Group Stage | Group F
Estadio BBVA, Monterrey | Monday, 15 June — 7:30 AM (IST)
Match overview
Netherlands are the clear favourites to top Group F. That makes everything else — the race for second between Sweden, Japan, and Tunisia — tense from the first round. Sweden return to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ after missing 2022 entirely. Tunisia arrive as one of Africa’s most defensively organised sides, carrying real frustration from a campaign where they beat France and still went home in 2022. The opening shots in this three-way contest for second are fired in Monterrey on Monday morning.
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Team analysis
Tunisia
Tunisia are built on a defensive structure first. Elyes Skhiri anchors the midfield from Frankfurt — athletic, disciplined, exactly the kind of player who prevents opponents from building rhythm through the centre. Hannibal Mejbri provides the creative spark at 23: comfortable in tight spaces, capable of the unexpected pass or a late run. Issam Jebali leads the line and presses relentlessly. Their 2022 campaign proved they can absorb quality opposition for long periods, stay compact, and convert when the chances come.
Key player: Hannibal Mejbri — Born in France, developed at Monaco, and one of Tunisia’s most technically gifted midfielders. He can change a game with one decision — a line-breaking pass, a burst into the box, or the pressing intensity to force a turnover somewhere dangerous. If Tunisia are going to hurt Sweden, Mejbri is where it starts.
Sweden
Jon Dahl Tomasson rebuilt Sweden’s identity after the Zlatan Ibrahimović era and has assembled something genuinely dangerous. Viktor Gyökeres scored 54 goals across all competitions for Sporting CP in 2023-24 and maintained that level through qualifying. Alexander Isak at Newcastle has been one of the Premier League’s most clinical finishers. Victor Nilsson Lindelöf anchors the defence. Sweden arrive with genuine ambition and the quality to back it up.
Key player: Viktor Gyökeres — Those 54 goals at Sporting weren’t a one-season anomaly. The physical profile — power, pace, aerial threat, finishing from any angle — gives Sweden a striker who can decide a match by himself. Sweden haven’t had that since Ibrahimović. Every defence in this group knows who they need to stop. Stopping Gyökeres is a different proposition entirely.
Head-to-head record
The two sides have met four times, all in friendly fixtures. Sweden edge the overall record — two wins to Tunisia’s one, with a draw — but the meetings are spread across 27 years, and none of them were competitive. The most recent encounter, in February 2003, went Tunisia’s way: a 1–0 win. There’s no World Cup history between them, so Monday’s match in Monterrey is their first meeting at a major tournament.
Tactical preview
Tunisia will defend deep and compact — likely 4–4–2 or 4–5–1 — trusting Skhiri and Aissa Laidouni to disrupt Sweden’s build-up and asking Jebali to hold the ball and relieve pressure. Sweden will control possession and use Kulusevski’s movement to pull defenders out of position, creating space for Gyökeres and Isak in behind. Tunisia’s defensive discipline is their greatest asset, but this Sweden attack tests it hard. Whether 90 minutes of organisation earns Tunisia a point is the question.
Key storylines
- Sweden’s absence from 2022 means this squad has something to prove at tournament level. The Zlatan era produced European Championship runs but never a deep World Cup run. This generation — Gyökeres, Isak — is arguably the most talented Sweden have assembled since Larsson and Ljungberg. Monterrey is the first opportunity to show it on the biggest stage.
- Tunisia’s 2022 World Cup produced one of the tournament’s strangest footnotes. They beat a full-strength France 1–0 in their final group game, but Australia’s simultaneous win had already condemned them. They went home despite beating the eventual finalists. The players who experienced that carry the frustration into every match they play at this level.
- Group F’s shape makes this match consequential from the first minute. With the Netherlands almost certain to finish first, Sweden, Japan, and Tunisia are competing for one guaranteed knockout spot. Three points here doesn’t secure progression, but dropping them in the opener — against a direct rival — makes recovery very difficult with the Netherlands still to play.
Prediction and verdict
Tunisia will make this hard. They always do. But Sweden’s attacking depth is a different problem — Gyökeres and Isak are not a combination many defensive units at this tournament can contain for 90 minutes. One moment of quality from Gyökeres, one pass that finds a run in behind, and Sweden open the match up.
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