Key events

Barney Ronay was in Dallas to enjoy the opening match of Group F that ended in a 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan.

The World Cup continued to produce the unexpected in Arlington. On a throbbingly hot afternoon in the low flat plains outside Dallas the Netherlands and Japan played out an episodically thrilling opening Group F game, Daichi Kamada scoring an 88th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2 just as the Dutch looked like taking an early hold on one of the tougher groups.

There has been so much talk of tired players, format failure and empty seats (the stadium was full here), talk so feverishly committed you wondered at times if it was necessary to play the games at all. But it does feel as though something else has been taking place in the opening games. Maybe – whisper it – the World Cup is actually good.

Preamble

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of match 12 of the 2026 World Cup between Sweden and Tunisia. Kick-off in this Group F clash at Estadio Monterrey is 8pm local time (10pm EDT/3am BST/12pm AEST).

This shapes as a must-win contest for both teams following the earlier 2-2 draw between the Netherlands and Japan that demonstrated the qualities of the group heavyweights. However, recent form suggests this clash will not reach similar technical heights.

Sweden didn’t win a match between June 2025 and March 2026 as they laboured to the finals via the playoff route. Since victories over Ukraine and Poland they have gone another two matches without success.

Tunisia qualified with ease from a very kind CAF group phase but have won just one of their past seven outings. That includes three consecutive matches without scoring, culminating in a 5-0 thrashing by Belgium in their final warm-up.

I’ll be back shortly with team news and a round-up of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an eye on Ivory Coast v Ecuador and email any thoughts about the tournament so far to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.