Zlatan Ibrahimovic's World Cup Hopes Dashed as Swedish Boss Admits He's 'Not in His Plans'

The chances of Zlatan Ibrahimovic featuring in the 2018 World Cup in Russia look to be slim after Sweden manager Janne Anderson revealed the LA Galaxy striker is not in his plans to include him in his squad.

Ibrahimovic has enjoyed a fine start to life in America, scoring three goals in four games for the Galaxy.  The striker is finally enjoying his football again after having his contract mutually terminated by Manchester United in February after struggling for first team football after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The one trait Ibrahimovic has never lacked is confidence. 

The Swede has always been very open about how good he is on the pitch and he expected to make the plane to Russia, despite his lack of game time earlier in the season after recovering from a long term ACL injury. The big striker was planning to come out of international retirement to give one last performance for his country. 

However, it now looks like Zlatan's optimism may be squashed as in an interview with TYC Sports, Sweden manger Janne Anderson dismissed including the talisman in his squad for Russia, saying: "Ibrahimovic said no the national team. He was not going to be in the team after the European Championship and I respected him. 

"If you reject the team, I do not think you should come back, I respect what he said and those who said 'yes' has not called me, but he's definitely not included in the plans for the World Cup."

Even with Zlatan's amazing self belief, the decision has been taken out of his hands and It now looks unlikely that the forward will feature in the World Cup in Russia this summer.