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 many football royalty gracing the World Cup in North America.
If you happen to want real-life aristocracy, head to Sweden’s squad.
Gustaf Lagerbielke, a 26-year-old defender who played your complete 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 instance.
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 within the Swedish capital, Stockholm. When he played soccer as a child, he says he had the family’s coat of arms on his shin pads.
“Once I was kid, I desired to change into an expert footballer,” Lagerbielke said after Sunday’s match in Monterrey. “They’ve taught me goals. They’re very comfortable for me and really proud.”
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Lagerbielke’s heritage has been a talking point throughout a profession 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 feel for it to occur,” he added, “numerous people must go away. And I don’t want that to occur.”
For now, Lagerbielke just desires to help Sweden change into the king of football on the World Cup.
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“To have one in all the largest wins in Swedish history on the World Cup, it’s amazing,” he said.