Sweden delivered a dominant 5-1 victory over Tunisia, leaving the North African nation’s defensive reputation in tatters while taking control of World Cup Group F, as the Mexican city of Guadalupe hosted its first-ever fixture of the tournament, News.Az reports.

Graham Potter’s side opened the scoring in the seventh minute on Sunday, when midfielder Yasin Ayari unleashed a thunderous strike from outside the penalty area following a defensive mix-up at the back.

Ayari, who is of Moroccan and Tunisian heritage, kept his celebrations restrained despite the quality of his finish.

Sweden extended their advantage after half an hour through a swift counterattack that released Alexander Isak on the left flank.

The Liverpool forward surged forward, cut inside, and fired a shot that goalkeeper Mouhib Chamakh could not keep out, even though he managed to get a hand to the ball.

Tunisia had not conceded a single goal during qualifying, becoming the first side to achieve that record, later matched by Ivory Coast and England.

Sweden appeared to be on course to overwhelm their opponents, but the match changed just before half-time when Omar Rekik headed in Hannibal Mejbri’s inviting cross.

However, the Scandinavian side restored their two-goal cushion in the 59th minute following another costly defensive error from Tunisia.

Midfielder Ellyes Skhiri was dispossessed on the edge of his own penalty area by Isak, who then set up Viktor Gyokeres, and the Arsenal man finished clinically.

Substitute Mattias Svanberg added a fourth goal late in the match after VAR confirmed he was onside.

There was still time for another spectacular effort from Ayari, who scored again from outside the penalty box to complete Sweden’s commanding win.

Sweden had reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but failed to qualify for the tournament in Qatar four years later.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev