Tunisia W vs North Macedonia W

Tunisia's opening 10–2 burst in the first 12 minutes effectively killed the contest. North Macedonia could not beat the Tunisian goalkeeper from distance and lacked the physicality to break through a disciplined defensive line. Once the lead reached 15–4 with eight minutes left in the first half, the outcome was never in doubt.

Fadwa Aouij — Tunisia's top scorer from the Italy match (9 goals) continued her outstanding tournament. While individual scorer data was not published at the time of writing, Aouij's movement off the ball and finishing were central to Tunisia's fluid attack.

Tunisia's defensive unit — The 11 goals conceded is the fewest by any team in the tournament so far; Kosovo conceded 35 against Algeria and 40 against Greece in their first two outings.

Leona Milenkoska — North Macedonia's brightest spark in the opening loss to Greece (10 goals), she was starved of service throughout and could not replicate her influence.

The 43–11 scoreline (halftime 20–4) tells a story of total dominance rarely seen at this level. Tunisia's 32-goal winning margin is the largest in the women's tournament thus far, surpassing Greece's 40–20 win over Kosovo played earlier on the same day. The raw shot count and save percentage data were not officially released, but the half-time gap alone — a 16-goal lead — demonstrates a chasm in quality that North Macedonia could not bridge.

For context: North Macedonia had scored 26 goals in their 31–26 loss to Greece; Tunisia cut that output to 11, a 58% reduction. Tunisia, meanwhile, improved from 25 goals against Italy to 43, a 72% increase.

Tunisia (2 wins, 0 losses, 4 points) sit joint top of the standings alongside Greece (2–0–0), with Algeria (1–0–0) yet to play their second match. The top two teams after the round-robin advance to the gold medal game on 1 September; third and fourth play for bronze, fifth and sixth for fifth place.

North Macedonia (0–2–0, 0 points) are rooted to the bottom and face a must-win against Algeria on 26 August — failure to take points would likely condemn them to the fifth-place playoff.

Next up for Tunisia: a pivotal clash with group leaders Greece on 26 August at 17:30 local time in Fasano. For North Macedonia: Algeria on 26 August at 15:00.

A comprehensive demolition that confirms Tunisia as genuine medal contenders in Taranto. The defensive solidity shown against Italy carried over in emphatic fashion; if they can replicate that defensive structure against Greece, top spot is within reach. For North Macedonia, damage limitation is now the priority before a winnable fixture against Kosovo on 30 August.