The 36-year-old striker’s name was amiss when the Blaguit finally revealed the identity of the men they will be taking to Russia.

After frequently teasing fans on social media with his apparent inclusion in Sweden's World Cup squad, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been denied the honor to come out of international retirement. The player came under immense criticism after he sort to sneak into the setup despite playing no role in the tedious qualification phase for his motherland.

On Tuesday, coach of Sweden, Janne Andersson put the whole fiasco to bed by not yielding to Zlatan's demands since he made his retirement after an unsuccessful Euro 2016 spell.

Coach's Objective

Going into the summer's competition, the 55-year-old manager will aim to progress to the last 16 stage when he features against the likes of Germany, Mexico, and South Korea in Group F. His side will kick-start their campaign against South Korea in their first group game and a favorable result will go a long way in helping them when they come against Germany and Mexico in subsequent games.

New Faces

There will not be any debutant for the Swedish side in Russia as all the 23 players have had prior experience playing for the team.

Veterans

In Zlatan Ibrahimovic's absence, goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt alongside the likes of Jimmy Durmaz, Andreas Granqvist and Victor Lindeloff will come in with the much needed experience for the Swedes.

Absentees

The most notable among the lots is obviously Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Jakob Johansson who scored the only goal in Sweden's 1-0 aggregate win against Italy in the play-offs was left out of the final list after failing to recover from a serious knee injury in time.

Below is the full 23-man shortlist for Russia 2018:

Goalkeepers: Karl-Johan Johnsson (Guingamp), Kristoffer Nordfeldt (Swansea), Robin Olsen (FC Copenhagen)

Defenders: Ludwig Augustinsson (Werder Bremen), Andreas Granqvist (Krasnodar), Filip Helander (Bologna), Pontus Jansson (Leeds), Emil Krafth (Bologna), Mikael Lustig (Celtic), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Martin Olsson (Swansea)

Midfielders: Viktor Claesson (Krasnodar), Jimmy Durmaz (Toulouse), Albin Ekdal (Hamburg), Emil Forsberg (Leipzig), Oscar Hiljemark (Genoa), Sebastian Larsson (Hull), Marcus Rohden (Crotone), Gustav Svensson (Seattle Sounders)

Forwards: Marcus Berg (Al Ain), John Guidetti (Alaves), Isaac Kiese Thelin (Waasland-Beveren), Ola Toivonen (Toulouse).

Sweden's Group stages matches at the World Cup: