Tunisia suffers heavy defeat against Sweden in FIFA World Cup

Tunisia was handed a harsh reality check at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after being dismantled by Sweden in a one-sided contest.

The North Africans arrived with hopes of building on their spirited performances in previous tournaments but instead found themselves overwhelmed by the Swedish side spearheaded by Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres and Yasin Ayari, who is of Tunisian descent.

From the first whistle, Sweden dictated the tempo with a high press that forced Tunisia into making hurried errors. Their breakthrough came early through Ayari in the 7th minute.

Isak doubled Sweden's lead on the half-hour mark, as the European side continued its relentless attack on Tunisia's defense.

Omar Rekik pulled one back for the Eagles of Carthage in the 43rd minute, but the goal did little to shift the game's overall momentum.

In the second half, Tunisia pushed forward in search of a comeback, but their attacks were easily rebuffed and Sweden capitalized ruthlessly on the counter.

Gyökeres slotted home in the 59th minute before Mattias Svanberg added a fourth in the 84th minute. Yasin found the back of the net again in stoppage time to complete the rout and put the Swedes in pole position in Group F.

After the game, Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi said his side made too many mistakes, labelling the result a "bad loss."

"It's a difficult loss. It's painful. Starting the competition with such a heavy defeat is indeed difficult," said Sabri Lamouchi, Tunisia's coach.

"With the world-class players they have in the two Swedish forwards, it's something that you don't recover from. We made way too many mistakes... We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image," he added.