The Netherlands were up two inside seven minutes, and the game barely felt competitive after that. Denzel Dumfries's early cross was turned into his own net by Ellyes Skhiri in the 3rd minute, and Brian Brobbey added his third goal of the tournament four minutes later. Tunisia found a route back through Hazem Mastouri, who turned in a corner on 54 minutes to make it 2-1, but Mike van Hecke restored the two-goal cushion on 62 — a header off a corner that deflected in off Anis Slimane's head on its way to goal. The Dutch finish the group stage with ten goals in three matches and a perfect platform heading into a round of 32 meeting with Morocco in Monterrey on June 29.
It was a professional, if untidy, send-off to the group phase for a Netherlands side that has now scored in every match of the tournament so far. Tunisia's resistance in the second half — Mastouri's goal, and pressure that forced Van Hecke's goal to go in off a deflection rather than cleanly — offered some pride in an otherwise one-sided group campaign that ends without a point.
🛋️ The Couch predicted Netherlands 2-0 Tunisia, with Gakpo opening the scoring and Reijnders adding a second-half goal. Got the winner right, missed everything else: no Gakpo goal, no Reijnders goal, and definitely no clean sheet — the actual scorers were an own goal off Skhiri, a Brobbey finish, and a deflected Van Hecke header, with Tunisia getting one back through Mastouri. Also: this one was filed for AT&T Stadium in Arlington. It was played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Ten goals in three group games is the kind of attacking output that makes the round of 32 meeting with Morocco look considerably less daunting on paper.
Mastouri's goal and the deflected nature of Van Hecke's strike suggest a side that competed in spells even as the scoreline ran away from them.
With Netherlands' top spot locked in, the simultaneous Japan-Sweden match decides who joins them in the round of 32 and who needs to lean on the third-place table.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +6 | 7 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 4 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 🇹🇳 Tunisia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -10 | 0 |
Netherlands' win confirms top spot in Group F outright. Japan currently sit second on 4 points, with Sweden needing a win in tonight's simultaneous fixture to leapfrog them. Tunisia's group-stage campaign ends without a point from three matches.