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Sweden thrashed Tunisia 5-1 to move top of Group F in their World Cup opener in Monterrey, Mexico.
Sweden took a first-half lead through Yasin Ayari’s first superb strike and Viktor Gyokeres assisted Alexander Isak for a second, before Omar Rekik headed one back.
Isak then set up Gyokeres, Matthias Svanberg slid home seconds after coming on and Ayari, of Tunisian descent, flashed in a late screamer in the second half.
The result leaves Graham Potter’s side in an excellent position to progress after the Netherlands drew 2-2 with Japan earlier.
GO FURTHER
Sweden beats Tunisia: Did Ayari score the best World Cup 2026 goal so far? Is this soccer’s snicko?
We have nearly a week to wait until the next fixtures in this group.
On Saturday, Sweden face the Netherlands at 1pm ET, 10am PT.
Tunisia then take on Japan at midnight ET on Sunday, so 9pm PT on the Saturday.
Plenty to play for!
Unsurprisingly, Graham Potter sounded a lot happier with his night’s work. Here is the Sweden boss:
💬 “Great performance. Five goals, solid. Could have scored more. All credit to the players.
They are fantastic.
“Obviously there is room to improve as well, which is important, but we’ll enjoy tonight, and then recover and get ready again.”
Head coach Sabri Lamouchi pinned the lopsided scoreline on Tunisia’s mistakes, which is fair to a degree. Here is his initial reaction:
💬 “Look … it’s a big loss. Obviously it’s not the best way to start this competition, but we paid for our mistakes and the quality of the opponent made the difference. So that’s it.
“With these kinds of players, a simple mistake is difficult. Is really difficult. They are a good team, but we knew that before the game.”
Here’s another nice stat from our friends at Opta.
Mattias Svanberg’s goal 18 seconds after coming on is the second fastest by a substitute in a World Cup match since 1966.
That puts him behind only Richard Morales’ goal after 16 seconds for Uruguay, against Senegal in 2002.
Sweden’s firing frontline is already a warning shot to their next opponents.
With Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres both finding the back of the net today, the Swedish attackers played like a group that knows exactly how to tear defences apart.
This promising form will be on full display when Sweden faces the Netherlands on Saturday — a massive Group F clash set to take place at Houston Stadium.
Sweden are the second team to score three goals from outside the box in a single World Cup match since 1966, joining Germany vs Chile in 1962 (also three).
The scorer of two of those tonight, Yasin Ayari, is just 22 years, 251 days old — and so the third-youngest player to score multiple goals in a match for Sweden at the World Cup, and the youngest since Ralf Edstrom against Uruguay in 1974.
Sweden have now opened their World Cup with a win for the second straight tournament too, after failing to win their first match in any of their seven appearances in the competition between 1970 and 2006 (five draws, two losses).
A big step toward the knockout stage for Sweden, who now have a real shot at finishing in the top two — or at worst among the best third-placed sides — even with Japan and the Netherlands still to come.
For Tunisia, the warning sirens are blaring.
Midfielder Hannibal Mejbri was the lone bright spark in an otherwise toothless display, and a side that rarely looked able to go for the game will need a serious response in their remaining two matches.
Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak are the second pair of Sweden team-mates to each record a goal and an assist in a World Cup match since 1966.
They join Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin against Saudi Arabia at USA 1994.
Isak is also the second Swedish player to record a goal and two assists in a World Cup match since 1966, after Tomas Brolin did it against Bulgaria — also at USA 1994.
Fortunately tonight was in Mexico, otherwise we would have a trend.
Fans have been joining in the conversation in our Discuss tab at the top of the page — and clickable here.
Check out some of the contributions below and post your own match reaction, which you can also do with an email to live@theathletic.com
As The Athletic’s match dashboard shows, Sweden scored five off an expected goals (xG) total of just 1.4.
That statistic is a measure of how likely shots are to go in, based on where the shot is taken and a database of previous shots.
It suggests Sweden’s finishing was extremely clinical — and potentially not sustainable — based on the chances they created.
Sweden’s fourth goal won’t be remembered fondly by Tunisia.
A lengthy VAR check — involving ball-tracking technology to confirm that Alexander Isak got the faintest touch on a free kick before Mattias Svanberg swept home — will give the refereeing community something to lose sleep over.
It barely mattered on the scoreline, but expect a few deep dives into the rulebook tonight.
This shows how closely Alexander Isak (No 9) and Viktor Gyokeres (No 17) played together tonight, and it showed.
They looked a useful partnership and were pretty much allowed to do what they wanted throughout tonight.
Graham Potter will want that dynamic to continue into Sweden’s remaining two Group F games.
Omar Rekik’s header briefly suggested the promise of a comeback —or at least, a compelling match in the second half — but Tunisia never built on it.
Ellyes Skhiri’s lapse for Viktor Gyokeres’ goal summed up an evening short on ideas and control.
With Japan and the Netherlands still to come, this was as damaging a start as Tunisia could get.
A goal and two assists for Alexander Isak tonight, and you could see how good his movement is on several occasions.
He is a genuine world-class striker at this World Cup.
And he could be the difference in this group going forwards, as well as when it comes to the knockout stage.
Not many defences are going to want to come up against him.
A brace from the Brighton midfielder, both goals cut from the same cloth: struck early and clean.
The first set the tone for the whole night; the second, deep into the second half, put the game beyond doubt.
Take another bow, Yasin Ayari.
Well, a little bit like the United States’ opening win over Paraguay, I wouldn’t go reading too much into this beyond being a super win over poor group opponents.
How Sweden handle the Netherlands and Japan will be interesting from here in Group F. But they certainly have the attacking quality and potency you would hope for.
You fear for a point-less World Cup if you’re Tunisia though.
Considering their qualifying campaign looked blown, that’s a blinding start for Sweden.
I really don’t know what to say about Tunisia. Has any team ever been easier to get down the sides of?
Blimey Nick, I cannot believe Zlatan missed this!
In a Houston bar, the screens were split between Sweden vs Tunisia and the bizarre UFC event at the White House.
Would you like to guess which of those events Sweden’s record goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic is at?
Team Stats
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TUN
Game Details