Ibrahimovic mulls Sweden retirement after Cup

Zlatan Ibrahimovic will consider retiring from international football after the World Cup next summer in order to focus on playing for Barcelona.

The 27-year-old is mooting the idea of making the tournament in South Africa his swansong for his country after playing more than 50 times and scoring over 20 goals.

Sweden is not yet assured of a place in the World Cup as it sits in third in Group 1, but Ibrahimovic believes it will make it through and give him a stage on which to bow out .

"That possibility will be considered after the World Cup finals," he told Swedish reporters. "It is important for a player of my level to play internationals, but I've been to two European Championships and two World Cups."

Having played in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup finals, if he were to appear next summer it would complete an impressive hat-trick for the striker.