Netherlands defeats Tunisia to set up date with Morocco in second round

Tunisia lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the FIFA World Cup on  Friday (June 26th) to leave the World Cup with three defeats, while the "Mills" set up a date with Morocco in the second round.

The Netherlands clinched the top spot in Group F of the 2026 World Cup on Friday by beating Tunisia 3-1, and the Tunisian national team fell behind by two goals in the first seven minutes of the match, after Elias Sukhiri scored a goal by mistake in the third minute, after failing to deal with a cross from the right side sent by Denzel Dumfries.

Bryan Proby added the Netherlands' second goal four minutes later, from close range, taking advantage of a free kick from Tijani Reynders from the right side, which Virgil van Dijk met with his head to reach Bruby, who deposited it into the net.

Tunisia's worst participation in its history

Tunisian striker Hazem Mastouri reduced the score in the 54th minute with a header, and Van Hecke returned to add the third goal for the Mills in the 62nd minute.

The Netherlands almost added the fourth goal, but the crossbar blocked Reynders' shot from inside the box. Hannibal Mejbri fired a powerful shot from outside the area in the 76th minute, which was brilliantly cleared away by the Netherlands keeper, and with this result, Tunisia bid farewell to the World Cup with three defeats for the first time in the history of its seven appearances in the competition.

The Netherlands opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw with Japan, before crushing Sweden 5-1, while Tunisia lost hope of qualifying early, with two tough losses to Sweden 1-5 and Japan 0-4.

Japan and Sweden draw and qualify together

In the same group, Japan and Sweden booked their places in the round of 32, with a 1-1 draw at AT&T Stadium in Arlington near Dallas, USA, where Japan advanced through Daizen Maeda (56) and Anthony Elanga equalized for Sweden (62).

The Japanese team booked their ticket to qualify by finishing second in Group F with five points, behind the Netherlands in first place with seven points, and Japan will face Brazil in the round of 32 in Houston on June 29.