Sweden vs Tunisia Preview

Group F’s second opening fixture gets underway in the early hours of Monday morning at the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey as Sweden and Tunisia square off in a match that could be crucial in determining who battles it out with the Netherlands and Japan for the knockout spots.

Sweden arrive at this tournament as the group’s top seeds and will back themselves to make the knockout rounds, though their pre-tournament form has been somewhat inconsistent. Their most recent outing ended in a 2–2 draw at home against Greece — a result that failed to build momentum heading into the opening fixture. Prior to that, they suffered a 3–1 defeat away in Norway, a result that raised questions about their resilience on the road. Before that, however, they showed their quality with a 3–2 home win over Poland, and earlier in this run they produced an impressive 3–1 away win in Ukraine. The sequence began with a 1–1 draw at home against Slovenia. Two wins, two draws and a defeat — Sweden are a side with genuine attacking quality, particularly with Isak and Gyökeres leading the line, but questions remain about their defensive organisation.

Tunisia, by contrast, come into this World Cup opener in difficult form and will need to find significantly more consistency than their recent results suggest. Their most recent outing ended in a humiliating 5–0 defeat away against Belgium — a result that will have set alarm bells ringing in the camp just days before the tournament. Prior to that, they lost 1–0 away in Austria. Before that, they earned a resilient goalless draw away in Canada. Earlier in this run, they won 1–0 away in Haiti — their sole victory across these five matches — and the sequence began with a penalty-shootout defeat away in Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations. One win from five, with two heavy defeats, makes for uncomfortable reading ahead of this fixture.

The head-to-head record favours Sweden, who have won two of the three recorded meetings. All three encounters took place on Tunisian soil. Most recently, Tunisia won 1–0 at home in February 2003. In the previous encounter, Sweden won 1–0 away in Tunisia in February 1999.

Sweden carry considerably more attacking firepower, with Isak and Gyökeres among the most dangerous striker partnerships in the tournament. Tunisia will look to be defensively compact and frustrate Sweden in the opening stages, but their recent defensive record — particularly that 5–0 collapse against Belgium — does not inspire confidence. Sweden should have enough to take the three points, though Tunisia will be motivated to prove their difficult pre-tournament form is not reflective of their true capabilities.

In Sweden, the match is live on SVT 1 and available to stream via SVT Play and Discovery+. In Tunisia, viewers can watch via beIN SPORTS CONNECT and Watania 1. In the UK and Ireland, the game is available on ITV 1 and ITVX, with STV and STV Player also carrying the fixture in Scotland.

Lineups & Injuries

Sweden (3-5-2) Nordfeldt, Svensson, Hien, Lagerbielke, Sema, Ayari, Karlstrom, Bergvall, Bernhardsson, Isak, Gyökeres

Tunisia (4-2-3-1) Chamakh, Abdi, Rekik, Talbi, Valery, Skhiri, Khedira, Gharbi, Mejbri, Slimane, Chaouat

Both squads appear to be at full strength for this Group F opener, giving both camps a fully fit pool of players for their World Cup opener.

Group F

Pos	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Tunisia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Sweden Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
🤝	Sweden	2 – 2	Greece	International Friendly	Jun 4, 2026
❌	Norway	3 – 1	Sweden	International Friendly	Jun 1, 2026
✅	Sweden	3 – 2	Poland	International Friendly	Mar 31, 2026
✅	Ukraine	1 – 3	Sweden	International Friendly	Mar 26, 2026
🤝	Sweden	1 – 1	Slovenia	International Friendly	Nov 18, 2025

Tunisia Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Belgium	5 – 0	Tunisia	International Friendly	Jun 6, 2026
❌	Austria	1 – 0	Tunisia	International Friendly	Jun 1, 2026
🤝	Canada	0 – 0	Tunisia	International Friendly	Apr 1, 2026
✅	Haiti	0 – 1	Tunisia	International Friendly	Mar 29, 2026
❌	Mali	1 – 1	Tunisia	Africa Cup of Nations	Jan 3, 2026

Head to Head

Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
Tunisia	1 – 0	Sweden	International Friendly	Feb 12, 2003
Tunisia	0 – 1	Sweden	International Friendly	Feb 9, 1999
Tunisia	0 – 1	Sweden	International Friendly	Apr 22, 1992

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Sweden	SVT 1, SVT Play, Discovery+
Tunisia	beIN SPORTS CONNECT, Watania 1, beIN Sports MAX 2 Arabia
Great Britain	ITV 1, ITVX, STV, STV Player
Ireland	ITV 1, RTE 2, ITVX, RTE Player
USA	Fox Sports 1, fuboTV, Telemundo, FOX One
Germany	ORF eins, SRF zwei, MagentaTV
France	beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, myCANAL
Brazil	SporTV, Globo, Globoplay, CazéTV
Canada	TSN+, TSN1, RDS App
Japan	DAZN Japan, Nippon TV