Tunisia have topped the list of teams conceding the most goals in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup so far, after the number of goals let in rose to 12 following their 1-3 defeat to the Netherlands in their final Group 6 match.
Tunisia conceded five goals against Sweden in the first round, then four against Japan, before the Netherlands added three more to the tally, capping a defensively torrid campaign in which the side ended all three matches with heavy losses.
That figure places Tunisia at the top of the negative table in the current edition, ahead of Qatar, who conceded 10 goals, Curaçao with 9, and Haiti and Uzbekistan, whose nets were each breached 8 times.
However, Tunisia's figure does not constitute a historical record for the group stage of the World Cup — it ranks fourth all time. The highest tally at this stage belongs to South Korea, who conceded 16 goals in the group stage of the 1954 World Cup, following defeats of 0-9 to Hungary and 0-7 to Turkey.
The historical record also features other teams that paid a heavy price for early defensive collapse. Haiti and Zaire both rank second, each conceding 14 goals in the group stage of the 1974 World Cup, while El Salvador conceded 13 in the group stage in 1982, including 10 in their famous 1-10 defeat to Hungary — the largest winning margin in the tournament's history.
Tunisia also share fourth place with Saudi Arabia, whose goal tally in the group stage also reached 12. The Saudi national team conceded 12 goals in the group stage of the 2002 World Cup, following defeats of 0-8 to Germany, 0-1 to Cameroon, and 0-3 to Ireland, in one of the heaviest defensive performances by an Arab side in World Cup history.
Tunisia thus do not break the all-time group-stage record, but they register the worst defensive tally among teams at the 2026 World Cup so far — a figure that reflects clear vulnerability against their Group 6 opponents: Sweden, Japan, and the Netherlands.