Doha (AFP) – When Yasin Ayari scored two spectacular goals in Sweden's emphatic opening World Cup victory, it left a bitter taste in Tunisia, the country he could have represented.
Issued on: 20/06/2026 - 05:06
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Ayari overshadowed his better-known teammates Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres in the 5-1 win on Sunday and is expected to start against the Netherlands on Saturday.Born in Solna in Sweden to a Tunisian father and a Moroccan mother, the 22-year-old is one of a large number of players at this World Cup who could have played for another country.His displays for Swedish club AIK earned him a move to Premier League side Brighton in England in 2023, but he was loaned to Coventry and Blackburn before establishing himself at Brighton in the just-completed season.Houssem Haj Ali, a former Tunisian national team player, told AFP the case of Ayari showed the North African nation was letting too much talent slip through its fingers."Of course, it is a great bitterness... The situation could have been the opposite if Yasin had worn the Tunisia jersey," he said.Haj Ali called for lessons to be learned. "We must create the conditions that allow players of Tunisian origin to represent their country," he said."I am not speaking only about the Tunisian federation, but about the system in general."Turning their backsIn another recent case of a player turning his back on Tunisia, Louey Ben Farhat of German club Karlsruhe was named in the country's World Cup squad but turned down his place.
