Sweden started their FIFA World Cup 2026 on the perfect note with a 5-1 win over Tunisia at the Stadio Monterrey on Monday. Yasin Ayari scored twice while Victor Gyokeres, Mattias Svanberg and Alexander Isak scored one each to guide Sweden to a commendable victory. While the performance by Sweden was enough to grab headlines, what left fans buzzing was the use of ‘Snicko’ technology when it came to Svanberg’s goal. It took just 18 seconds for the Swedish footballer to find the back of the net after coming on as a substitute as he latched onto a Yasin Ayari set-piece.
However, the goal was denied by the assistant referee who ruled it to be offiside – a decision that left the Swedish dugout fuming as they argued that the ball touched Isak before falling to Svanberg. In order to check the deflection, the officials used a ball contact technology which is extremely similar to the ‘Snicko’ used in cricket.
The ball showed a clear spike when it came close to Isak and as a result, the goal was allowed.
BREAKING: Cricket just invaded the World Cup! Snicko makes its football debut
In Sweden vs Tunisia match, VAR pulled out the ultimate crossover weapon: cricket’s Snicko technology complete with audio spikes and ball sensors to check if Alexander Isak got the faintest… pic.twitter.com/ZdrIYFKSXb
— Michelle (@Chefdoo95) June 15, 2026
Tunisia head coach Sabri Lamouchi called the team’s FIFA World Cup 2026 opener loss against Sweden “difficult” and “painful”. His team suffered a 1-5 loss to Sweden on Sunday (Local Time) as only Omar Rekik was able to find the net.
Tunisia endured a difficult outing, with several costly mistakes proving decisive. Goalkeeper Mouhib Chamakh was responsible for Sweden’s opening goal in the 18th minute after misjudging a long clearance, while captain Ellyes Skhiri committed an error that led directly to Viktor Gyokeres‘s strike in the 59th minute.
In the match, Sweden’s Yasin Ayari opened and completed the scoring, and substitute Mattias Svanberg also scored a goal. It was Alexander Isak and Gyokeres who consistently troubled Tunisia’s back line throughout the match. For Tunisia, Rekik was the only name on the scoresheet.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Lamouchi expressed his disappointment with the result, describing the defeat as “difficult” and “painful” and admitting that beginning the tournament with such a heavy loss was a difficult setback for his team. “It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult,” Lamouchi said as quoted by Reuters. He rued the mistakes in the field committed by the team, saying, “We made way too many mistakes.”
(With agency inputs)