In a game in which they showed greater technical quality and an engaging and efficient attack, Japan overpowered Tunisia 4-0 in the early hours of this Sunday (21) at the BBVA stadium, in Monterrey (Mexico), in a match valid for Group F of the World Cup.
With the result, Japan takes second place in the group, with 4 points, the same as the leader Netherlands, but loses in goals scored (7 to 6). Tunisia, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the table, at zero, and is eliminated. Sweden is third, with 3 points.
In the next round, the Japanese will face the Swedes while the Dutch will face the Tunisians, both at 8 pm (Brasília time) on Thursday (25).
If Brazil comes first in Group C and Japan confirms second place in F, the two countries will face each other in the 32-team phase, the first of the knockout stages. If the Asians lose the next game, their opponents will, in this scenario, be the Swedes or the Dutch.
In addition to the elastic score, the duel will also be notable for being the number one thousand game in the history of the World Cups, according to FIFA data.
The dispute began with full pressure from Japan, who had five scoring chances in the first 9 minutes.
In the first move, Ueda dominated the area and fell when he was marked by Skhiri. Romanian referee István Kovács waited for the VAR conference, but then ordered the game to continue.
At 3 minutes the first goal came. In an attack from the left, Nakamura received the ball in the area, dribbled past the marker and crossed low for Kamada to complete in the small area.
At 5 minutes and 8 minutes, the Asian team reached Dahmen’s goal again with danger. And at 9 minutes the second goal missed by millimeters.
Ueda shot low from the edge of the box, and the goalkeeper fell and saved when the ball appeared to have clearly crossed the goal line, but VAR showed the artificial intelligence-scanned image indicating that the ball was millimeters over the line. Therefore, it was not a goal.
With another scare, Tunisia exerted a little pressure, but were unable to overcome the well-positioned Japanese defense.
Japan, on the other hand, maintained an engaging touch of the ball and reached the second goal in the 30th minute, with Ueda. He received it in the middle, advanced, without the marking pressing, and shot from the edge of the area, crossed, into Dahmen’s right corner.
Japanese efficiency can be confirmed in the first half statistics. The team had five shots on goal: three reached the target and two went into the net. Tunisia only shot twice, without reaching the goal.
In the second half, Tunisia’s coach, Hervé Renard, advanced his team’s marking and managed to balance the actions and put some pressure on the rival defense, but still without posing any real danger to goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
As the Japanese team had much more quality on the other side, they scored the third goal at 23 minutes, with Junya Ito.
In a good plot in the middle, Tanaka threw it in the middle to Ayase Ueda, who played it first, through elevation, to Ito. He entered the penalty area and touched the goalkeeper’s exit to increase the score.
With the substitutions on both teams, the game lost momentum towards the end, and Japan only managed until the referee’s final whistle.
The clash also marked the debut of Frenchman Renard in charge of Tunisia, replacing compatriot Sabri Lamouchi, who was fired after the 5-1 defeat suffered in the debut against Sweden.
This is the fourth edition of the World Cup in which Renard has worked. He led Saudi Arabia to a surprise victory over eventual champions Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and later coached the France women’s team.
