Brian Brobbey scored his third goal of the World Cup, the Netherlands got a pair of goals that deflected off Tunisia into its own net, and the Dutch rolled in the rain to a 3-1 victory on Friday to advance to the knockout stage as the winners of Group F.
The Netherlands quickly found their form and took the lead when a Denzel Dumfries cross was turned into his own net by Ellyes Skhiri after just three minutes, before Brian Brobbey added another goal to his World Cup tally with a close-range volley just four minutes later.
The Netherlands and Japan had both begun the day on four points and were also level on the next two tiebreakers head-to-head record and goal difference, making the game a race between the two sides to win their respective matches by as large a margin as possible.
Tunisia kept plugging away and eventually pulled one back on 54 minutes through Hazem Mastouri’s superb header, but any hopes of a fightback were quickly extinguished when Jan Paul van Hecke’s flicked near-post header from a corner found the far corner of the net via the head of a Tunisian defender.
As the games progressed, the Dutch pulled away while Japan conceded an equalizer against Sweden, finishing the group stage in second place with the heavy task of facing powerhouse Brazil in the Round of 32.
The best players on the field for the Netherlands were Brian Brobbey, Tijjani Reijnders, and Donyell Malen, who all executed Ronald Koeman’s plan effectively, with Malen proving very difficult for Tunisian players to stop on the right wing.
The Netherlands began the tournament with a lackluster 2-2 draw against Japan in their opener, but with two goals apiece from Brobbey and Cody Gakpo, they routed Sweden 5-1 and have now built strong momentum heading into the knockout stage.
The nation of Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten has long held the moniker of best team never to have won the tournament, and they will now face Group C runners-up Morocco on Monday in the Round of 32.
For Tunisia, the World Cup is mercifully over three games, three losses, all by multiple-goal margins, and outscored 12-2 across the group stage, returning home as arguably the worst team in the tournament.
