FIFA World Cup: Sweden thrash Tunisia 5-1 as Ayari shines with double

MONTERREY, Mexico: After a sluggish and stressful qualifying campaign that had fans sweating, Sweden kicked off their World Cup Group F campaign in the most explosive way possible, dismantling Tunisia 5-1 on Sunday.

It was a historic offensive clinic, marking the first time the Swedes have hung five goals in a World Cup match since they walloped Cuba 8-0 way back in 1938.

The undisputed star of the night was Yasin Ayari. Born to a Tunisian father and a Moroccan mother, the midfielder tore his father’s homeland apart with two absolute world-class strikes. He opened the scoring just seven minutes in, capitalizing after Tunisia goalkeeper Mouhib Chamakh fluffed a clearance under heavy pressure from Alexander Isak. Viktor Gyokeres’ initial effort was blocked, but Ayari pounced on the loose ball, unleashing a rocket into the back of the net to send the sea of yellow in the stands into absolute raptures. Out of respect, Ayari kept his celebration muted, but the damage was already done.

Tunisia, which had set up with a blueprint to sit back and counter, was forced to chase the game. That completely backfired on the half-hour mark. Catching Tunisia overcommitted, the Swedes launched a textbook counter-attack from their own box. Gyokeres chested the ball down brilliantly and fed Isak on the left wing. The star forward turned defender Montassar Talbi inside out before squeezing a shot past a scrambling Chamakh to make it 2-0.

To their credit, the Tunisians showed a brief pulse before halftime. Defender Omar Rekik connected with a gorgeous glancing header on their very first shot on target, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and giving the North African side a lifeline heading into the tunnel.

The second half began a bit sluggishly as Sweden’s heavyweight strike duo of Isak and Gyokeres suffered from a few miscommunications. But elite talent eventually finds a way. On the hour mark, Isak pickpocketed Ellyes Skhiri and unselfishly squared the ball to Gyokeres for an easy tap-in, extending the lead to 3-1.

From there, the rout was on. Super-sub Mattias Svanberg made an instant impact in the 84th minute, slotting home a goal that was initially flagged for offside but rightly overturned by VAR.

Then came the exclamation point. Deep into stoppage time, Ayari capped off his masterclass with another jaw-dropping thunderbolt from well outside the penalty box. This time, the midfielder threw any muted celebrations out the window, celebrating with pure abandon as the ball flew past a helpless Chamakh.

With the emphatic victory, Sweden sits comfortably at the top of Group F with three points, capitalizing on a 2-2 draw between Japan and the Netherlands earlier in the day.

“It’s football, so you know anything can happen, especially at 2-1, but I thought the boys played with a stability and a calmness throughout the game,” Sweden manager Graham Potter said after the match. “Obviously, when you concede, there’s always a danger that you get emotional and you forget what you’re meant to do but the boys did it well. We always thought that, if we could stay solid and compact, we’ve got two guys up front that can hurt them.”

Potter was quick to praise the chemistry of his dangerous striking tandem, despite a few shaky moments early in the second half. “They haven’t played that much together, so it’s going to get better, I think, the more they play,” Potter said. “I thought they worked well for each other, worked hard. It’s nice for them to score goals… I thought they were both fantastic.”

For Tunisia, a side that famously didn’t concede a single goal during their entire qualifying campaign, Sunday night was a massive reality check.

“It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult,” a dejected Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi said. “We made too many mistakes, and this is not something that we can do. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, we are hurting ourselves.”