Dejan Kulusevski's Fight for World Cup Selection

Dejan Kulusevski is still fighting the clock and his own body.

Out since May 2025 with a stubborn patella injury, the Tottenham winger has spent the last year in treatment rooms and gyms rather than stadiums, enduring a gruelling rehabilitation that recently included a minor follow‑up procedure. His target is clear: get fit in time to force his way into Graham Potter’s Sweden squad for this summer’s World Cup in North America.

Right now, that looks like a monumental ask.

De Zerbi’s realism, Kulusevski’s defiance

Roberto De Zerbi did not sugar-coat the situation when asked about Kulusevski’s chances.

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

It was a blunt assessment, rooted in hard logic. A year without competitive football, no minutes in his legs, and a tournament looming that will be unforgiving to passengers.

Yet the Italian also let a little hope in. De Zerbi revealed he had messaged Kulusevski after the win over Aston Villa, with the player replying that he expects to return to Hotspur Way in the coming week to continue his rehab.

“And I hope he can be available to stay with us in the last game because he is an amazing player,” De Zerbi added.

That last line matters. Tottenham know what they have in Kulusevski when he is right: a creative, powerful wide forward who can change the tempo of a game with one touch or one surge inside. Even a cameo before the season ends would be a psychological lift for a club that has spent too long staring down the table rather than up it.

If De Zerbi brought the realism, Kulusevski brought the fire.

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

This is not a player content to sneak onto a plane and make up the numbers.

“And we are not just going there to participate. Sweden will aim to be one of the best. 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.”

For Sweden, who missed the 2022 World Cup, his words carry the weight of a nation desperate to re-establish itself on the global stage. For Tottenham, they underline the mentality of a footballer refusing to let a lost year define him.

Richarlison scare eased

While Kulusevski remains a long-term absentee, attention briefly swung to another key forward this week.

Richarlison, fresh from a vital performance in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa, was absent from training on Wednesday. He had scored in the first half at Villa Park and ran himself into the ground, only to be substituted late on, a change that immediately sparked fears of yet another setback in a career too often interrupted by muscle problems.

This time, the alarm faded quickly.

“Yes [he missed training] because he worked very hard [against Villa],” De Zerbi explained. “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 strain, no new injury, just a manager managing the red zones. For a Tottenham side that has leaned heavily on the Brazilian’s intensity and penalty-box edge, that clarification mattered almost as much as the three points at Villa Park.

Survival first, choices later

Tottenham’s win over Villa did more than ease nerves. It dragged them out of the Premier League relegation zone and gave De Zerbi the first real breathing space of a draining campaign.

The table still makes uneasy reading, but the mood has shifted. From here, the battle is as much about managing bodies as managing games.

The club’s medical staff now walk a tightrope. Push too hard, and the treatment room fills again. Go too soft, and the team risks running out of steam in the final stretch. De Zerbi wants as many options as possible available for the run-in, but he also knows one wrong call can undo weeks of careful work.

Spurs visit Leeds on Monday night, a fixture that carries its own tension given both clubs’ precarious positions. After that, Chelsea and Everton close out a season that has tested Tottenham’s resilience as much as their quality.

Between those fixtures lies the personal story of Kulusevski, chasing a World Cup that might yet come too soon, and the collective story of a squad trying to drag itself clear of danger.

If he makes it back for that final game, even for a few late minutes, it will feel like a small victory inside a larger struggle. And if he somehow turns that into a ticket to North America, it will be the kind of comeback that reminds everyone why players like him refuse to stop believing.