Sweden beats Tunisia: Did Ayari score the best World Cup goal so far? Is this soccer’s snicko?

Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak enhanced their claim to be the best attacking pair at the World Cup while Yasin Ayari scored a superb goal as Sweden made a flying start to their World Cup campaign beating Tunisia 5-1.

Ayari’s seventh-minute thunderbolt was followed by a non-celebration as a mark of respect to Tunisia, the country of his father, and Sweden were quickly 2-0 ahead when Alexander Isak scored.

Tunisia struck shortly before half-time when Omar Rekik headed in to make a game of it but Isak set up Gyokeres for Sweden’s third goal of the game and, after a ball sensor-based VAR review, Mattias Svanberg scored a fourth before Ayari smashed in a fifth.

Graham Potter’s side now top group F after Netherlands and Japan drew a World Cup classic 2-2 earlier in the day.

The Athletic’s Tomás Hill López-Menchero and Jacob Whitehead break down the key talking points.

Did Ayari score the best goal of this World Cup so far?

It is truly impossible to strike a ball more sweetly. Ayari was the star man as Sweden beat Poland in the UEFA play-off final to secure his side’s place in North America — and continued with that form by scoring a stunner after just seven minutes of their opener.

Receiving a ball punched out of Tunisia’s area, the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder took one touch to knock it into space, before coiling his diminutive frame behind a fierce shot that fizzed and curled into the net.

“This is just quality. An absolute peach of a finish.”@MauriceEdu on Yasin Ayari’s goal for Sweden 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/YLgcXGeBXl

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026

Goalkeeper Mouhib Chamakh was out his net, granted, but Ayari still needed to hit it on the bounce, from 30 yards, and beat a host of defenders coagulating on the line. They never had a chance.

Ayari raised his hands and did not celebrate, honouring his father’s Tunisian heritage — the country had tried to cap him during his youth career. His goal came from almost exactly the same position as his first goal for Brighton at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Yasin Ayari is grabbed by team-mates after scoring Sweden’s opener in fine fashion (Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images)

He bookended the match with a second goal that some may even find better — powering an effort past Chamakh with his laces in injury-time… and celebrating this time.

This has been a World Cup already blessed by beautiful goals after just 12 games — and both of Ayari’s now sit among the very best. The other contenders?

Gio Reyna’s trivela, curled into Paraguay’s net with the outside of his right foot to complete the USMNT’s 4-1 win, is probably Ayari’s main contender — though I retain a soft spot for South Korea midfielder Hwang In-beom’s chop-turn and chip against Czech Republic in the tournament’s second match, mimicked by Morocco’s Ismael Saibari against Brazil one day later.

The skill for Vinicius Junior’s equaliser in that match, a brutally efficient display of finishing, also merits a mention, as does Nestory Irankunda’s incredible pace to score Australia’s opener against Turkey.

Which was your favourite?

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Jacob Whitehead

Is this soccer’s own snicko?

Svanberg spent five times longer waiting to discover whether he had scored than he did trying to score himself.

The Wolfsburg midfielder slid a set piece home after just 18 seconds — only for the flag to go up immediately for offside.

After a VAR review, the key issue was whether Isak had touched the ball on its way through to Svanberg, who was offside from Ayari’s initial delivery. To the naked eye, it appeared inconclusive — only for FIFA to delve deep inside their box of tricks to pull out a cricket-esque ‘snicko’ feature, used to adjudicate whether Isak had touched it, and based on sensors within the ball itself.

It ruled that the Liverpool striker had — and so Svanberg wheeled away to celebrate for a second time, the fourth goal in Sweden’s eventual 5-1 victory.

Jacob Whitehead

Is Isak back to his best?

What a difference 12 months makes.

This time last year, the eyes of the football world were on Isak, who was about to make his controversial move from Newcastle United to Liverpool. His slow start with the Premier League champions was perhaps understandable given how long that transfer saga rumbled on, but then a left leg fracture suffered in December halted any progress for the British record signing.

So the 26-year-old arguably returned for this tournament with less of a sense of expectation on his shoulders.

There were loud cheers for Isak from the Swedish faithful when his name was read out before kick-off, but his strike partner Viktor Gyokeres sent their sizeable travelling contingent even more wild. They were here thanks to the Arsenal striker: his hat-trick against Ukraine in the play-off semi-finals and winner against Poland in the final sent them to the World Cup.

Isak’s finish here was a mirror image of how he cut in from the left and scored in style in Sweden’s recent friendly defeat against Norway, albeit with some questionable goalkeeping from Tunisia’s Chamakh.

Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero

Sweden’s strike duo aren’t the best at this World Cup… are they?

Victor Lindelof’s pre-match comments smacked of bombast and confidence, the sort of words which are said but not meant, platitudes used to motivate rather than to be sworn under oath.

“I wouldn’t replace them with anyone,” Lindelof said of Sweden’s strike partnership of Isak and Gyokeres. “I’m really happy to have the two of ‌them. I’m trying to go through in my mind what other countries there are (that have a similar partnership), but I think they are two top-class ‌forwards, so it’s amazing to have ⁠them on our team.”

There is an argument they aren’t even Sweden’s best strike duo of the 21st century, given Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s partnership of the 2000s. But after Sweden’s opening game — in which both players scored in an excellent team performance — perhaps Lindelof is right that this is the best duo at the tournament.

Alexander Isak is putting his tough season behind him (Juancho Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Maybe this should not be surprising — after all, this is the Premier League’s most expensive signing of all-time, and the starting striker of its current champions. They complement each other’s games well — Gyokeres a battering ram of a centre-forward, Isak a master of movement with a ruthless touch — but struggled to show it consistently during a difficult qualifying campaign.

The best? Very few top teams play with two up front, but one side at least pips them — with reigning champions Argentina usually deploying Lionel Messi and Julian Alvarez as a duo.

But, details aside, Lindelof has proved his point. Despite making it to this World Cup by their fingertips, Isak and Gyokeres could take Sweden very far indeed.

Jacob Whitehead

Does playing positively work for Tunisia?

Coach Sabri Lamouchi was forced to defend his team in his pre-match press conference, even suggesting one Tunisian journalist was being overly negative in his assessment of the side. You could hardly blame the reporter: their previous result had been a 5-0 friendly defeat by Belgium.

The north African side are more known for grinding out results or frustrating opposition attacks than thrilling viewers. They have never progressed beyond the group stage in their previous six attempts. Four years ago in Qatar, they scored once and conceded once.

There were signs of improvement here. Hannibal Mejbri was a constant source of excitement, his fine cross leading to Rekik’s header to cut the deficit. Burnley’s former Manchester United youngster then tried an audacious chip in the 50th minute, which had goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt backpedalling, before geeing up the crowd five minutes later as he went to take a corner.

But the third goal they conceded perhaps shows that attacking enterprise doesn’t pay at the World Cup: Ellyes Skhiri dawdled on the ball after Chamakh rolled out to him and allowed Isak in, before Gyokeres forced the ball home. Skhiri’s team-mates instantly went to comfort him, but it arguably showed just why Tunisia tend to play it safe on football’s biggest stage.

Tomas Hill Lopez-Menchero