{"id":213844,"date":"2026-06-15T05:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/sweden-thrash-tunisia-thanks-to-brilliant-yasin-ayari-double-in-world-cup-2026-opener-live-updates-reaction-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T05:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T05:03:16","slug":"sweden-thrash-tunisia-thanks-to-brilliant-yasin-ayari-double-in-world-cup-2026-opener-live-updates-reaction-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/sweden-thrash-tunisia-thanks-to-brilliant-yasin-ayari-double-in-world-cup-2026-opener-live-updates-reaction-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden thrash Tunisia thanks to brilliant Yasin Ayari double in World Cup 2026 opener: Live updates, reaction – The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Cup
Advertisement
live
Updated

Here\u2019s another nice stat from our friends at Opta.
Mattias Svanberg<\/strong>\u2019s 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\u2019 goal after 16 seconds for Uruguay, against Senegal in 2002.
Sweden<\/strong>\u2019s firing frontline is already a warning shot to their next opponents.
With Alexander Isak<\/strong> and Viktor Gyokeres<\/strong> 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<\/strong> on Saturday<\/strong> \u2014 a massive Group F clash set to take place at Houston Stadium.
Sweden<\/strong> 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<\/strong>, is just 22 years, 251 days old \u2014 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<\/strong>, who now have a real shot at finishing in the top two \u2014 or at worst among the best third-placed sides \u2014 even with Japan and the Netherlands still to come.
For Tunisia<\/strong>, the warning sirens are blaring.
Midfielder Hannibal Mejbri <\/strong>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 <\/strong>and Alexander Isak<\/strong> 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 \u2014 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<\/strong> tab at the top of the page \u2014 and clickable here<\/a>.
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<\/a><\/strong>
As The Athletic<\/strong><\/em>\u2019s match dashboard shows, Sweden<\/strong> 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\u2019s finishing was extremely clinical \u2014 and potentially not sustainable \u2014 based on the chances they created.
Sweden\u2019s fourth goal won\u2019t be remembered fondly by Tunisia<\/strong>.
A lengthy VAR check \u2014 involving ball-tracking technology to confirm that Alexander Isak<\/strong> got the faintest touch on a free kick before Mattias Svanberg<\/strong> swept home \u2014 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<\/strong> (No 9) and Viktor Gyokeres<\/strong> (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\u2019s remaining two Group F games.
Omar Rekik<\/strong>\u2019s header briefly suggested the promise of a comeback \u2014or at least, a compelling match in the second half \u2014 but Tunisia never built on it.
Ellyes Skhiri<\/strong>\u2019s lapse for Viktor Gyokeres\u2019 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<\/strong> could get.
A goal and two assists for Alexander Isak<\/strong> 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<\/strong>.
Well, a little bit like the United States\u2019 opening win over Paraguay, I wouldn\u2019t go reading too much into this beyond being a super win over poor group opponents.
How Sweden<\/strong> 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\u2019re Tunisia <\/strong>though.
Considering their qualifying campaign looked blown, that\u2019s a blinding start for Sweden.
I really don\u2019t know what to say about Tunisia. Has any team ever been easier to get down the sides of?
Blimey Nick<\/em>, 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\u2019s record goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic<\/strong> is at?
Team Stats
SWE
TUN
Game Details<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World CupAdvertisementliveUpdated 4m agoSweden 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\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":213845,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-213844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}