Túnez golpea primero con cabezazo y aviva el Grupo F del Mundial 2026

Omar Rekik’s header before halftime gave Tunisia exactly the kind of momentum swing it needed in Monterrey. Hannibal Mejbri drove a precise ball into the area, Rekik met it with a sharp turn of the neck, and Tunisia suddenly had a goal that changed both the scoreline and the mood of the match.

That mattered because this was not just another group game. Tunisia and Sweden were drawn with Japan and the Netherlands in a Group F that FIFA described as one of the tournament’s tightest, and Tunisia entered the contest with a defensive record that made any breakthrough especially valuable. The Eagles of Carthage had not conceded a single goal during African qualifying, so one clean finish could alter the entire shape of the night.

Tunisia’s place at the 2026 World Cup had already carried weight well before kickoff. The team secured qualification on September 8, 2025, with a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea, sealed by Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane’s stoppage-time goal. That result made Tunisia the second African side and the 18th nation overall to book a place in the first 48-team World Cup.

The 2026 tournament is Tunisia’s seventh appearance at a World Cup finals, following trips in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022. The record remains unfinished business: Tunisia has never advanced beyond the group stage. In Qatar 2022, it managed one win, one draw and one defeat, a reminder of how narrow the margins remain at this level and why Rekik’s header carried so much emotional weight.

Sabri Lamouchi named his 26-man squad on May 15, 2026, and FIFA described it as a markedly refreshed group compared with the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations roster, with several new faces included. That new-look squad was asked to absorb pressure against Sweden at Monterrey Stadium in Monterrey on June 15, 2026, while Sweden arrived with its own late qualification story after Viktor Gyokeres pushed it past Poland.

For Tunisia, the first goal was more than a statistic. It was a signal that the match was still there to be won, and a reminder that one header can keep an entire World Cup campaign breathing.