MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the soccer royalty gracing the World Cup in North America.
If you want real-life aristocracy, head to Sweden’s squad.
Gustaf Lagerbielke, a 26-year-old defender who played the entire match in Sweden’s 5-1 defeat of Tunisia on Sunday, is a baron from a noble family in Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts.
Soccer players typically come from modest backgrounds — take Messi and Ronaldo, for example.
Not Lagerbielke.
“I mean, it’s rare,” he said in an interview ahead of the World Cup.
Lagerbielke grew up in Djursholm, a wealthy suburb in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. When he played soccer as a kid, he says he had the family’s coat of arms on his shin pads.
“When I was kid, I wanted to become a professional footballer,” Lagerbielke said after Sunday’s match in Monterrey. “They have taught me goals. They are very happy for me and very proud.”
Lagerbielke’s heritage has been a talking point throughout a career that has taken him from Sweden (AIK, Sollentuna, Västerås, Elfsborg and Degerfors) to Scotland (Celtic) and now Portugal.
Sections of the British media reported he was 254th in line to the Swedish throne, though Lagerbielke said “I don’t know if it’s true.”
“But I think for it to happen,” he added, “a lot of people need to go away. And I don’t want that to happen.”
For now, Lagerbielke just wants to help Sweden become the king of soccer at the World Cup.
“To have one of the biggest wins in Swedish history at the World Cup, it’s amazing,” he said.
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Ethan Wilcox is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.
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Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
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