Read 4 minutes26 Jun 2026 09:12 AM IST
Kansas City was bathed in fluorescent orange. For Tunisia, already out after conceding nine goals in two games, it was a chance to get something done. They were given 180 seconds before their hopes were dashed.
The Netherlands only needed to overtake Japan on goal difference against Sweden to top Group F. They didn’t need to win. Still they won.
Denzel Dumfries fired a low ball across the face of goal in the third minute. Tunisian captain Elis Skerry got there first and converted it into his own net, his 12th own goal of the tournament, equaling the all-time record at the World Cup. It was two before the seventh minute. Virgil van Dijk headed a Rejenders free kick across the box and Brian Brobbie reacted swiftly, half-volleying his third goal of the tournament past a helpless Aymen Dahmen. Two-nil in seven minutes. What happened to Tunisia in this tournament was not surprising.
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They sacked coach Sabri Lamouchi after a 5–1 loss to Sweden, the first time in World Cup history that a team has sacked a coach after just one match. Herve Renard was brought in. They then lost 4-0 to Japan. He was the seventh coach of Tunisia after the 2022 World Cup. That level of volatility doesn’t make for consistent football, and it doesn’t here either.
Brian Broby of the Netherlands, far right, scores the second goal over Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen. (AP Photo/Reid Hoffman)
The Dutch campaign Brobie has revealed. The Sunderland striker was on the bench for the opening draw with Japan. Koeman started him against Sweden and he scored twice in seventeen minutes. He did it again here. Physical, precise, brilliant with his back to goal, he gives the Netherlands a focal point they have spent years searching for. Van Dijk called him “so strong” after the Sweden match. Three goals in three games.
Tunisia refused to have a comfortable afternoon. Mejbri, the sharpest in the whole of Tunisia, scored a powerful long-range effort in the second half that raised the volume inside the Arrowhead Stadium. Shortly after the interval he delivered the corner from which Hazem Mastouri headed home on his World Cup debut. Attacking everywhere, Rejenders failed to track his man at set pieces. The same Rejenders who assisted both Dutch goals.
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Order was restored in the 62nd minute through Jan Paul van Hecke, the centre-back, who completed a £52 million move from Brighton to Tottenham just a week before this game. Rejenders gave away a corner, Van Hecke met it firmly, Ben Slima deflected it and the ball curled into the top corner. Ten goals in three groups. Coman was not entirely satisfied. After Sweden’s win he pointed to the loss of tempo and defensive errors that allowed Tunisia to get back into the game. Those concerns resurfaced here, especially on the set pieces. Against Morocco, who are sharper and more physical than Sweden or Tunisia, the same mistakes will cost more.
Morocco awaits in Monterrey on June 29. They reached the milestone in Atlanta after coming from behind twice against Haiti, a 4-2 win thanks to a goal and assist from Hakimi, a stoppage-time equalizer from Sybari and two second-half substitute goals. That was followed by a 1-1 draw with Brazil and a 1-0 win over Scotland. Hakimi said afterwards: “We didn’t start well, but we changed it using our mentality. The next match will be tough.”
He is right. In 2022, Morocco reached the semi-finals. The Netherlands have reached the round of 16 in every World Cup they have entered since 1974. One of those records ends in Monterey.
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Brobby has three goals and a point to prove. Koeman has ten goals and set piece problems. Morocco have Hakimi and a team that has made life difficult for better teams than the Netherlands all tournament. One of them will be more important on June 29.