Japan beat Tunisia 4-0 on June 20 in their Group F match at the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico, marking the 1,000th game in FIFA World Cup history [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Ayase Ueda scored twice for Japan, while Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito each added a goal [8, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
The victory puts Japan joint top of Group F with the Netherlands on 4 points, moving them closer to qualifying for the knockout rounds [1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7]. Japan played without injured forward Takefusa Kubo but adapted their tactics, with coach Hajime Moriyasu praising Kamada’s shift to a shadow striker role. “Daichi (Kamada) has mostly been deployed as a defensive midfielder recently, but... we had him shift to the shadow striker position today,” Moriyasu said. “The idea was to bring out his strengths and have him control the team's offence and defence from that advanced position.” [9]
Tunisia’s loss means elimination from the 2026 World Cup, as they have 0 points after losing their previous match 5-1 to Sweden [8, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6]. Tunisia appointed Herve Renard as their new head coach shortly before the game, replacing Sabri Lamouchi. Renard urged his team to stay focused ahead of their final match. “We still have a third game to play, we are at a World Cup and must remain focused. We must be professionals to the very end,” he said [1].
Japanese fans celebrated peacefully after the match and took part in gomi hiroi, a practice of cleaning up litter left behind [7]. Moriyasu said, “We prepared well for what we wanted to do and played aggressively. ... I am very happy that we were able to secure a victory in such a game.” [1]
Japan’s next decisive Group F fixture will be against Sweden. The result will determine final standings and which teams advance to the knockout stage [10, 4, 6, 7].
