Tough to heal – Sweden doctor shares the story behind Dejan Kulusevski’s injury and World Cup heartbreak
The doctor for the Swedish national team has shared the full story behind why Spurs star Dejan Kulusevski has been out of football for over a year. Kulusevski got a knee injury at the end of the 2024/25 season and had to miss Spurs’ big Europa League win against Manchester United in Bilbao because of surgery.
Even though he was on crutches, he joined the celebrations at San Mames Stadium. But a year later, he was still not playing for Spurs in their last game of the season, when they beat Everton 1-0 to avoid relegation. By then, he could walk on the pitch without crutches and even applauded the fans, but he didn’t play at all during the 2025/26 season. His last game was in May 2025 against Crystal Palace, and the Sweden manager, Graham Potter, hoped he’d be ready for the 2026 World Cup.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Sweden’s doctor, Jonas Werner, explained just how tough Kulusevski’s injury has been, even though the player worked very hard to get ready for the World Cup in North America. “It’s been a long story with Dejan,” Werner said to Fotbollskanalen. “He did everything he could, but he wasn’t ready to join the squad. He hasn’t played in a year, and medical checks this spring showed he still wasn’t fit. Cartilage injuries like his are hard to heal, especially since it’s in a part of the knee that gets a lot of pressure. The injury just isn’t healed enough yet.”
Spurs have had other players with long-term injuries too, like James Maddison and Mohamed Kudus, and they haven’t returned to the pitch yet. But Werner is hopeful Kulusevski will play again someday, saying, “I really hope so.” Kulusevski himself had said he was confident about making the World Cup team, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Other Premier League stars in Potter’s 26-player Sweden squad include Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres, Anthony Elanga, and Kulusevski’s Spurs teammate Lucas Bergvall. Sweden will play warm-up games against Norway and Greece before starting their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on June 14. They’ll then face the Netherlands on June 20 and Tunisia again on June 26 in Group F.