Eagle of Norrkoping: Swedish second-tier player taking on his country of birth

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/tunisia/QqZVYk95/"]Tunisia[/a] right-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/neffati-moutaz/4pLs2Gzb/"]Moutaz Neffati[/a] was born in Norrkoping, came through the youth system at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/norrkoping/tpjDEBbi/"]IFK Norrkoping[/a], and currently features for the side relegated from Allsvenskan to the second-tier Superettan for the 2026 season.[/p][p]That makes him the only player picked for the World Cup to ply their trade in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sweden/OQyqbHWB/"]Sweden[/a], other than [i]Blagult's [/i]own [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nordfeldt-kristoffer/zidYDVKR/"]Kristoffer Nordfeldt[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aik/lzqk4S68/"]AIK[/a]), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ali-taha/no0y4BJ5/"]Taha Ali[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/malmo-ff/tYNTdpar/"]Malmo[/a]) and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/stroud-elliot/4rVMk5Sb/"]Elliot Stroud[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mjallby/S0XtXM1E/"]Mjallby[/a]).[/p][p]Neffati even represented Sweden at under-19 and under-21 levels, winning a cap for the higher age group as recently as 2025, the same year he switched his allegiance to Tunisia, the country of his heritage.[/p][p]The 21-year-old made his debut in Tunisia's final World Cup qualifier - a 3-0 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/namibia/QLENxLuR/"]Namibia[/a] in October 2025 - before two more caps at the FIFA Arab Cup in December. His fourth and fifth appearances came against fellow World Cup participants [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/haiti/nk4v10Z1/"]Haiti[/a] in [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/x4toKORL/"]Canada[/a] in the March international window, around the same time that Sweden grabbed the final spot in Group F by winning the playoffs.[/p][p]He was travelling on the Norrkoping team bus when it was announced that he would be part of Sabri Lamouchi's squad going to the World Cup: [b]"I can hardly believe it! It’s hard to take it in,”[/b] he exclaimed.[/p][image alt="Neffati celebrates a goal for Norrkoping this season" id="9fd74883-eb9e-4ae7-ae50-625e8cac4f51" credit-line="Mats Andersson / Bildbyran Photo Agency / Profimedia" guid="fc8551e2-f346-4990-966f-4905e368a03c" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]Whether Neffati gets on the pitch against the country of his birth at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/sweden-OQyqbHWB/tunisia-QqZVYk95/?mid=UaJKzaHN"]Estadio BBVA in the early hours of 15th June (CEST)[/a] remains to be seen. He did not feature in either of the two warm-up matches for The Eagles of Carthage earlier this month - defeats to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/austria/naHiWdnt/"]Austria[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/belgium/GbB957na/"]Belgium[/a].[/p][p]He has featured more prominently for Norrkoping in 2026, scoring twice in 11 appearances in all competitions - including finding the net against top-tier GAIS in Svenska Cupen - and he has stepped in to captain the side on occasion this season.[/p][p]The meeting of the two nations he holds citizenship for will be a proud moment in the full-back's young career, but many fans being priced out of what should be a joyous occasion is what is on Neffati's mind.[/p][p][b]"I know that many people don't have that opportunity in Tunisia. It's very expensive for many Swedes too, to get there and then to Dallas and then to Houston,"[/b] he said, before revealing that his parents will not be making the trip to North America.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/world/world-championship/"]Follow Tunisia vs Sweden and every World Cup match on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]