Sweden can seal last 16 spot against rattled Netherlands

Sweden face Netherlands tonight with the last 16 in reach

Sweden's second Group F match kicks off Saturday at 19:00 CEST in Monterrey (1) (3) (6). A win against the Netherlands puts your team on the brink of the knockout round, after that 5–1 demolition of Tunisia in the opener.

Koeman is under real pressure. The Dutch coach admitted his side fell short in their first match: "Fallamos mucho y hay bastante por corregir," he said, plenty to fix (7). Netherlands are missing key players and the Dutch press have not held back. One headline from the Swedish side: "We are scared of Sweden" (5).

Potter has Isak and Gyökeres firing. The pair ran Tunisia ragged in Monterrey and the manager believes the partnership will only grow stronger as the tournament goes on. Yasin Ayari also grabbed his moment, his goal made him the first player to score twice on a World Cup debut since a whole chain of firsts that ended up in a Reddit stat spiral.

Tunisia's coach: no magicians in football

Hervé Renard spoke ahead of Tunisia's match against Japan. "There is no magician in football," he said, but still promised to pull a trick on Japan after the Sweden defeat (4). Sabri Lamouchi, who coached Tunisia against Sweden, was reportedly sacked after that 5–1 result.

Zlatan says the US can win it all

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was blunt when asked if the United States can win the World Cup. "Yes," he said. The American players agree: "That's our mindset" (2).

Fan reactions

A stat doing the rounds on Reddit captures how wild this World Cup has been: Norway's Erling Haaland became the first player to score twice on his World Cup debut since New Zealand's Elijah Just, who was the first since Sweden's own Yasin Ayari, who was the first since Folarin Balogun, all in the space of one week. The thread on r/soccer is having fun with the chain.