– He has been even and balanced, Wilds coach John Hynes said of Wallstedt last week. He has prepared well, he has performed well and he has encountered different situations against different types of teams. It’s the first time he’s been through all this, but what I like is that he plays from his identity as a goalkeeper and when he does, he’s hard to outsmart.
The progress of the young Swede has not gone unnoticed, and more and more voices have started to be raised for Wallstedt to be one of three goalkeepers to take a place in Tre Kronor’s squad for the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina 2026.
Wallstedt himself says that the Olympics are not something he has put a lot of energy into, but that it would be a great honor to represent Sweden again. Wallstedt made three appearances for Tre Kronor in the WC 2023 and was part of the squad that took WC bronze in 2024.
– I don’t know, I honestly haven’t thought much about it, says Wallstedt about his Olympic chances. I think that before this season, probably nobody, including myself, thought that there would even be a chance. I don’t think it’s really hit me yet, and for me it’s just been about trying to forget last year and perform as well as possible this season.
– It has just become that you take one match at a time and one practice at a time and focus on giving our team as good a chance as possible to win matches. We’ll see what happens, but my goal is to keep winning games and give us the chance to win. Then we’ll see what happens in February.
– It would have been great fun (to take a place) and get to play in the Olympics and get to represent Sweden. Every time I have had the chance to play (with the national team) I have accepted and I always want to represent Tre Kronor. It has always been a very great honor for me. It would have been incredibly cool if the opportunity arose.
Wallstedt also said that he had no direct contact with national team captain Sam Hallam or anyone else from the Swedish management team.
– I have not had any personal contact (with the Swedish coaching staff) yet, but like many of the other Swedish players here, I am part of the email groups, says Wallstedt.
If Wallstedt continues on the beaten path, there are many indications that there will soon be a change in that.
