Mattias Svanberg capped off Sweden 's comfortable win over Tunisia in his World Cup debut. Wolfsburg 's midfielder scored seconds after coming on as a substitute in a 5-1 victory for Graham Potter's side. Holstein Kiel's Alexander Bernhardsson also played his part until Borussia Dortmund 's Daniel Svensson replaced him in injury-time.
At the other end, Ellyes Skhiri , Rani Khedira , and Elias Saad started for Tunisia. Eintracht Frankfurt 's midfielder captained the side, while the German-born Khedira made his competitive debut. Saad's Augsburg teammate Ismaël Gharbi played the final ten minutes for the Eagles of Carthage.
Sweden opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a memorable goal for Yasin Ayari . Brighton 's midfielder decided to play for his home country after his Tunisian father encouraged him to do so. Similar to the incident in the last World Cup when Switzerland 's Breel Embolo scored against his home country Cameroon, Ayari didn't celebrate his stunning goal.
Graham Potter's side doubled their lead in the half-hour mark with Alexander Isak 's first goal in a major tournament. The former Borussia Dortmund striker linked up well with Viktor Gyökeres with a perfect counterattack move.
Tunisia reduced the deficit before the break when Hertha BSC's academy product Omar Rekik headed home Hannibal Mejbri 's delivery. Isak returned the favor to Gyökeres as Skhiri dispossessed for Sweden's third goal in the hour mark. The former St. Pauli loanee was instrumental in their qualification with a hat-trick against Poland in the playoff final.
Isak added another assist to his name when Svanberg found the net less than 20 seconds after his introduction. The 27-year-old had to wait for a lengthy VAR check before the goal stood.
The midfielder isn't expected to stay at his relegated club as he will enter his final year of the current contract. Ayari added a fifth in injury-time with another wonder strike, and he did celebrate it this time around.
Sweden are top of the group before their huge clash against the Netherlands on matchday two. Tunisia will face Japan in a repeat of a group stage fixture from the 2002 World Cup.
