World Cup Group F

4-0 against Tunisia! Japan puts on a dominant performance

Japan’s Daichi Kamada celebrates—and with him, virtually an entire nation.(Bild: AP/AP Photo/Matias Delacroixpyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Japan secured its first victory in its second match at the World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The Asian team defeated Tunisia 4-0 on Saturday in Monterrey and, sitting in second place in Group F with the same number of points as leader the Netherlands, is on track for the Round of 16.

A single point in their final match against third-place Sweden will be enough to secure their spot. In the 1,000th match in World Cup history, Daichi Kamada (4th minute), Ayase Ueda (31st, 83rd minutes), and Junya Ito (69th minute) scored.

+3

Fotos

The Tunisians had hoped for a coaching boost following the dismissal of Sabri Lamouchi and the subsequent appointment of “firefighter” Hervé Renard on Tuesday. However, there was no sign of that in their first match following the 1-5 loss to Sweden—which included three lineup changes—in front of 51,243 spectators; they simply weren’t close enough to their opponents. As early as the opening minute, they were lucky that a supposed penalty-box foul went unpunished. It was just the beginning of Japan’s one-way soccer.

Kamada scored with his heel
Following a cross from Nakamura, Kamada—likely unintentionally—sent the ball spectacularly over the line with his heel. A second goal didn’t materialize, as Dylan Bronn made a last-ditch save in front of Kamada on a cross (9th minute). A minute later, Tunisia’s goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen was lucky to make a save on a shot by Takehiru Tomiyasu. The ball was just a hair’s breadth from crossing the line completely. A 2-0 lead was in the air and came just over half an hour into the game. Ueda drove toward the goal, controlled the ball, and placed a shot into the corner from the edge of the penalty area.

After the break, Ito scored following a perfect through ball. Ueda once again provided the finishing touch for the “Blue Samurai,” this time heading Sano’s cross into the far corner. With no points to their name, the Tunisians have no chance of advancing to the knockout stage ahead of their final match against the Netherlands.