Yasin Ayari struck twice as Sweden announced its arrival at the 2026 World Cup in emphatic fashion, cruising past Tunisia 5-1 on Sunday to seize control of Group F.
Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres each had a goal and an assist, while Mattias Svanberg also scored in a dominant Swedish display.
Ranked 39th in the world, Sweden are back on football’s biggest stage after missing the 2022 tournament, having last reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 2018 in Russia.
Omar Rekik scored Tunisia’s lone goal, but the 45th-ranked North Africans struggled to contain Sweden’s attacking firepower. Tunisia are making their seventh World Cup appearance and are still chasing a first trip to the knockout stage.
The higher-ranked teams in the group, the Netherlands and Japan, played to a 2-2 draw earlier Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
