What we had assumed, and also hoped for, has been confirmed - Tottenahm Hotspur midfielder Lucas Bergvall has been called up to the Sweden national team, whilst Dejan Kulusevski has been left out.
Lucas Bergvall in Sweden squad for upcoming friendlies this month
Earlier on this month, it was confirmed that Kulusevski would be out until after the international break with a foot injury. Still, you couldn't help but think that may mean he would be called up to national duty in the meantime. If he is available after the international break, it felt like it could have been possible he was fit during it - just with no Spurs games to play. Still. nevertheless - that is not the case.
Over the break, Bergvall and his side will take part in friendlies away to Luxembourg on Saturday, the 22nd of March at 17:00 GMT, and and at home to Northern Ireland on Tuesday, the 22nd of March, at 18:00 GMT. It is pretty handy that these are not World Cup qualifiers, as we may have seen them risk Kulusevski.
Indeed, their World Cup qualifying campaign does not actually start until September - nine months before the tournament starts. They are part of a four team group - alongside Kosovo, Slovenia and Switzerland. They have not qualified for a tournament since Euro 2020, where they lost in the finals seconds of extra time against Ukraine at Hampden Park - a game that Kulusevski played 97 minutes in. Bergvall was just 15 for that game - crazy to think how quickly he has developed.
They will surely fancy their chances this time. They would be favoured ahead of Kosovo and Slovenia, whilst Switzerland don't quite have the same quality as they did - with the likes of Yann Sommer and Xherdan Shaqiri retiring from international duty after the Euros last summer.
With an attack of Kulusevski as the number ten behind Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak, there are not many sides in Europe that can boast that sort of quality in their attack. The issue is in defence, with the country struggling to produce top level defenders for quite a while now. Still, if you can win every game 5-4, then no problem.
Back in their successful autumn Nations League campaign, Bergvall only played 54 minutes, across three substitute appearances. However, since then he has really established himself as a regular in the Spurs side - and may well be in line to start at least one of these upcoming friendlies. Let's hope for no injuries.