Kulusevski's Race Against Time for World Cup Selection

Dejan Kulusevski is running out of road. A year on the sidelines, a stubborn patella injury, a follow-up procedure, and now a race against the clock to make Graham Potter’s Sweden squad for a World Cup Sweden simply cannot bear to miss.

Since May 2025, the winger has been reduced to a spectator, grinding through rehab while Tottenham have lurched through a brutal season. The latest operation was minor, but time is not. Not when the plane to North America is edging toward the runway.

Roberto De Zerbi, charged with steering Spurs away from the trapdoor, did not sugar-coat the situation.

“I don’t know the situation well,” he admitted when asked about Kulusevski’s World Cup chances. “For me, it’s difficult to understand how he can play at the World Cup if he didn’t play any games this season.”

It was blunt, and it was fair. A year out, no competitive minutes, a tournament looming.

Yet the story doesn’t end there. De Zerbi revealed he had messaged the forward after the 2-1 win over Aston Villa, and the reply offered at least a sliver of hope.

“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.”

That’s the carrot: one last Premier League outing, a late cameo, a reminder of what he can do. For Sweden, for Spurs, for himself.

Kulusevski’s impossible bet

Kulusevski knows the odds. He just refuses to accept them.

“I haven't played in a year. I know what the chances are,” he told Viaplay earlier. “But if there is one person on the planet who can do this, I would bet on myself.”

There was no bravado in his words, only a kind of defiant clarity. Sweden missed the 2022 World Cup. For a player who left Juventus to push his career onto a bigger stage, another absence would cut deep.

“And we are not just going there to participate. Sweden will aim to be one of the best,” he said. “As long as I live, I will do everything I can so that Sweden, when we go out and play, will not be afraid of anyone. Brazil, France, whoever they are. That's why I'm on this planet. To give faith and love to my people.”

That is the player Potter hopes to call on: not just a right winger, but a standard-bearer. The question is whether his body will let him play the role.

For now, the plan is simple. Return to Hotspur Way. Step back into the rhythm of team training. Chase that single, precious appearance before the season closes. If he makes it, every sprint, every ice bath, every lonely gym session suddenly feels worth it.

Richarlison scare eases as Spurs breathe again

While Kulusevski fights his own private battle, Tottenham have their own more immediate concern: staying in the Premier League.

The win over Aston Villa was huge. It dragged Spurs out of the relegation zone and gave De Zerbi something he has rarely enjoyed this season: a little breathing space.

Richarlison was at the heart of it. He scored in the first half, ran himself into the ground, and left the pitch late on, sparking murmurs of a new problem. When he missed training on Wednesday, those murmurs grew louder.

De Zerbi moved quickly to stamp out the panic.

“Yes [he missed training] because he worked very hard [against Villa],” the Italian said. “I think my mistake was not to substitute him before the end of the game. But Richarlison was playing very well, he was important in the set-pieces and he played a great game. But just fatigue.”

No muscle tear. No fresh lay-off. Just a player emptied by the effort of dragging his team toward safety.

For a squad already missing Kulusevski long-term, that matters. Spurs cannot afford another attacking absentee with three games left and the table still tight.

The run-in that will define Spurs’ season

The picture is clear now. Tottenham’s medical staff are juggling timelines: one eye on Kulusevski’s World Cup dream, the other on the brutal reality of the Premier League run-in.

Leeds await on Monday night. A game with the feel of a six-pointer, even if no one inside either dressing room will admit it. After that, Chelsea and Everton close the campaign, two fixtures loaded with history and, this year, heavy with jeopardy.

De Zerbi wants options. He wants Richarlison sharp, not just available. He wants Kulusevski, if only for a few minutes, to give Spurs and Sweden a glimpse of the player they have missed.

The margins are thin. One goal here, one sprint there, one knee holding firm or giving way.

For Tottenham, it is about survival. For Kulusevski, it is about something even more fragile: the belief that a year lost does not have to mean a World Cup gone.