Celtic’s Sebastian Tounekti thrown into Tunisia nightmare before World Cup opener

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The preparations for the 2026 World Cup have begun for several Celtic players.

For some, such as Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston, there is a sense of optimism in the air after Scotland thumped Bolivia 4-0 in a friendly encounter on Saturday afternoon.

But for Celtic winger Sebastian Tounekti, his Tunisia side are hoping the worst is out of their system, because their friendly games have been a nightmare.

After losing 1-0 to ten-man Austria last week, Tunisia were smashed 5-0 by Belgium, and once again, Tounekti didn’t impress from the bench.

• READ MORE: Liam Scales silences Celtic critics in unfamiliar Ireland role vs Canada

Sebastian Tounekti fails to impress for out-of-sorts Tunisia

Tounekti coming off the bench and performing has been a speciality of his at Celtic. It’s starting games where he has been on the receiving end of verbal pelters.

But against Austria last week, they had a man sent off in the first half, yet they still went on to score the only goal of the game in the second half.

Celtic’s summer signing from Hammarby played around half an hour during that match.

However, against a star-studded Belgium team, which included the likes of Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Jeremy Doku, and Kevin de Bruyne, he watched his team crumble in the second half.

Tounekti came on at the break, with Belgium leading 1-0, before they went on to score a further four and wipe the floor with their opponents.

• Tounekti’s Sofascore rating against Austria: 6.6
• Tounekti’s Sofascore rating against Belgium: 6.5

Tounekti in a very familiar Celtic-themed World Cup group

Perhaps these two performances from Tunisia will be a kick up the backside, and their best displays will be left to the real thing, starting next week when Mexico hosts South Africa on June 11.

But Tounekti is in a very Celtic-themed World Cup group.

With the Netherlands being the big hitters in Group F, they have former Celtic star Virgil van Dijk hoping to lead them to success.

Then you have Sweden and Japan, who have Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda, respectively, in each team, so those games will make for interesting viewing from a Celtic perspective.