‘You’re Ending A Dream’ – NT Boss Clear On Not Including Tottenham Star

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·13 de mayo de 2026

‘You’re Ending A Dream’ – NT Boss Clear On Not Including Tottenham Star

Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images

Sweden boss Graham Potter has insisted that he ended Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dejan Kulusevski’s World Cup dream for the sake of the team.

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Potter on Tuesday named his 26-man squad for the World Cup, headlined by the Premier League trio of Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Anthony Elanga in attack.

Kulusevski though did not find a spot in the squad, with the Spurs man out of action since May of last year.

Potter stressed that it would be difficult for Kulusevski to get back up to speed, having spent the whole of this season out.

The Sweden boss, who said in February that he hoped to have Kulusevski ready for the World Cup qualifiers, admitted that it was a difficult decision to kill the playmaker’s dream, given the quadrennial nature of the event.

Potter said in a press conference (18:00): “Once those games start, you’re not in an area where you can do big 11 v 11 work, so it would be very, very difficult for him to get up to where we need him to be.

“Sometimes you have to take a decision of what does this look like. What is the impact for the player? What is the impact for the team?

“And it just felt in my stomach it was the right thing for us and for him, but of course now it’s tough to see that, because he wants to be there and he wants to play, I understand.

“He is a professional person and he accepts it, of course but it is also very difficult as it is with all the guys.

“These things don’t come along very often, it’s a dream and you’re ending a dream which is not a nice thing believe me.”

Roberto De Zerbi, while revealing that Kulusevski was due at Tottenham to continue his rehabilitation this month, had questioned how a player can be selected for the World Cup without any appearances in the season.

Lucas Bergvall finds a spot in the squad, though Spurs-linked Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson has been overlooked.

Kulusevski will be supporting his country from the sidelines, as player, club and nation hope that he returns stronger for the start of next season, with Spurs hoping that it will be in the Premier League.