Gyokeres and Isak star as Sweden strike five

Yasin Ayari, Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Mattias Svanberg were on target as Sweden overwhelmed Tunisia in their FIFA World Cup 26 opener.

Sweden 5-1 Tunisia

Sweden goals: Ayari (7 & 90+6), Isak (30), Gyokeres (59), Svanberg (84) Tunisia goal: Rekik (43)

Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak starred as Sweden sprinted to the top of FIFA World Cup 2026™ Group F with an emphatic win over Tunisia. Graham Potter’s team sit two points clear of Japan and the Netherlands, who shared a 2-2 draw in their opening game.

Yasin Ayari, whose father was born in Tunisia, broke the deadlock at Monterrey Stadium with a brilliant drive from outside the box. Isak made it two following a delightful turn and pass from strike partner Gyokeres, before Sabri Lamouchi’s side got themselves back into the game when Omar Rekik glanced home Hannibal Mejbri’s glorious delivery for his first international goal. The second half was all Sweden. Isak robbed Ellyes Skhiri and Gyokeres buried the loose ball to make it 3-1, Mattias Svanberg amplified the advantage moments after coming on, and Ayari sealed a morale-boosting success.

Key stat

Nineteen goals were scored on Matchday 4 of this World Cup – 4.75 per game on average.

Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match

Alexander Isak (Sweden)

What they said….

“I’m very happy with the three points today. It’s a great start to the tournament, especially if we are talking about a big World Cup. I think we managed the game perfectly, both with and without the ball, and I’m very happy with what we produced”. Victor Lindelof, Sweden defender

“Individually, of course, they [Isak and Gyokeres] are top players but I think ​together they can be a real threat. I think they’ll get better and better the more they play; they complement each ​other very well. I’m really pleased with the players We know ​the quality of the individuals in the front positions but they needed a ‌team ⁠to function. We weren’t perfect; we knew we wouldn’t be. But at the start of the game I thought we had good control.” Graham Potter, Sweden coach

“It’s a difficult loss. ​It’s painful. Starting the competition with ⁠this bad of a loss is indeed ​difficult… With world-class players that ​we 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.” Sabri Lamouchi, Tunisia coach

About the Author

Ravinder Rana

Administrator

Visit Website View All Posts