Sweden v Tunisia: World Cup 2026 – live

Key events

Sweden’s coach is Graham Potter, a man treated as a demigod in Scandinavia yet regarded with derision in his homeland. Jacob Steinberg has more.

The Englishman has found a deep connection with his adopted country. He was not an outsider when he took the Sweden job, having made his name during a seven-year spell with Östersund, carrying them out of the fourth tier and into the Europa League.

“I feel very Swedish when I’m working,” he says. “I look a bit Swedish. Two of my kids were born in Sweden.” Potter feels there is a deeper meaning to international football. “You’re aware with the national team that you’re doing something for more than you. It’s a bigger thing. You can feel the intensity. That’s what’s beautiful about it.”

Need to bone up on the Swedes? Samuel Parts has you covered.

Under Graham Potter’s leadership the focus shifted to more traditional values associated with the Swedish national team with a stubborn defence coupled with effective counterattacks. Having initially said he prefers a back four he set up with a 5-3-2 in the playoffs, with a focus on keeping things quiet at the back.

Injury wise they are without captain Dejan Kulusevski, whose influence on this team cannot be overstated. They will miss him in North America. There are also huge question marks over Alexander Isak’s form and fitness, although he did score in a worryingly one-sided 3-1 defeat against Norway on 1 June after coming on as a substitute.

Do we need to be worried about South America? Brazil were poor, Paraguay were awful, and Ecuador were game but still lost. Extended, you could even include Bolivia’s failure to beat Iraq to qualify through the Inter-confederation playoff route.

Manchester United’s Amad Diallo has just stunned Ecuador at the death of a feisty encounter.

This evening’s match is taking place at the impressive Estadio BBVA, known for the duration of the World Cup as Monterrey Stadium. The 53,000 capacity arena is nicknamed the Steel Giant, and was opened in 2015.

It is famed for its view of Cerro de la Silla, a nearby mountain with a highest peak of almost 6,000 feet. The steep stands and proximity of seating to the pitch will help the atmosphere.

Tunisia XI

Tunisia go in with a 4-2-3-1, looking to Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri to pull the strings.

1 Chamakh, 20 Valery, 3 Talbi, 4 Rekik, 21 Ben Hmida; 13 Khedira, 17 Skhiri; 10 Mejbri, 2 Abdi, 25 Ben Slimane; 8 Saad.

Sweden XI

Graham Potter is sticking with his 5-2-3 approach in a line-up dominated by Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres. In a tournament so far lacking in decisive goalscorers it should be to Sweden’s advantage they have two of the finest in the game in their ranks.

23 Nordfeldt, 21 Bernhardsson, 2 Lagerbielke, 4 Hien, 3 Lindelof, 5 Gudmundsson; 18 Ayari, 16 Karlstrom; 10 Nygren, 9 Isak; 17 Gyokeres.

Missed anything over the opening few days? I wouldn’t blame you if you have. Catch up on all the news and analysis with Max and the gang on the latest World Cup Daily.

“I’ve really enjoyed the World Cup so far,” enthuses Harry Sachar. “Plenty of entertainment and quality on view. I reckon the new rules about time-wasting have worked a treat. The cherry on top being the Socceroos wonderful win against Türkiye yesterday. Currently watching Ecuador v Côte d’Ivoire which has been yet another entertaining match.”

As usual, I agree with you Harry. The pace of play has surprised me, helped by the officiating, and also by the neat contrast in styles in many matches. The less aesthetically pleasing matches (I’[m looking at you Brazil and Morocco) have largely come from teams cancelling each other out. Hopefully some of the counterattacking approaches prevail into the knockouts to continue that free-flowing feel.

How have these early matches affected your Bracketology? Germany up, Brazil down?

The opening game of the matchday saw Germany demolish debutants Curacao 7-1 in Houston.

Germany will surely reach the knockouts this time and could have made absolutely certain by adding several more. Nagelsmann will be pleased that threats emanated from all around the pitch, half a dozen scorers bearing testament to that, but it should go without saying that more accurate tests of strength will have to be navigated over the next month. Kai Havertz, rounding things off neatly with his second goal, will hope to be similarly efficient later on.

Barney Ronay was in Dallas to enjoy the opening match of Group F that ended in a 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan.

The World Cup continued to produce the unexpected in Arlington. On a throbbingly hot afternoon in the low flat plains outside Dallas the Netherlands and Japan played out an episodically thrilling opening Group F game, Daichi Kamada scoring an 88th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2 just as the Dutch looked like taking an early hold on one of the tougher groups.

There has been so much talk of tired players, format failure and empty seats (the stadium was full here), talk so feverishly committed you wondered at times if it was necessary to play the games at all. But it does feel as though something else has been taking place in the opening games. Maybe – whisper it – the World Cup is actually good.

Preamble

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of match 12 of the 2026 World Cup between Sweden and Tunisia. Kick-off in this Group F clash at Estadio Monterrey is 8pm local time (10pm EDT/3am BST/12pm AEST).

This shapes as a must-win contest for both teams following the earlier 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan that demonstrated the qualities of the group heavyweights. However, recent form suggests this clash will not reach similar technical heights.

Sweden didn’t win a match between June 2025 and March 2026 as they laboured to the finals via the playoff route. Since victories over Ukraine and Poland they have gone another two matches without success.

Tunisia qualified with ease from a very kind CAF group phase but have won just one of their past seven outings. That includes three consecutive matches without scoring, culminating in a 5-0 thrashing by Belgium in their final warm-up.

I’ll be back shortly with team news and a round-up of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an eye on Ivory Coast v Ecuador and email any thoughts about the tournament so far to [email protected].