Ayari, however, refused to celebrate his goals, despite becoming Sweden’s youngest World Cup scorer since Tomas Brolin in 1990.
By Kehinde Okeowo
Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yasin Ayari scored twice as Sweden thrashed Tunisia 5-1 in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, played at the Estadio Monterrey in Mexico on Monday.
The 22-year-old opened the scoring as early as the 7th minute, rifling a shot into the top corner following a sloppy piece of defending from the North African side.
Ayari, however, refused to celebrate the goal—despite becoming Sweden’s youngest World Cup scorer since Tomas Brolin in 1990—because it came against the country of his father’s birth.
Graham Potter’s men then doubled their advantage 23 minutes later when Liverpool’s Alexander Isak found the bottom corner with a thumping finish after linking up with strike partner Viktor Gyökeres.
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Tunisia halved the deficit two minutes before half-time when defender Omar Rekik headed home from Hannibal Mejbri’s free-kick.
But Sweden hit back when Isak turned provider for Gyökeres, who found the net to make it 3-1 for his country on the hour mark.
It went from bad to worse for Sabri Lamouchi’s men when substitute Mattias Svanberg scored the fastest goal by a substitute in World Cup history, finding the net just 12 seconds after coming on.
Ayari then applied the gloss to a five-star performance by smashing home his second long-distance goal—and Sweden’s fifth—to send the European side top of Group F.
