Full Time
Japan put Tunisia to the sword with a thoroughly professional 4-0 win in Group F on June 21, booking their place in the next round and sending the Tunisians home in the process. Daichi Kamada opened the scoring inside four minutes — Japan's fastest-ever World Cup goal — before Ayase Ueda added a brace either side of Junya Ito's third. Tunisia offered precious little by way of a response, and Herve Renard's side were eliminated without much ceremony. Japan join the Netherlands at the top of Group F on four points, with all the momentum heading into the knockout rounds.
Pre-match Talking Points
-
1Tunisia came into this tournament needing a result and immediately lost 5-1 to Sweden. That's bad. What's worse is they then sacked their manager and replaced him mid-tournament with Hervé Renard, a man who has now managed three different national teams at three consecutive World Cups — Morocco in 2018, Saudi Arabia in 2022, and now Tunisia in 2026. Whatever you think of Tunisia's chances, Renard's CV is genuinely impressive. Lose this, though, and they're out.
-
2Japan and Tunisia have met six times in recent memory, and Japan have won five of them. The most recent was a 2-0 friendly in Kobe in October 2023, which Tunisia fans have presumably tried to forget. Tunisia have never beaten Japan at a World Cup, and the head-to-head record gives Japan every reason to feel relaxed about this — though they'll be conscious that a desperate team with nothing to lose can be surprisingly awkward.
-
3Keep an eye on Daichi Kamada. He scored Japan's equaliser against the Netherlands and plays with the kind of quiet confidence that only becomes obvious in retrospect — you'll watch the highlights back and wonder why no one was marking him. He's the sort of player who makes football look easier than it is, which is either very good or very annoying depending on whose side you're on.
-
4Japan are without Takuya Kubo, their most creative forward, after he picked up a knee injury in the Netherlands game. Their captain Endo Wataru also withdrew before the tournament even started. That's two of their best players gone before the second match, which would be a concerning subplot for any team — and yet Japan are still favourites here, which tells you something about how much Tunisia have struggled.
-
5This is, officially, the 1,000th match in World Cup history. Yes, someone has counted. Whether Tunisia or Japan care particularly about being the teams to play the milestone game is unclear, but it's a reasonable thing to say at a party and sound like you know your football. The more interesting stat: Tunisia have been to seven World Cups and never made it past the group stage. They are not breaking that record today if they lose.
Team Talking Points
-
1Tunisia's World Cup ended where it usually does — the group stage — after a 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands in their final match, following losses to Sweden and Japan. It's Tunisia's seventh World Cup appearance and they still haven't got out of the group at any of them, so this was disappointing rather than shocking.
-
2There wasn't really a high point on the scoreline, but there's a human one worth mentioning: captain Ellyes Skhiri held the midfield together all tournament even as things fell apart around him, and Elias Achouri kept trying to make things happen going forward against difficult opposition. Small credit in a rough few weeks.
-
3The turning point came early — a 5-1 defeat to Sweden was heavy enough that manager Sabri Lamouchi was sacked mid-tournament. His replacement, Herve Renard, couldn't turn things around before a 4-0 loss to Japan all but ended things. A tournament that unravels fast is hard to watch, but it happens to plenty of teams — no need to pile on.
-
4Hannibal Mejbri, the 23-year-old midfielder who came through Manchester United's academy, was tipped as Tunisia's most exciting player coming in and showed flashes of the close control and directness that got people talking about him. Worth mentioning if you want to sound like you know the squad beyond the results.
-
5Tunisia go home with three defeats and a coaching change, but a golden generation of Achouri, Mejbri and Skhiri is still young enough to try again in four years. Sometimes the kindest thing you can say about a rough tournament is that at least it's over.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
Tunisia's tournament fell apart fast — a manager sacked after one game, three defeats, done by matchday three — but they're a team that keeps qualifying, which still counts for something.
🚫
Avoid saying
"They were never any good anyway" — steer clear of that. It was a bad few weeks for a team that's been to seven World Cups, not evidence of anything permanent, and there's no need to kick a team while it's down.
-
1Japan's World Cup ended in the Round of 32, beaten 2-1 by Brazil in about as cruel a way as football manages — Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time, after Japan had led for most of the first half. Losing to a five-time champion by the smallest and latest possible margin is still losing, but it's the kind of exit that gets you more respect than most wins.
-
2The high point was the goal that started it all: Kaishu Sano, a 25-year-old defensive midfielder who'd scored exactly one goal in the Bundesliga all season, drove at Brazil's midfield, brushed past Casemiro and beat Alisson from 20 yards for his first-ever international goal. For about an hour, Japan were genuinely threatening to knock Brazil out.
-
3The turning point was Brazil's response — Casemiro equalising just after the hour, and then Martinelli's stoppage-time winner snatching it away in the last minute Japan had left to defend. There's no real misstep to point to; Japan simply ran out of time against a side with more firepower on the bench.
-
4Sano was the name that came out of this tournament. A relative unknown outside Japan before the match, his goal against Brazil made him one of the breakout stories of the whole World Cup, on a team not exactly short of talented players.
-
5Japan leave having taken a five-time World Cup winner to the very last kick of the game. That's the kind of near-miss that tends to get remembered a lot longer than a routine group-stage exit — and it's a solid marker for wherever this team goes next.
🍺
Top thing to say down the pub
Japan led Brazil at the World Cup and lost it to a goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time — as gutting as football gets, and exactly the kind of near-miss that makes people take Japan seriously.
🚫
Avoid saying
Don't say "Japan are just there to make up the numbers" — they were 96 minutes and one wonder goal away from knocking Brazil out of the World Cup; check the scoreline before assuming otherwise.