FIFA World Cup 2026 · Group F · Matchday 2 · Estadio Monterrey · 20 June 2026
Tunisia 0–4 Japan (Kamada 4', Ueda 31', Ito 69', Ueda 83')
There was a neat symmetry to the occasion: this was the 1,000th match in World Cup history, and Japan marked it by writing a little history of their own. The Samurai Blue, so often gallant runners-up in the narrative of these tournaments, were instead utterly clinical — becoming the first AFC nation ever to score four goals in a World Cup game, and recording the largest margin of victory by an Asian side in the competition. For Tunisia, it was the end of the road, and a brutal one.
Japan strike early and never relent
Japan needed just four minutes to set the tone, and it was the quickest goal in their World Cup history. The architect was the outstanding Keito Nakamura, who danced into the box and squared invitingly for Daichi Kamada to prod home through a crowd of bodies. From there, a fluid 3-4-2-1 system carved Tunisia open at will, working the flanks and exploiting the half-spaces with the kind of crisp, fearless combination play that has become this team's signature.
The second, on 31 minutes, was a thing of real quality: Ayase Ueda collecting the ball 18 yards out and curling an exquisite strike into the bottom-left corner. It was the opening goal of a personal triumph for the striker, and it left Tunisia — limited to an expected-goals figure of barely 0.05 across the whole match — already chasing a lost cause.
Ueda the headline act
The second half brought more of the same. Junya Ito, a constant menace down the right, rolled in a third on 69 minutes after being teed up by Ueda, before returning the favour late on — though it was Kaoru Sano's pinpoint delivery from the right that Ueda looped expertly into the bottom corner with a header on 83 minutes to seal his brace. Ueda's two goals and an assist made him the undisputed star of the night, the spearhead of an attack that looks as dangerous as any outside the traditional favourites. On this evidence, talk of Japan finally making a deep run is far from fanciful.
A nightmare ends for Tunisia
For Tunisia, this completes a chastening World Cup. Outscored 9-1 across their two defeats — having already been thumped 5-1 by Sweden — they exit at the group stage amid genuine upheaval, with the experienced Hervé Renard having taken the managerial reins amid the turmoil. There is a cruel irony there: Renard is the man who masterminded one of the great World Cup shocks, Saudi Arabia's defeat of Argentina in 2022, and a two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner. Here he endured a baptism of fire. The few crumbs of comfort were defensive: goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen made several saves, including a smart stop to deny Takehiro Tomiyasu off the line, that spared his side an even heavier scoreline. But there was no disguising the gulf in quality.
What it means for Group F
Victory lifts Japan onto four points, level with the Netherlands at the top of Group F and into second place on goal difference, with their fate firmly in their own hands ahead of a mouthwatering final-round clash with Sweden. A team that drew with the Dutch and dismantled Tunisia carries genuine momentum, and few sides will fancy facing them in this mood.
Tunisia, sadly, are eliminated, their campaign over with a game still to play. A federation that arrived with hopes of competing must now begin a rebuild, and Renard — a serial overachiever with unfancied nations — will be charged with finding the attacking spark that was so conspicuously absent here. They leave North America with much to ponder, and a long road back ahead.