimentally verified in this paper for voltage-sensorless operation under an unbalanced network. The fundamental positive sequence component (FPSC) and fundamental negative sequence component (FNSC) are inherently separated in the observer without employing any additional filters. Due to embedded filtering effect, high frequency chattering and harmonic ripples can be well suppressed. Additionally, dc components can be completely rejected. As a result, dc offset would not cause fundamental frequency oscillations in magnitude and frequency of the estimated FPSC and FNSC. Owing to the predictive ability of SMGVO, one-step delay can be directly compensated using state variables in the observer. By combining estimation and prediction into one stage, the designed SMGVO turns out to be a compact solution for finite-control-set model predictive power control without voltage sensors. Theoretical proof is derived to verify that FPSC and FNSC can be accurately estimated and separated. Experimental results obtained from a two-level PWM rectifier confirm the effectiveness of the whole control system.