Swedish midfielder Mattias Svanberg made history on Monday morning, scoring the second-fastest goal by a substitute in the history of the FIFA World Cup.
The 27-year-old Svanberg entered the field at 83:19, as Sweden prepared to take a free-kick in the Tunisian final third. 18 seconds later, he had put the ball in the back of the net with his first touch.
The outright record for fastest goal from a substitute player is held by Uruguay’s Richard Morales, who scored against Senegal just 16 seconds after entering the fray.
Svanberg’s goal was initially disallowed by the assistant referee for offside. It was only after a lengthy VAR review that the goal was finally given.
The Blagult eventually ran out 5-1 winners. Yasin Ayari stole the headlines with a thunderbolt to open the scoring and another to cap off a fine opening evening for manager Graham Potter.
Star strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres were both on the scoresheet and assisted too (two and one, respectively). But it is Svanberg who goes down in history.
