Brian Brobbey and the Dutch roll in the rain to a 3-1 win over Tunisia to top World Cup Group F

by | Jun 26, 2026 | Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The lightning that streaked over Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night only briefly slowed the Oranje Fanwalk, as Dutch supporters marched en masse to watch the Netherlands play Tunisia in the World Cup, the top spot in Group F hanging in the balance.Nothing else seems to be slowing down the Dutch these days.Certainly not a Tunisian team in chaos.Brian Brobbey scored his third goal of the tournament, and the Netherlands got two more goals that deflected off Tunisian players and into their own net, sending the Dutch to a 3-1 victory and ultimately first place in their group.The Netherlands had begun the day tied at the top with Japan. But when the Samurai Blue only managed a 1-1 draw with Sweden in a game played simultaneously in Arlington, Texas, that left Virgil van Dijk and his teammates looking forward to a matchup with Group C runner-up Morocco on Monday in Monterrey, Mexico — and Japan with the heavy task of playing Brazil in the round of 32.“These are the kind of games you want to play. These are the big games, why you want to play in the World Cup,” Dutch defender Jan Paul van Hecke said. “I think the team is prepared for a big game, and everyone knows it’s game on.”Tunisia, which sacked its coach after a loss to open the World Cup, had already been eliminated from the tournament.The opening minutes Thursday night summed up the last couple of weeks for the Eagles of Carthage, too: Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries sent a ball across the front of the goal, Ellys Skhiri slapped at with his foot in an attempt to clear, and the Tunisian captain found the back of his own net instead.Brobbey made it 2-0 in the seventh minute, after the Dutch had earned a free kick from about 25 yards. The 6-foot-5 van Dijk expertly headed it across the box, and Brobbey was in perfect position to chip the ball past Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen.“If you can’t defend,” Tunisia coach Hervé Renard said, “you can’t do anything in football.”Tunisia finally scored in the 54th minute, when Hazem Mastouri redirected a corner kick into the net, only for th …

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