Tottenham playmaker Dejan Kulusevski has been left out of Sweden’s World Cup squad amid his ongoing injury struggles
Sweden boss Graham Potter has explained his decision to leave Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski out of his World Cup squad.
The Spurs playmaker, who has not kicked a ball all season, was hoping to secure a seat on the plane to North America following his nation’s play-off triumph in March.
However, he’s been unable to prove his fitness in time to make Potter’s roster for the finals.
The ex-West Ham, Chelsea and Brighton boss said: “A very, very difficult decision in terms of where he [Kulusevski] 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.
“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.”
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Kulusevski has now been missing for over a year after damaging his right patella in Tottenham’s Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace in May 2025.
Since then, he’s missed Europa League glory in Bilbao, pre-season, Sweden’s World Cup qualification and play-off campaign plus a full rollercoaster campaign at Spurs.
Speaking in March, he made it clear he was working his way towards a place in Potter’s squad, a goal he has sadly been unable to achieve.
He explained: “One hundred percent. Yes. That [the World Cup] is the driving force I have. To have that opportunity is absolutely fantastic.
“It’s a challenge that I haven’t been able to overcome so far in terms of getting healthy, but it’s not over yet. Now the second game starts.
“That’s how it has to end. Otherwise, it hasn’t gone as I planned. I’m absolutely convinced that we’ll win these two games and I’ll be ready to play and play my first World Cup in the USA. That’s how the movie will end, God willing.”
Roberto De Zerbi recently issued a brief update on the 26-year-old’s condition, stating: “I don’t know the situation well.
“For me, it’s difficult to understand how he can play at the World Cup if he didn’t play any games this season. But I texted him after [the Villa game].
“He told me in the next week, I think, he comes back [to continue his rehab at Hotspur Way]. And I hope he can be available to stay with us in the last game because he is an amazing player.”
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