JAPAN pummeled Tunisia, 4-0, in the Group F match to move a step closer to the knockout stages of the Fifa World Cup on Saturday (Sunday, June 21, 2026, PH time).
The team known as the Samurai Blue made history with four goals against Tunisia, which is the most Japan has scored in a World Cup game.
Japan marked the 1,000th men’s match in World Cup history with the country’s most dominant game.
Ayase Ueda scored two goals, while Daichi Kamada and Junya Itō had one goal apiece to put Japan level with the Netherlands on four points. The Dutch occupy first place over Japan thanks to scoring one more goal across their first two games.
Tunisia, which became the first-ever team to fire its coach after the opening game, has been eliminated from the tournament after the loss.
Tunisia appointed two-time Africa Cup of Nations winner Hervé Renard to try and rescue Tunisia after its dismal 5-1 loss to Sweden, but even the coaching change could not contain Japan’s speedy attack nor create any clear chances of its own.
Kamada opened the scoring in Monterrey, Mexico, in the fourth minute, the fastest in Japan’s World Cup history.
Ayase scored another goal in the 31st minute to make it 2-0, while Itō netted the third goal in the 69th minute, before Ueda’s masterful looping header in the 83rd minute capped off the impressive night for Japan.
Japan will play against Sweden in Dallas on Thursday (Friday, PH time), and Tunisia will battle the Netherlands in Kansas City at the same time. / RSC
