Sweden announced their return. FIFA World Cup Stage in emphatic style as Yassin Ayari cruised to a 5-1 win over Tunisia to top Group F on Sunday.With the Netherlands and Japan sharing the points in a thrilling 2-2 draw earlier in the day, Sweden seized the opportunity to take early control of the group with a dominant display at the Estadio BBVA.
Ayari stars as Swede embarks on dreams
The Scandinavian team, playing their first World Cup match since missing out in 2022, wasted little time in stamping their authority. Ayari opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a superb long-range effort. The midfielder, whose father was born in Tunisia, chose not to celebrate wildly and instead raised his hands in a gesture of respect.Sweden’s attacking trio tormented the Tunisian defense and doubled the lead in the 30th minute. Viktor Guikiris created a quick counter-attack before setting up Alexander Isak, who slotted a low shot past goalkeeper Mohib Chamakh for his 18th international goal.Tunisia briefly revived hopes of a comeback when Omar Rakik headed home in the 43rd minute to reduce the deficit to 2-1 and give the Eagles of Carthage something to gain after the break.
Isak and Gyökeres together crushed Tunis.
Any thoughts of a Tunisian revival were quickly extinguished in the second half.Isak turned provider soon after the restart, winning possession before releasing Guikeres, who made no mistake to score his 21st goal for Sweden and continued his impressive scoring streak.Sweden’s relentless pressure led to a fourth goal in the 84th minute when Matias Swanberg confirmed the strike after a lengthy VAR review.Ayari still had time to complete a memorable night. Deep into stoppage time, the midfielder unleashed another powerful strike from distance to bookend the scoring and cap a superb individual performance.
Sweden took control of Group F.
The convincing victory extended Sweden’s unbeaten run in World Cup openers to five matches and took them to the top of Group F.Ranked 39th in the world, Sweden made a powerful statement that they intend to challenge the group favourites. For Tunisia, playing in their seventh World Cup, the defeat puts them under immediate pressure ahead of their crucial clash with Japan.Sweden next face the Netherlands in Houston, while Tunisia are in Monterrey to face Japan, knowing that another setback could seriously kill their hopes of reaching the knockout stages for the first time.
