Tunisia 1-3 Netherlands: FIFA World Cup Match Report

Tunisia 1-3 Netherlands closed a group stage in which Tunisia scored twice, and the goal they took from this match was the second of the two. Two down at half-time, they got one back after the break and conceded a third, so the second period finished level at one apiece — the only forty-five minutes of their tournament they did not lose.

That is a thin consolation and it is the honest limit of what the scoreline offers. Tunisia arrived having been beaten 5-1 by Sweden and 0-4 by Japan, without a point and with a goal record of 1:9. They left with 2:12 and the same zero in the points column. Only Iraq conceded as many across the entire group stage.

The Netherlands, by contrast, needed a result to guarantee top spot and got one without the match ever being in doubt after the interval. They had drawn 2-2 with Japan, beaten Sweden 5-1 and now this — ten goals scored in three matches, the joint-highest total of any group winner alongside Germany and France.

The Netherlands finished first in Group F on seven points with a 10:4 record and went into the Round of 32 against Morocco. Japan drew 1-1 with Sweden the same day to take second on five, and Sweden's four points and level goal difference were enough for one of the eight best third-placed places, sending them to a tie with France.

Group F therefore sent three of its four teams into the knockout stage, and Tunisia were the one left behind — bottom on nought points, three defeats, twelve conceded. In a format that carried thirty-two of forty-eight teams out of the group stage, finishing without a point is a hard way to exit, and Tunisia managed it in a group where the qualifying line sat at four points.

Our pre-match call was Double Chance 1X (Tunisia or Draw) at 1.42. It lost, and by the time the match was played the premise had been dead for ten days. The pick was published in May and priced Tunisia as a side capable of holding a draw at their own ground; there is no such thing as an own ground in a World Cup group, and by matchday three they had conceded nine goals in two matches. Nothing in the tournament to that point justified a 1.42 shot on them avoiding defeat, and we did not update the position. Verdict: lost