SwedenvsTunisia

Result

Sweden announced themselves with a 5-1 rout of Tunisia in Monterrey, two long-range thunderbolts from Yasin Ayari bookending a dominant night for Graham Potter's side. Ayari curled in from distance inside seven minutes, and Alexander Isak doubled the lead on the half-hour after Viktor Gyökeres sprang him on the counter. Omar Rekik's glancing header just before the break briefly gave Tunisia hope, but Gyökeres restored the two-goal cushion early in the second half — turning provider for Isak's setup this time. Substitute Mattias Svanberg swept in within seconds of coming on, and Ayari lashed his second deep into stoppage time. Sweden, here via the playoffs, sit top of Group F; Tunisia, hammered in their warm-ups, were second best throughout.

Sweden 3-4-1-25-3-2 Tunisia

Sweden

Tunisia

Yasin Ayari7'

Omar Rekik43'

Alexander Isak30'

Viktor Gyökeres59'

Mattias Svanberg84'

Yasin Ayari90'+6'

Rani Khedira54'

49%Possession51%

13Shots6

7On target2

1Saves1

4Corners2

290Passes completed299

81%Pass accuracy81%

14Tackles21

22Touches in box10

Substitutions

Bergvallfor Nygrenat 64'

Hadj Mahmoudfor Valeryat 72'

Stroudfor Gudmundssonat 65'

Achourifor Skhiriat 72'

Svanbergfor Karlströmat 84'

Tounektifor Saadat 72'

Elangafor Isakat 90'

Gharbifor Khediraat 83'

Svenssonfor Bernhardssonat 90'

Chaouatfor Ben Slimaneat 84'

At this Stage

Group F's opening round handed Sweden something rare: clear air. Five goals in Monterrey — Yasin Ayari's two long-range thunderbolts bookending finishes from Isak, Gyökeres and Svanberg — put them top on three points with a +4 cushion, while the group's marquee fixture cancelled itself out, Japan and the Netherlands drawing 2-2 to sit level on a point with identical numbers. Tunisia, beaten 5-0 by Belgium in their final warm-up and now routed again, prop up the table at -4, Omar Rekik's header their lone reply. One matchday proves little — but for the first team ever to reach a World Cup after finishing bottom of its qualifying group winless, first place, however provisional, is its own small history.

Group F

Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
Sweden	1	1	0	0	+4	3
Japan	1	0	1	0	+0	1
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	+0	1
Tunisia	1	0	0	1	-4	0

Top two (above the accent line) advance to the round of 32; the third-placed team is in the race for one of the eight best-third spots.

What we know now

What I said beforehand

The preview, frozen at kickoff. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the predictions worth anything.

Sweden, on the strength of the best strike pairing in the group by some distance. Tunisia are disciplined and will sit deep, but Sabri Lamouchi's side were battered 5–0 by Belgium in their final warm-up and have failed to score in three straight. Sweden have their own frailties — they've conceded in 11 in a row — yet Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres, 37 international goals between them, only need a half-chance. Sweden 2–1, with Gyökeres involved.

Both cases written 2026-06-13, before kickoff — they freeze into the record exactly as written, however the match goes. The percentages are mine, quoted to a decimal because false precision is funnier — the unclaimed 27% belongs to the draw.