Sweden face England on Saturday for a place in the World Cup semi-finals with Emil Forsberg having succeeded Zlatan Ibrahimovic as their talisman — just don’t tell him that. Forsberg set up Saturday’s quarter-final against the Three Lions by scoring the only goal, thanks to a deflection, against Switzerland.
After the last-16 win in St Petersburg, the Leipzig striker happily answered questions — until he was asked why Sweden are more successful without the larger-than-life Ibrahimovic, who retired from international duty in 2016. “You can talk about it, I won’t do that”, he answered tersely when asked if Sweden’s run to the last eight at the World Cup in Russia is linked to Ibrahimovic’s absence.
The facts, however, cannot be denied. With “Ibrakadabra” in the team, Sweden bowed out of the World Cup finals twice at the last-16 stage, against Senegal in 2002 and then Germany in 2006. A bleak period followed for both Sweden and Ibrahimovic as they failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, then lost a playoff against Portugal and missed the 2014 finals.
Ibrahimovic, now 36 and playing for Los Angeles Galaxy, retired from he national team after Euro 2016 when Sweden finished last in their group. He scored a remarkable 62 goals in 116 appearances.