Celtic defender Mikael Lustig was part of Sweden’s side in their qualifier against Italy.
Celtic defender Mikael Lustig was instrumental in Sweden’s 2018 World Cup play-off round victory over Italy on Tuesday night, as he helped his country book their place in next summer’s tournament.
Sweden came into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage after AEK Athens midfielder Jakob Johansson had given his country a slender lead on Friday night.
Lustig and his Swedish teammates simply needed to avoid defeat against the 2006 World Champions, and the 0-0 draw proved enough to claim their place on the flight to Russia next summer.
Lustig, 30, showed fans just how crazy the celebrations were inside the Sweden dressing room after the unlikely win on his Instagram Story, which was also posted on Celtic Goals’ Twitter account.
Italy’s failure to qualify sees them absent from a World Cup for the first time since 1958, and has made Gianluigi Buffon, Daniele De Rossi and Andrea Barzagli all decide to call time on their international careers.
Lustig is now expected to return to Glasgow and could be given time to rest after featuring for the entire 90 minutes of the second leg, with Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic preparing to face Hamilton on Saturday.
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