Sevilla youngster Ryan Johansson has won his battle to play international football with Ireland.

The 20-year-old was born and raised in Luxembourg to a Swedish father and Irish mother and felt an affinity to all three countries.

But the midfielder's preference to play for Ireland was previously blocked by FIFA rules because his first appearance at underage level for Luxembourg came before he had formally gone through the process of securing an Irish passport.

Johansson took legal advice in late 2019 to make his case through the FAI, arguing that the rules were unfair and that he wasn't made aware of the consequences of playing for Luxembourg before he had registered his Irishness.

When that appeal went nowhere, Johansson indicated that he would pursue a career with Sweden.

But FIFA subsequently relaxed their rules on eligibility, allowing a player to switch even if they didn't hold the nationality of their 'new' association while making their maiden appearance for their old national side.

Players can only activate that option if their final outing for their 'old' association came before their 21st birthday.

Johansson's father Thomas this morning told Independent.ie that correspondence with FIFA had confirmed that his son could now pursue his wish to play for Ireland.

The family have been in discussions with the FAI about the news and there has been contact with Ireland U-21 manager Jim Crawford with a view to Johansson potentially participating in a friendly tournament in Spain which consists of games against Switzerland (May 30), Australia (June 2) and Denmark (June 5).

Johansson has experience of the Irish set-up already, having travelled to play friendly matches for Tom Mohan's U-19 team in 2018.

He was on the books of Bayern Munich at that point, but moved to La Liga side Sevilla in January 2020, signing a six year contract.

Sevilla dispatched Johansson to their 'B' team Sevilla Atletico, and injury issues have significantly curtailed his contribution this term.