IMAGE: Zlatan Ibrahimovic will return to the national side after a year. Photograph: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to the Sweden squad after a one year absence for their European Championship qualifiers against Belgium and Azerbaijan later this month, Sweden coach Janne Andersson announced on Wednesday.
The 41-year-old played his last match for the national team in 2022 against Poland in the World Cup qualification playoff loss, but has since struggled with a long-term anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him on the sidelines.
Ibrahimovic quit international football after Euro 2016 but made his return in 2021 for their unsuccessful World Cup qualifiers.
“I don’t see him as a starter. It will be more like it has been in Milan that there are substitution possibilities,” Andersson said to reporters when asked about how much Ibrahimovic will play.
Ibrahimovic is Sweden’s all-time top scorer, with 62 goals in 121 matches.
