Alexander Bernhardsson is on Sweden's World Cup squad and spending the final days before the opener against Tunisien on the training pitch in Dallas, Texas. The match in Monterrey in Mexico is scheduled for Monday at 04:00, and he says the wait is almost over.
“It is nice to be on site, to train here during the days and work through all our details,” Bernhardsson said. “You feel it is getting close now and we are extremely excited that it will soon begin for us too.” For a player making his first major-tournament run with Sweden, the timing matters as much as the stage: the squad has already gone through selection on 12 May, warm-up matches against Norge and Grekland in early June, and the last stretch of preparation at its base in Dallas.
Bernhardsson said being picked for the World Cup is the kind of moment every player dreams about. “It is a dream for every player to play the World Cup for Sweden and put on the national-team shirt,” he said. “Of course you feel incredibly proud and happy to be part of this. Ever since the selection, that buildup and excitement have started to grow inside you.”
The path here has not been smooth. Bernhardsson said he suffered a foot fracture during the winter, then picked up a muscle injury after returning too quickly. He described a season in which he had been playing regularly and things were going well before the setback forced him out again. That same stretch still ended with him back on the field for Holstein Kiel, where he recorded two assists in the final three rounds as the club fought clear of the bottom of the table.
He left IF Elfsborg in January 2024 and has been with Holstein Kiel since then, a move that has given him a place in the Bundesliga after the club won promotion following his first spring there. Bernhardsson also said it is fun that several people around the World Cup have links to IF Elfsborg, including Besfort, Gustaf, Linus Kandolin and Björn Hamberg, while Anthony Elanga also has a connection to the club. He said he remembers the feeling from VM 2018, when people gathered to follow the matches together, and he expects many Swedish fans now to stay up late and do the same from the USA and Mexiko.
What Sweden still has not said is whether Bernhardsson will start against Tunisien or wait for his chance from the bench. That answer will come only when the team takes the field in Monterrey, where his long road from injury to a World Cup debut reaches its next test.
