Zlatan Ibrahimovic has spoken about his future in football after Sweden missed out on qualification for this year’s World Cup finals.
The 40-year-old striker is still competing at the top of the European game, scoring eight goals for Serie A leaders AC Milan this season. However, he was unable to help his nation reach this winter’s finals in Qatar after coming out of international retirement in March last year and had recently vowed to continue playing for as long as possible.
That decision an absence of almost five years from the national team but the Sweden icon subsequently missed out on Euro 2020 after suffering a knee injury in May. He had been hopeful of helping the Scandinavian nation to this year’s World Cup – which may have proved to be his international swansong, but they were ousted by Poland in Tuesday’s playoff match.
Ibrahimovic has enjoyed a glittering career during the last two decades. He's won 120 senior caps for Sweden and has scored 510 goals at club level for Milan, Malmo, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and LA Galaxy.
The veteran's trophy cabinet includes four Ligue 1 titles, four Serie A titles, two Eredivisie titles, the Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Europa League and 17 domestic cups and super cups. The only major club honour he's failed to win is the Champions League.
Milan are enjoying a fine campaign, sitting three points clear of Napoli in second in Serie A. They've also reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia - where they'll face rivals Inter over two legs - but finished bottom of their Champions League group, meaning Ibrahimovic is likely to conclude his career without winning club football’s most coveted prize.
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Despite this, the striker does not appear to be considering the option of hanging up his boots. As quoted by Football Italia, Ibrahimovic said on Tuesday night: “As long as I can stay healthy and play and contribute something, I hope so. “I will continue for as long as I can. You won’t get another reply from me, only because we didn’t win and didn’t qualify for the World Cup.”
Ibrahimovic did not start Tuesday night’s defeat in Poland – with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski sealing their opponents progress through to the World Cup. The veteran striker came on as an 80 th minute substitution, replacing defender Marcus Danielson as the side threw caution to the wind.
Alexander Isak and Robin Quaison were the starting strikers for Janne Andersson’s side, with Manchester United forward Anthony Elanga another attacking player to be thrown on during the second half. Ibrahimovic will be aged 42 by the time the next major tournament – Euro 2024 – comes around.
