Rekik scores first World Cup goal as Tunisia cuts Sweden lead

Omar Rekik’s header jolted Tunisia back into its World Cup opener, trimming Sweden’s lead to 2-1 and giving the Africans a real pulse before halftime at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico. The goal came in the 42nd minute from a Hannibal Mejbri cross and marked Rekik’s first senior international goal for Tunisia.

Sweden had already done the early damage. Yasin Ayari opened the scoring in the sixth minute, and Alexander Isak doubled the advantage in the 29th minute, putting Tunisia under pressure long before Rekik rose to meet Mejbri’s delivery. For a brief stretch, the match had looked headed toward a routine Swedish win.

Rekik’s finish changed the mood. The Tunisian defender turned his neck through the ball and powered a header past the Swedish defense, cutting the deficit to one and sending Tunisia into the break with renewed belief. The goal did not erase Sweden’s edge, but it changed the emotional weight of the night, because Tunisia had finally broken through after being pinned back for much of the opening half.

That surge proved short-lived after halftime. Sweden restored control and pushed the game out of reach, with Viktor Gyökeres making it 3-1 before Mattias Svanberg and Ayari, who struck again late on, completed the 5-1 scoreline. Tunisia’s response never disappeared entirely, but Sweden’s finishing kept the result one-sided.

For Tunisia, Rekik’s goal stood out as a rare lift in a difficult opening match and as a reminder that the team could still find moments of resistance against a sharper opponent. For Rekik, it was a landmark moment: his first goal in a Tunisia shirt and his first on the World Cup stage. The header briefly reopened a contest that had been slipping away, even if Sweden still finished with the clear upper hand.