Sabasports Match Preview
World Cup: Sweden vs Tunisia
Kickoff Time: 2026-6-15 10:00 (HKT)
Thanks to their outstanding performances in the play-offs, Sweden eliminated Ukraine and Poland in succession to secure their spot at the World Cup. This speaks volumes about Sweden’s deep-rooted pedigree, as the nation has a rich history of emerging as dark horses and staging giant-killing upsets at previous World Cup tournaments. Under the guidance of Graham Potter, Sweden primarily deploy a 3-4-2-1 formation, prioritising high pressing and possession control. Potter demands the three frontline attackers excel at defensive recovery and ball harrying, which perfectly brings out the best qualities of Viktor Gyökeres. As matches unfold, Potter’s side are also capable of switching to a 4-4-2 setup, dropping deeper into a compact defensive shape to lie in wait for counter-attacking opportunities. Swedish winger Anthony Elanga boasts blistering pace and exceptional dribbling skills, making him a pivotal asset during transitional phases between attack and defence. However, uncertainty lingers over Potter’s tactical deployment of Alexander Isak. Deploying Isak as an attacking midfielder would inevitably weaken the team’s frontline pressing intensity and defensive positional discipline. It is also plausible that Potter will utilise Isak as an impact substitute to preserve the side’s defensive solidity and add greater tactical depth off the bench. Additionally, Potter attaches great importance to both defensive and offensive set-piece strategies, with corners and free kicks set to serve as one of Sweden’s key goalscoring avenues at the World Cup.
On paper, Tunisia does not possess an exceptionally strong squad. Hannibal Mejbri, the midfielder representing Premier League side Burnley, is the team’s most valuable player, while the squad’s total market value stands at merely 67 million euros. In January 2026, French coach of Tunisian descent Sabri Lamouchi was appointed as the new head coach of the Tunisian national team. Lamouchi has implemented a flexible tactical system that seamlessly alternates between the 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations, aiming to create attacking opportunities by establishing defensive stability. Tunisia adopts a compact low-block defensive approach to deny opponents easy opportunities for penetrating passes. Meanwhile, the side seeks to neutralise opposition counter-attacks through aerial dominance in their defensive third and disciplined defensive positioning. In attack, Tunisia does not prioritise possession; instead, they threaten opposing goalkeepers via sudden shifts in tempo, overlapping runs from their left-back to the byline, and swift long-ball distribution from deep midfield and defensive areas. Nevertheless, this attacking blueprint has proven to be relatively inefficient, a flaw laid bare during their pre-World Cup friendly against Belgium. Tunisia barely created any meaningful goal-scoring threats across the fixture, were comprehensively dominated in midfield, and saw all links between their attacking and defensive lines severed.
Within Group F, Tunisia is undoubtedly the weakest side in terms of overall strength. The North African outfit suffered a crushing 5-0 defeat to Belgium in their final pre-World Cup warm-up match, highlighting the considerable gap between Tunisia and elite European nations. By contrast, Sweden’s squad boasts solid physical attributes alongside a wealth of technically gifted players and a clinical target man up front, complemented by a diverse tactical repertoire — advantages Tunisia cannot match. As such, Sweden are fancied to claim all three points against the group’s lowest-ranked side Tunisia.
Sweden‘s Last 5 Games: DLWWD
26-06-05 Sweden 2-2 Greece
26-06-02 Norway 3-1 Sweden
26-04-01 Sweden 3-2 Poland
26-03-27 Ukraine 1-3 Sweden
25-11-19 Sweden 1-1 Slovenia
Tunisia‘s Last 5 Games: LLDWD
26-06-06 Belgium 5-0 Tunisia
26-06-02 Austria 1-0 Tunisia
26-04-01 Canada 0-0 Tunisia
26-03-29 Haiti 0-1 Tunisia
26-01-04 Mali 1-1 Tunisia (Penalties 3-2)
Head-To-Head Record
03-02-13 Sweden 0-1 Tunisia
Prediction: Sweden to win