Alexander Isak registered 1 goal and 2 assists, Viktor Gyokeres contributed 1 goal and 1 assist, while Yasin Ayari scored twice as Sweden made a perfect start to their World Cup campaign.
Match Report:
Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres led the charge, with Yasin Ayari netting a brace as Sweden hit top form in a commanding 5-1 victory over Tunisia in Monterrey.
After Group F rivals the Netherlands and Japan shared a 2-2 draw, Sweden significantly boosted their hopes of advancing to the World Cup knockout rounds with a dominant display.
Ayari, facing the nation of his heritage, opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a powerful long-range strike.
Tunisia goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh gifted the opportunity with an ill-advised clearance attempt, and he was also at fault when Isak scored his first-ever World Cup goal shortly after the half-hour mark.
Latching onto Gyokeres’ through ball, Isak fired from the edge of the area, but Chamakh allowed the low shot to slip through his hands.
Tunisia managed to reduce the deficit before the break when Omar Rekik rose to head home Hannibal Mejbri’s inviting delivery.
However, Tunisia’s mistakes resurfaced in the 59th minute. Chamakh played the ball out to Ellyes Skhiri, whose poor touch was immediately punished by Isak, and Gyokeres calmly converted the resulting chance.
Sweden added further gloss to the scoreline late on as substitute Mattias Svanberg found the net with his first involvement. Although initially ruled out for offside, the goal stood following a VAR check.
Ayari then sealed an emphatic win with the final kick of the match, smashing home another long-range effort to complete a statement performance from Graham Potter’s side.
Sweden back with a bang
Having missed out on qualification for the 2022 World Cup and only securing a place at this tournament through the play-offs after a disappointing qualifying campaign, Sweden arrived with something to prove.
Under Potter, they looked full of belief and delivered the type of performance their attacking quality suggests they can produce on a regular basis.
The first half generated just 0.47 combined expected goals, the lowest figure in any World Cup half featuring three or more goals since 1966.
Despite that, Sweden were ruthless in front of goal, hitting the target with seven of their 13 attempts. They have already scored one fewer goal than they managed during their entire 2018 World Cup run, which ended in the quarter-finals.
Gyokeres and Isak became only the second Swedish duo since 1966 to each record both a goal and an assist in the same World Cup match, matching the feat achieved by Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin against Saudi Arabia in 1994.
Meanwhile, Svanberg set a new World Cup record for the quickest goal scored by a substitute.
His strike, awarded after officials determined Isak had touched the initial free-kick and therefore played Svanberg onside, came just 12 seconds after entering the field.
Svanberg also became only the third substitute to score for Sweden at a World Cup and the first to do so since Glenn Stromberg’s goal against Scotland in 1990.