Japan's national football team secured its first win at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America, moving a step closer to advancing from the group stage. On a stage staged as the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup history, Japan set a new milestone for Asian football.
Japan crushed Tunisia 4-0 in their second Group F match at the North and Central America World Cup, held at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, on Saturday (Korea time).
After drawing 2-2 with title contender the Netherlands in their first match, Japan improved to one win and one draw (four points) with the victory. They moved into second place in the group behind the Netherlands, who lead on goal difference, significantly boosting their chances of advancing to the round of 32. Tunisia, who had already lost 1-5 to Sweden and now fell to Japan, were eliminated from the group stage with two losses in two matches.
Japan pressed forward from the start. In the fourth minute, a build-up that started from the goalkeeper was quickly carried into the opponent's half, and Daichi Kamada finished off a cross from Keito Nakamura to open the scoring. Following his equalizer against the Netherlands, Kamada scored in two consecutive matches.
In control of the game, Japan added another goal in the 31st minute. On a counterattack, Ayase Ueda shook the net with a powerful right-footed strike to extend the lead.
The flow did not change in the second half. Japan blocked Tunisia's attacks with solid defense and strong forward pressing, and in the 24th minute of the second half, Junya Ito calmly finished a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper to effectively decide the match.
Then, in the 38th minute of the second half, Ueda completed his brace with a header to cap the 4-0 rout.
Japan demonstrated high efficiency on the day, connecting five of their 11 shots on target and converting four of those into goals. Tunisia, by contrast, failed to create any meaningful chances throughout the match and looked listless.
This victory in particular will remain a meaningful record not only in Japanese football history but for Asian football as a whole. Japan became the first Asian nation to score four goals in a single match at a World Cup finals. At the same time, the four-goal margin set a new record for the largest winning margin by an Asian nation at a World Cup finals.
FIFA also highlighted Japan's achievement after the match, saying, "Asian nations have played 151 matches at the World Cup so far, but no team had ever scored four goals in a single match."
Tunisia, who sacked manager Sabri Lamouchi immediately after their first-match defeat and made an emergency appointment of Hervé Renard, tried to turn things around but could not overcome Japan's organization and finishing.
Japan, now the winner of the 1,000th match in World Cup history, will play their final group-stage match against Sweden on Wednesday. Attention is focused on whether Japan can continue their upward momentum in Group F, which had been rated as the group of death.
