Dugout Discussion
15 June 2026 4 comments
TopMarx TopMarx
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If you are staying up late for this one or are simply trying to stay awake on the night bus home, you can at least expect some goals in Sweden v Tunisia.

The Swedes are without a clean sheet in more than a year and have conceded an average of over two goals per match in that time. Opponents Tunisia won nine of their 10 qualifying matches but lost 5-0 to Belgium in their final friendly before the tournament.

Kick-off at the Estadio Monterrey in Mexico is at 03:00 BST.

TEAM NEWS

Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres ($7.8m) scored four goals in Sweden’s two play-off matches, as they overcame Ukraine and then Poland to reach the World Cup. He’s the only player in either side to be found in more than five per cent of teams.

Multi-million pound striker Alexander Isak ($8.0m) starts alongside him with further Premier League representation to be found in Victor Lindelof ($4.0m), Yasin Ayari ($5.3m) and Gabriel Gudmundsson ($4.2m).

Anthony Elanga ($5.8m), Lucas Bergvall ($5.1m) and Burnley’s Hjalmar Ekdal ($3.7m) warm the bench.

For the Tunisians, Hannibal Mejbri ($4.8m) earns his 46th cap for his country. The former Manchester United player takes all set-pieces and supplied two assists during last winter’s AFCON tournament.

LINE-UPS

Sweden XI: Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Isak Hien, Victor Lindelöf, Alexander Bernhardsson, Jesper Karlström, Yasin Ayari, Gabriel Gudmundsson, Benjamin Nygren, Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak

Subs: T. Ali, L. Bergvall, H. Ekdal, A. Elanga, A. Elanga, V. Johansson, H. Johansson, G. Nilsson, K. Sema, E. Smith, C. Starfelt, E. Stroud, M. Svanberg, D. Svensson, J. Widell Zetterström, B. Zeneli.

Tunisia XI: Abdelmouhib Chamakh, Yan Valery, Montassar Talbi, Omar Rekik, Ali Abdi, Rani Khedira, Ellyes Skhiri, Anis Slimane, Hannibal, Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida, Elias Saad

Subs: E. Achouri, A. Arous, K. Ayari, H. Mahmoud, S. Ben Hassen, M. Ben Ouanes, D. Bronn, F. Chaouat, R. Chikhaoui, A. Dahmen, R. Elloumi, I. Gharbi, H. Mastouri, M. Neffati, S. Tounekti


TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

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  1. The Knights Template
    • 12 Years
    7 hours, 47 mins ago

    Best pie you’ve ever had? Who would win the World Cup of Pies?

    1. Haa-lala-land
      • 5 Years
      7 hours, 35 mins ago

      Piero Hincapie likes pies

      1. The Knights Template
        • 12 Years
        7 hours, 21 mins ago

        Empanadas?

  2. The Knights Template
    • 12 Years
    7 hours, 22 mins ago

    £120 annual membership, when on Earth did that happen? I remember when it was £13!