Is Zlatan Ibrahimovic playing in the World Cup?
By Adam Stocker
LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not play for Sweden in the World Cup this summer.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is arguably the best Swedish player of all time. The charismatic striker is Sweden’s all-time leading goalscorer and has the sixth most caps in national team history. However, the LA Galaxy striker will not be playing for Sweden at the World Cup this summer in Russia.
Ibrahimovic retired from the Swedish national team after failing to get out of the group stage at Euro 2016. However, the 36-year-old announced he would come out of retirement after the Swedish team qualified for the World Cup. Sweden defeated Italy in a two-leg playoff to earn one of the final spots in Russia this summer. Despite announcing he would return, Swedish manager Janne Andersson announced his 23-man roster on May 15 and did not call up Ibrahimovic.
While Ibrahimovic was not named to the World Cup roster, there is an outside chance he could still end up in Russia. An injury to one of the 23 players before the tournament would allow Sweden to make a change to their roster and use Ibrahimovic as a replacement player. However, even if another attacking player was injured, there is no guarantee Ibrahimovic would be the replacement. Since tearing his ACL in his first season with Manchester United in 2017, Zlatan has played only 14 games.
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Ibrahimovic had played in twice previous World Cups. In 2002, a 21-year-old Ibrahimovic appeared in his first World Cup. However, he failed to score and Sweden were eliminated in the round of 16. Zlatan again failed to score in his second World Cup in 2006. The Swedes were eliminated by Germany in the round of 16. The Swedish national team failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2010 and 2014, losing a two-leg playoff against Portugal in 2014.