Sweden 5-1 Tunisia: Isak, Gyökeres and Ayeni spearheaded a total demolition of their rival

Isak 1 goal & 2 assists, Gyokeres 1 goal & 1 assist, and Yasin Ayari's 2 goals, Sweden has had an impeccable opener for their World Cup journey.

Match Highlight:

https://www.fifa.com/en/watch/1xJ82g9ocfLQaweWUFgFMw

Match Report:

Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres starred and Yasin Ayari was at the double as Sweden clicked into gear with a 5-1 rout of Tunisia in Monterrey.

Having seen the Netherlands and Japan draw 2-2 in the Group F opener, Sweden gave themselves a huge chance of reaching the World Cup knockout stages with an emphatic victory.

Ayari, who is of Tunisian descent, got the ball rolling with a brutal finish from distance in the seventh minute.

Tunisia goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh had opened up the chance for Ayari to strike with a rash attempt at a clearance, and the shot-stopper should have done better when Isak opened his World Cup account on the half-hour mark.

Isak finished from the edge of the box after racing onto Gyokeres' pass, with Chamakh letting the Liverpool forward's low effort slip through his grasp.

Tunisia dragged themselves back into the contest before half-time, though, as Omar Rekik headed in from Hannibal Mejbri's teasing cross.

Yet Tunisia were the architects of their own downfall in the 59th minute. Chamakh rolled it out for Ellyes Skhiri, whose clumsy touch was pounced on by Isak - his strike partner Gyokeres made no mistake with a crisp finish.

It got better for Sweden late on, with substitute Mattias Svanberg netting with his very first touch. The record-breaking goal was initially disallowed for offside, but given after a VAR review.

Ayari then doubled up with the final kick of the game, hammering in from distance to wrap up a statement victory for Graham Potter's men.

Sweden back with a bang

Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and they had to sneak through the play-offs to make this tournament after a dismal qualifying campaign.

Yet Potter has them playing with plenty of confidence, and they turned in the kind of performance they should be capable of consistently, given the attacking talent at their disposal.

The 0.47 combined expected goals in the first half was the lowest in any half of a World Cup match that featured three or more goals since 1966.

But Sweden were extremely clinical, with seven of their total 13 shots hitting the target. They have already scored just one goal fewer than they managed across the entirety of their last World Cup campaign, when they reached the quarter-finals in 2018.

Gyokeres and Isak are the second pair of Sweden team-mates to each record a goal and an assist in a World Cup match since 1966, joining Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin against Saudi Arabia in 1994.

Svanberg's strike, meanwhile, is the fastest goal by a substitute in World Cup history.

His effort, which was awarded after it was judged Isak got a touch to the initial free-kick, playing Svanberg onside, came just 12 seconds after his introduction.  

Svanberg is just the third substitute to score for Sweden in the World Cup and the first since Glenn Stromberg against Scotland in 1990.

Match Events:

8' GOAL! That was a very good finish from the 22 year old Brighton midfielder. And good for the spectacle you’d expect, forcing Tunisia to relinquish thoughts of a scoreless draw.

10' Both teams are trying to stamp their mark in midfield, exchanging free-kicks around halfway. The Argentinian referee is keeping his cards in his pocket for the time being.

12' Sweden do a good job of taking the sting out of the game, recycling play from right to left, using their back three to shift the direction of their attacks. The two split strikers have both been instructed to retain possession where possible.

13' Good save from Nordfelt after Saad broke through the middle and fed Ben Slimane on his left shoulder. The finish was too close to the Swedish keeper – and wouldn’t have counted anyway because he had needlessly drifted offside.

30' GOAL! Sweden 2-0 Tunisia (Isak, 30), Brilliant from Alexander Isak. Sweden double their lead.

32' Lindelof heads the first corner of the night over the bar. That was a familiar chaotic penalty area scene with the referee struggling to establish who was holding or blocking in the build-up.

43' GOAL!  Sweden 2-1 Tunisia (Rekik, 43), Out of nowhere, Tunisia are back in this with a glancing header.

Half-time: Sweden 2-1 Tunisia

60'  GOAL! Sweden 3-1 Tunisia (Gyokeres, 60), Calamity at the back for Tunisia and Isak hands one on a plate for Gyokeres.

86'  GOAL! Sweden 4-1 Tunisia (Svanberg, 86), Sweden are now protesting that the goal should stand because Svanberg returned to an onside position after an Isak flick sent the incident into a second phase of play. VAR takes its time. The referee struggles to hear what’s happening. Eventually he communicates the news but Sweden don’t understand it initially and there’s a comical delay before Svanberg can celebrate.

90'+6'  GOAL! Sweden 5-1 Tunisia (Ayari, 90+6), Ayari has two, and they’re both belters.

Full-Time: Sweden 5-1 Tunisia

Line-ups

Sweden XI: K. Nordfeldt, Lindelof, Jesper Karlström, Viktor Gyökeres, Isak, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Isak Hien, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Benjamin Nygren, Alexander Bernhardsson, Yasin Ayari

Subs: Ken Sema, Carl Starfelt, Eric Smith, Viktor Johansson, Gustaf Nilsson, Svanberg, Hjalmar Ekdal, Herman Johansson, Anthony Elanga, Jacob Widell Zetterström, Elliot Stroud, Besfort Zeneli, Daniel Svensson, Taha Ali, Bergvall

Tunisia XI: R.Khedira, Ali Abdi, Skhiri, Valery, Montassar Talbi, Hannibal, Omar Rekik, Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida, Anis Ben Slimane, Elias Saad, Abdelmouhib Chamakh

Subs: D. Bronn, Mortadha Ben Ouanes, Firas Chaouat, Aymen Dahmen, Sebastian Tounekti, Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud, Ismaël Gharbi, Elias Achouri, Hazem Mastouri, Moutaz Neffati, Sabri Ben Hessen, Raed Chikhaoui, Adem Arous, Khalil Ayari, Rayan Elloumi