Carl Starfelt has his first chance to play in a World Cup this madrugada when Sweden opens Group H against Tunisia at 04:00 in the BBVA Stadium in Monterrey. After missing the last two months of the season with a herniated disc, the defender is finally available again, and this match gives him the clearest stage yet to make his tournament debut.
That is why Sweden Vs Tunisia is drawing attention now. Starfelt was back for more than 20 minutes in Sweden’s last friendly before the trip to North America, enough to show he can be considered again after the injury scare that was first described as lumbago and later identified as a herniated disc. Graham Potter, Sweden’s new head coach, now has to decide whether that is enough to put him on the field when the points begin to matter.
Sweden need those decisions to land quickly because the group is not forgiving. Sweden is in Group H with Países Bajos and Japón, and the opening night in Monterrey is only the start of a schedule that leaves little room for recovery if the first result goes wrong. The final phase was reached through Sweden’s Nations League performance, which kept the team in the tournament and put Starfelt in position to be part of it after his long spell out.
There is still one question the warm-up minutes did not answer: whether Starfelt will start or come off the bench. He has the fitness to be in the squad, but a World Cup opener is a different test from a friendly, especially for a player just back from a back injury and facing one of the few matches in this group where every minute can change the shape of the section.
Sweden can afford neither caution nor guesswork for long. If Starfelt is used, it will likely tell Potter how much trust he can place in the defender for the rest of Group H; if he is left out, it will say just as much about how carefully Sweden intends to manage a player they need beyond this first night in Monterrey.
