Sweden will open their World Cup Campaign in a challenging Group F against African side Tunisia on the 15th June at the Estadio Monterrey in Guadalupe.
For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.
The Scandinavian nation had an extremely difficult qualifying campaign where they were underwhelming in the qualifying group stage remaining winless. Thanks to their UEFA Nations League ranking, they received another opportunity to qualify via the play-offs where they defeated Ukraine and Poland to book their spot at the showpiece event.
In contrast, Tunisia dominated their CAF qualifying group and finished top of their group with nine wins and a draw to ensure qualification with relative ease. What was even more impressive was that they finished their qualifying campaign without conceding a single goal.
Sweden had to deal with key injury concerns prior to the World Cup. Emil Holm and Dejan Kulusevski couldn’t make the cut due to long-term concerns. Star marksman Alexander Isak hasn’t had a lot of regular game time this year due to a broken ankle sustained for Liverpool and defender Gabriel Gudmundsson remains a doubt as well. Tunisia only has a concern regarding Hannibal Mejbri who sustained a knock in a pre-tournament friendly with the rest of the squad available.
Although they had an impressive qualifying campaign, Tunisia is coming into this game on the back of two straight defeats and only one win in their last five games while Sweden has one defeat and two wins in their last five encounters but they scored six goals in their two play-off fixtures. Sweden definitely has defensive frailties as they don’t have a single clean sheet in their last 11 games but they have lethal strikers in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres. Looking at this particular fixture, we believe that the Swedes will open their World Cup account with a much-needed win.
Score Prediction: Sweden 3–1 Tunisia
Venue: Estadio Monterrey, Guadalupe, Mexico
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