Marrakech – Tunisia face Japan in the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup history at Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico. Kick-off is set for 11:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 20, which translates to 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 21 in Morocco (GMT+1). Fans across the MENA region can follow the action live on beIN Sports.
The Group F fixture arrives 96 years after the tournament’s first-ever matches, when Montevideo, Uruguay, hosted France against Mexico and the United States against Belgium in 1930. A record 209 national teams entered qualifying for this expanded 48-team edition, up from just 13 at the inaugural tournament.
Tunisia come into the contest at rock bottom of Group F after a 5-1 hammering by Sweden on Matchday 1 – their heaviest defeat in World Cup history. Japan sit on one point following a resilient 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in Dallas.
The fallout from that Sweden result was immediate. The Tunisian Football Federation sacked head coach Sabri Lamouchi, making him the first manager in World Cup history to be dismissed after just one game. The Frenchman had overseen only four matches in charge, two of which were scoreless defeats to Austria and Belgium in early June warm-up friendlies.
‘There are no magicians in football’
Hervé Renard was named his replacement. This marks Renard’s third consecutive World Cup with a third different nation, having led Morocco at Russia 2018 and Saudi Arabia at Qatar 2022, where he engineered the famous group-stage upset of Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Renard, however, rejected any talk of miracles at his pre-match press conference. “There are no magicians in football. There is hard work, there is preparation, and then there is being effective at the right moment,” he said.
He stressed collective discipline as the only way forward. “Against this Japanese team, we will have to be perfect collectively. We must respect Japan, but we must not fear them,” Renard added. “When you think you are dead, you need to find the resources to wake up and never give up.”
Captain Ellyes Skhiri, whose costly turnover led directly to Sweden’s third goal through Victor Gyökeres, acknowledged the weight of the moment. “The week has been difficult and turbulent, but we have an image to restore,” Skhiri expressed. “There were two options: either I disappear because I can’t accept my mistake, or I accept it and bounce back in the next match.”
Skhiri also noted the significance of the fixture number. “Being able to take part in the 1,000th World Cup match is truly symbolic,” he said.
History and current form favor Japan
Statistically, Japan hold a firm edge. Hajime Moriyasu’s side have lost just two of their seven World Cup group games since 2018, despite conceding in every single one. Five of Japan’s seven World Cup goals since Qatar 2022 have been either scored or assisted by substitutes, underlining Moriyasu’s sharp bench management.
Their 89th-minute equalizer against the Netherlands came via substitute Koki Ogawa’s deflected effort off Daichi Kamada.
The Opta supercomputer gives Japan a 61.3% win probability from 25,000 simulations, with a draw at 22.9% and a Tunisia win at 15.8%.
The two sides have met four times overall. Japan have won three, including a 2-0 victory in the 2002 World Cup group stage featuring Hidetoshi Nakata’s only World Cup goal. Tunisia’s lone win came in a 3-0 Kirin Cup friendly in June 2022.
Tunisia, ranked 45th, have never reached the knockout stages in seven previous World Cup appearances. Japan, ranked 18th, are the highest-placed Asian side in the tournament. The stakes at Monterrey Stadium could not be clearer.