When speaking of Sweden in the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era there is one thing that is constantly highlighted: the team. It is not about one or two stars; it is about the group. That quality is the biggest strength of Sweden. While that is true, there is one player who stands out a little bit more than the rest and who was extremely important for the Swedes during the qualification stages.

After Ibrahimovic decided to retire from the national team in 2016, the spotlight, the pressure and the expectations from the media and fans fell on the shoulders of Emil Forsberg, a 26-year-old from Sundsvall.

Forsberg was one of the stars in the Malmo side that created history by becoming the first Swedish team to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in 14 years. But a lot of eyebrows were raised back home when Forsberg decided to leave the Swedish champions for then second-tier German side RB Leipzig in 2014.

However, the Swede took Germany by storm. In his first full season he helped Leipzig to promotion to the Bundesliga, where he later contributed 22 assists as the club impressively finished runners-up in their debut season in the top flight.

The most recent season proved more difficult for the Swede as he has been dealing with injuries. But there is no doubt that his creativity and ability to make the difference will be vital for Sweden’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ journey.

Like the rest of his team-mates, Forsberg made his World Cup debut when Sweden defeated Korea Republic 1-0 in Nizhny Novgorod. Speaking exclusively to FIFA he said: “I am pleased, happy and proud. I fought hard like everyone else, but of course I wish I had created more in the attack, but I’m not worried about that.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s match having the experience of playing three and a half seasons in Germany, the Swedish midfielder is well aware of what to expect.

“It will be an extremely difficult match, we are playing against the world champions, so it will be really tough, but at the same time we have to go out there and enjoy it and have fun. All the pressure is on them. We are going to do what we are good at and keep it tight at the back. Get a good result—that’s our priority”

They might be the underdogs on paper but the Swedes already know how to tackle strong opponents as they did during the qualifying stages, seeing off two previous World Cup winners in Italy and France - as well as Brazil 2014's third-placed side the Netherlands - to make it to Russia 2018. And Forsberg likes to dream big.

“I think you always should dream, it’s important to dream otherwise it’s difficult to look forward. We dream about doing something big, of course. We know what we have done to get here.

“But we live in the present and now that it’s Germany, we need to put in a 110 per cent performance and do everything right or else it will be difficult to beat them or even get a draw against them. That’s what we are mentally prepared for and then we will see how far it takes us. But of course we dream of making it far.”