Dejan Kulusevski will not be going to the FIFA World Cup.
The Tottenham Hotspur was left off of Sweden’s 26-man roster that was revealed on Tuesday by manager Graham Potter.
Kulusevski, 26, has not played this season, but there was hope that the former Juventus man might be ready in time for next month’s tournament.
“A very, very difficult decision in terms of where he has been, what he’s done over the last year, where he’s at in terms of his rehab with four and a half weeks to go to that first game,” Potter said of Kulusevski on Tuesday. “Once those games start, you’re not really in a place where you can start playing in big areas, spaces and then be able to work. So it’s very, very difficult to get up to where we need them to be, and so you have to make a very tough decision.”
Even with Kulusevski’s absence, Sweden will not be short on attacking talent with the likes of Arsenal star Victor Gyokeres, Alexander Isak of Liverpool and Newcastle winger Anthony Elanga.
Sweden is set to play in a 13th World Cup and first since 2018 after missing out on Qatar 2022. Potter’s side has been drawn into a competitive Group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia. They will open their tourney on June 14 against Tunisia in Monterrey.
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Sweden squad for the FIFA World Cup
GK - Kristoffer Nordfeldt (AIK), Viktor Johansson (Stoke City) and Jacob Widell Zetterstrom (Derby)
DF - Victor Lindelof (Aston Villa), Isak Hien (Atalanta), Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds), Carl Starfelt (Celta), Emil Holm (Juventus), Hjalmar Ekdal (Burnley), Daniel Svensson (Borussia Dortmund), Gustaf Lagerbielke (Braga), Herman Johansson (FC Dallas), Eric Smith (St. Pauli) and Elliot Stroud (Mjallby)
MF - Mattias Svanberg (Wolfsburg), Jesper Karlstrom (Udinese), Yasin Ayari (Brighton), Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham Hotspur) and Besfort Zeneli (Union SG)
FW - Alexander Isak (Liverpool), Victor Gyokeres (Arsenal), Ken Sema (Pafos), Anthony Elanga (Newcastle), Benjamin Nygren (Celtic), Alexander Bernhardsson (Holsten Kiel), Gustav Nilsson (Club Brugge) and Taha Ali (Malmo)
