Tunisia head home from 2026 World Cup after 3-1 defeat by the Netherlands

DUBAI: The Netherlands marched into the 2026 World Cup Round of 32 as Group F winners after a 3-1 win over a Tunisian side that heads home from the tournament with no points, 12 goals conceded and only two scored.

The sacking of coach Sabri Lamouchi, replaced by former Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard, after their opening game, a 5-1 loss to Sweden, did little to change Tunisia’s fortunes.

A 4-0 defeat by Japan in game two, followed by tonight’s result at Kansas City Stadium left them bottom of the group and with little from their campaign they will look back on with any degree of satisfaction.

The other two teams in the group, Japan and Sweden, progressed to the knockout stages after finishing second and third, respectively, following a 1-1 draw in Dallas.

Tunisia might have grabbed a stunning lead inside the first two minutes of the game but Ismael Gharbi’s half volley failed to hit the target.

Moments later, disaster struck for Renard’s men when the Tunisian captain, Ellyes Skhiri, with Brian Brobbey lurking behind him, turned a fine cross by Donyell Malen from the right into his own net. It meant that Tunisia had conceded within the first seven minutes of all three games at the tournament.

Then, after exactly seven minutes, the Dutch doubled their lead when Brobbey struck from a Virgil van Dijk knockdown. It was the quickest that any team has built a two-goal lead at this World Cup so far.

Tunisia might have restored some semblance of respectability after 14 minutes but Anis Ben Slimane’s header was straight at Bart Verbruggen in the Dutch goal. For a brief spell, however, the North Africans suddenly found some space in the middle of the park to carry out a series of attacks but the final ball remained