Tunisia beat Iraq 3-0 at FIFA U-20 World Cup

Tunisia defeated Iraq 3-0 in the all-Arab clash at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup on Thursday to keep their second round hopes very much alive and leave the losers stunned and looking at early elimination.

Despite the scoreline, Iraq dominated much of the game against the clinical North Africans but two goals in two minutes early in the second half turned the game at La Plata in Argentina on its head.

With one round of matches in Group E remaining, England, who defeated Uruguay 3-2 earlier, have six points from their two games so far and are through to the second round. Uruguay and Tunisia, who meet on Sunday, have three points each.

With the top two from each of the six groups going through along with the four best third-placed teams, there is every chance that the young Carthage Eagles can make it, especially if they are as ruthless as they were here.

With zero points and a minus-seven goal difference after losing 4-0 to Uruguay in the opening game, Iraq, who finished fourth in their last appearance in this tournament back in 2013, are all but out.

After the two teams had lost their opening games, it was not a surprise that the opening stages were cautious and cagey. There were three yellow cards by the midway point of the first half, more than the number of genuine attempts on goal.

Iraq started to get into gear on the half hour as Youssef Amyn made space for himself on the right side of the area before forcing a good save, the first of 10, from Dries Arfaoui. Just two minutes later, Tunisia had the ball in the net as Samy Chouchane swung over a deep free kick that was stabbed home by Mohamed Derbali but he was not the only player who was clearly offside.

The tempo was picking up as Abdulqader Ayoub forced a