Isak Stars as Sweden Overpowers Tunisia 5-1

Alexander Isak arrived at this tournament with questions still hanging over him after a bruising first year at Liverpool. Ninety minutes later, he walked off as the face of a Sweden side that suddenly looks every inch a contender.

This was a statement. A 5-1 demolition of a Tunisia team that had prided itself on defensive steel in qualifying, ripped apart by Isak’s movement, touch and relentlessness.

Ayari shows no mercy

The tone was set early.

Seven minutes in, Brighton midfielder Yasin Ayari — Tunisian roots, Swedish shirt — ignored any hint of sentiment and drove a dagger into his ancestral homeland. After a frantic scramble in the box, with Mouhib Chamakh twice scrambling to deny Isak and Viktor Gyokeres, the ball spilled to Ayari on the edge of the area.

He didn’t hesitate. One touch to set, one thunderous strike past the crowd of bodies. 1-0, and Tunisia’s famed organisation already creaking.

The goal rattled them. Sweden sensed it.

Isak takes over

Tunisia had arrived with numbers to back their reputation at the back. Within half an hour, that image lay in pieces.

The second goal came from pure, old-fashioned counter-attacking brutality. Sweden broke at pace, Tunisia stretched and exposed. Released down the left, Isak surged into space, gliding past the last defender with an ease that made a difficult debut season at Anfield feel like ancient history.

He cut inside, opened his body and curled a measured finish into the far corner. Clinical. Inevitable. The Liverpool forward had his moment, and Tunisia had a mountain to climb.

For a spell, it looked like the North Africans might cling on. They didn’t see much of the ball, but they stayed in the game, waiting for a set-piece or a mistake. Just before the break, they got it.

Rekik’s lifeline

From almost nowhere, Tunisia found a pulse.

Hannibal Mejbri, one of their few bright sparks, delivered a teasing cross into the area. Omar Rekik attacked it with conviction, rose above his marker and powered a header home. Sweden’s backline, largely untroubled to that point, switched off for a moment and paid full price.

At 2-1, the mood shifted. Tunisia jogged into the tunnel with a sliver of belief. Sweden walked off knowing they had let their grip loosen.

Any doubts vanished after the restart.

High press, higher punishment

On 59 minutes, Sweden’s aggression without the ball decided the contest.

Isak, again at the heart of it, chased down Tunisia captain Ellyes Skhiri near the edge of the box. The press was ruthless, the error brutal. Skhiri coughed up possession in a disastrous area, and the ball broke kindly for Arsenal striker Gyokeres.

One touch to steady himself, one calm, ruthless finish. 3-1. Tunisia’s resistance finally snapped.

From there, Sweden relaxed into their football. Passes zipped. Confidence flowed. This no longer looked like a group game; it looked like a team flexing at exactly the right time.

Bench impact and a VAR twist

Graham Potter then turned to his bench and found another decisive contribution.

Mattias Svanberg had barely taken his first stride onto the pitch when he made it four. Isak, still tormenting defenders deep into the game, produced a deft flick in the box. The ball broke to Svanberg, who reacted sharply and turned it in.

The assistant’s flag went up, cutting short the celebrations. But replays told a different story. VAR showed that Isak’s touch had actually played Svanberg onside. Goal given. 4-1, and any lingering arguments about the better side silenced.

Sweden weren’t done.

In stoppage time, Ayari pounced again, reacting fastest to a loose ball to slam home his second of the night. A brace for the Brighton man, a five-goal haul for Sweden, and a thumping 5-1 scoreline that brutally reflected the gulf in quality.

Group F blown open

The win sends Sweden clear at the top of Group F, three points ahead after the Netherlands and Japan cancelled each other out with a draw. It’s an ideal platform, but not a finish line.

Next up, Potter’s team meet the Netherlands on June 20 in a fixture that already feels like a test of their credentials as genuine group winners. The Dutch, stung by those dropped points, will not allow Sweden this much space or mercy.

For Tunisia, the equation is harsher. Bottom of the group, goal difference damaged, they now have to beat Japan on the same day to keep their knockout hopes alive. Anything less, and that proud defensive record from qualifying will be a distant memory, overshadowed by one brutal night when Isak and Sweden tore their campaign wide open.