Sweden began their World Cup campaign in style, sweeping Tunisia aside 5-1 in Group F at Estadio Monterrey as Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres combined with Yasin Ayari’s brace to deliver a convincing scoreline that left Graham Potter predicting even stronger performances from Sweden’s forward partnership across the rest of the tournament.

The result placed Sweden at the top of Group F ahead of Netherlands and Japan, who drew 2-2, with Ronald Koeman’s team now waiting for Sweden at Houston Stadium on Saturday in what already looks like a key match for qualification hopes from a group that now features an early goal difference advantage for Potter’s side.

Yasin Ayari struck the first and last goals, both long-range efforts, while substitute Mattias Svanberg added the fourth in the 84th minute, ensuring Sweden finished with five goals in a World Cup match for only the second time, the first being the 8-0 quarter-final victory over Cuba in 1938.

After an injury-hit debut season with Liverpool, Isak produced one goal and two assists, becoming only the second Swedish player since 1966 to reach that mark in a World Cup match, matching Tomas Brolin’s return against Bulgaria at the 1994 tournament and underlining Isak’s sharpness after recent fitness issues.

Gyokeres also scored and assisted, and together with Isak formed the second Swedish pair since 1966 to both record at least one goal and one assist in the same World Cup game, a feat previously achieved by Kennet Andersson and Martin Dahlin against Saudi Arabia at USA 1994, highlighting how efficient Sweden’s front line looked against Tunisia.

Potter underlined how well the two forwards linked with each other and the rest of the side, stressing that the attack still relied on collective structure rather than individual talent alone, especially in a match where Sweden accepted they would not reach full fluency but still controlled large periods from the opening whistle.

“Individually, of course, they are top players, but I think together they can be a real threat, Potter said of Isak and Gyokeres’ partnership. I think they’ll get better and better the more they play; they complement each other very well. I’m really pleased with the players. We know the quality of the individuals in the front positions, but they need a team to function. We weren’t perfect; we knew we wouldn’t be. But at the start of the game I thought we had good control.”

This 5-1 success means Sweden have now started consecutive World Cups, 2018 and 2026, with victories, in contrast to the period between 1970 and 2006 when Sweden failed to win any opening match across seven tournaments, drawing five and losing two, a trend Potter’s side has clearly reversed.

Looking ahead to the second group fixture, Potter acknowledged the higher level of opposition Netherlands are likely to present compared to Tunisia, noting that Sweden will need to match the quality of the first performance with improved focus, especially in defensive organisation, as the group’s balance may hinge on the meeting at Houston Stadium.

“We know we’ll meet a top team next, and we have to be ready for that, Potter added on the challenge of facing Netherlands.”

On the opposite bench, Sabri Lamouchi pointed to key errors in possession and defensive decision-making that handed Sweden chances, while Tunisia struggled badly around the penalty area, with six attempts worth a combined expected goals value of only 0.28 against Sweden’s 1.33 from 13 efforts at Abdelmouhib Chamakh’s goal.

“With world-class players that theyhave in the two Swedish forwards, it’s something that you don’t recover from, Lamouchi said. We made way too many mistakes.It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult.”

Sweden leave Estadio Monterrey with a commanding scoreline, standout displays from Isak, Gyokeres and Ayari, and top spot in Group F, while Tunisia face the task of repairing confidence after a heavy defeat that exposed defensive errors and limited attacking threat against opponents who punished almost every mistake.