Sweden World Cup defender isn't your typical football player

Sweden’s Gustaf Lagerbielke (2) reacts following the World Cup Group F soccer match win over Tunisia in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

MONTERREY, Mexico — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the football royalty gracing the World Cup in North America.

If you want real-life aristocracy, head to Sweden’s squad.

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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.

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Football 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.

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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.”

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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.

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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 football at the World Cup.

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“To have one of the biggest wins in Swedish history at the World Cup, it’s amazing,” he said.