Tunisia 1-3 Netherlands: Oranje ease past Tunisia to secure top spot in World Cup Group F | OneFootball

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The Netherlands sealed top spot in their World Cup group with a comfortable win over Tunisia in Kansas City, setting up a round of 32 tie with Morocco.

The Dutch started at a rapid pace, as they raced into a two-goal lead within six minutes, courtesy of an own goal and a Brian Brobbey tap-in.

Tunisia got one back at the start of the second half through Hazem Mastouri before Jan Paul van Hecke quickly restored the two-goal advantage for the Netherlands, as they sealed top spot in Group F, setting up a round of 32 tie with Morocco in Monterrey.

As it happened

Tunisia started the game brightly and should have taken the lead after just a minute. Hazem Mastouri did well down the left before picking out Ismaël Gharbi who was unmarked, but he fired over from inside the box.

But just a minute later, the Netherlands found themselves in front. The ball was worked out to the right to Denzel Dumfries who fired a low cross towards Brian Brobbey, but it was diverted into his own net by Ellyes Skhiri as the World Cup of own goals continued.

It went from bad to worse early on for Tunisia as they found themselves 2-0 down after only six minutes. Tijjani Reijnders whipped a free-kick onto the head of Virgil Van Dijk at the back post, who guided it back across goal into the path of Brobbey who couldn’t miss, as he boosted his tally for the tournament to three.

Tunisia passed up another good early chance as Anis Ben Slimane’s header was straight into the hands of Bart Verbruggen from close range.

While the Dutch continued to knock on the door, with Cody Gakpo and Reijnders having good opportunities, the scores remained the same at the break, with the two early goals the difference between the sides.

Dumfries looked set to add a third for the Netherlands at the start of the second half, but his goal-bound effort from close range was blocked remarkably by Skhiri. The Tunisian defender may not have known much about it, but he did very well to get his body in the way.

Just a few minutes later, Tunisia were back in the game. A corner was swung in by Hannibal Mejbri, with striker Hazem Mastouri guiding the ball into the corner to cut the deficit to one goal.

It wasn’t long before the two goal lead was restored for the Netherlands and it came from another corner. Jan Paul van Hecke rose highest to flick on Reijnders’ cross, with the headed effort taking a deflection off Ben Slimane on its way past Aymen Dahmen in the Tunisia net.

Reijnders nearly scored a fourth as he saw his looping effort come back off the crossbar.

Despite opportunities for more goals at both ends, it finished 3-1 to the Netherlands in Kansas City, as they set up a round of 32 game against Morocco in Monterrey.

Tunisia finish bottom of the group, as they bow out of the competition without a win.

Netherlands analysis: A confident showing from the Dutch

The way the Dutch flew out of the traps in Kansas City was electric. They go down as the fastest team to take a two-nil lead in a World Cup match since Poland vs USA back in 2002.

Understandably, they seemed to take their foot off the brake as the game wore on, perhaps realising how comfortable they were against the bottom team in the group.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the Netherlands, as Tunisia did score and create a couple of really good opportunities in the first half, including one with the scores still level in the opening minutes. If Ismaël Gharbi had taken his great early opportunity, then who knows it could have been a completely different game.

Ronald Koeman will know however that his side cannot afford to give those type of opportunities to Morocco in their round of 32 tie, or else the African side will punish them, like they have done to both Brazil and Scotland already in the tournament.

Tunisia analysis: A tournament to forget

Tunisia’s World Cup is over, and it could not have gone much worse for the African side. After an unbeaten qualifying campaign, spirits would have been high, with the hope that they could at least be competitive within the games.

Ultimately, they were drawn in a very challenging group and realistically would have found it hard to get out of it no matter how well they played. But rather than the fact that they have been eliminated, it is more the manner in which it has happened.

After a heavy opening game defeat to Sweden, which resulted in the sacking of Sabri Lamouchi, Hervé Renard was given the job on a short-term contract. It is safe to say, that appointment was not a success, with Tunisia continuing in the same way as they started, with a 4-0 defeat to Japan coming before the defeat today.

With Hervé Renard set to depart, Tunisia will aim to draw a line under this tournament and move on as quickly as possible.

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