Tunisia vs Japan – Match preview and team news

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The Football Faithful

·20 Juni 2026

Tunisia vs Japan – Match preview and team news

Tunisia and Japan meet at Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe in the early hours of Sunday morning for one of the most significant fixtures of the group stage — not only in Group F terms, but in World Cup history.

The encounter will be officially recorded as the 1,000th match in the history of the FIFA World Cup. Both sides arrive with contrasting emotions. Tunisia are in crisis mode following a 5-1 hammering by Sweden that ended their previous manager’s tenure after just five games.

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Japan, by contrast, are brimming with confidence after twice fighting back to draw 2-2 with the Netherlands. For Tunisia, only a win will do; for Japan, another positive result would put them firmly on the path to the knockout rounds.

Tunisia vs Japan – Match preview and team news

Date: Sunday, 21 June 2026
Kick-off: 04:00 BST
Venue: Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe
Referee: István Kovács

Tunisia team news

Hervé Renard takes charge of Tunisia for the first time in this fixture, having been appointed following the dismissal of Sabri Lamouchi after the Sweden defeat. It is Renard’s third successive World Cup with a third different nation, having previously guided Morocco in 2018 and Saudi Arabia in 2022, where he famously engineered a shock victory over Argentina.

His first major decision is expected to be a formation switch, moving from a back three to a back four to add greater defensive stability. Omar Rekik and Montassar Talbi are expected to anchor the centre of defence, with Yan Valery and Ali Abdi as the full-backs. Ellyes Skhiri and Rani Khedira provide the midfield base, with Hannibal Mejbri operating in an advanced role ahead of them.

Elias Achouri and Ismael Gharbi are in line to provide width in attack after being used from the bench against Sweden. Firas Chaouat leads the line as Tunisia’s primary goalscoring threat.

Japan team news

Japan must cope without Takefusa Kubo, who sustained a knee injury in the draw with the Netherlands and was pictured leaving the stadium in a wheelchair. He has since been ruled out of this fixture, with no timeframe for his return provided by the Japan Football Association.

Hajime Moriyasu is expected to respond by shifting Yukinari Sugawara to right wing-back, which frees Ritsu Doan to move further forward alongside Daizen Maeda and Ayase Ueda. Zion Suzuki continues in goal.

The defensive unit of Shogo Taniguchi, Ko Watanabe and Hiroki Ito remains largely unchanged. Daichi Kamada and Kaishu Sano retain their midfield berths, with Keito Nakamura — who scored against the Netherlands — continuing at left wing-back. Yuto Nagatomo is again expected to be among the substitutes.

Form

Tunisia

Tunisia endured a truly disastrous start to their seventh World Cup campaign. They collapsed defensively during a heavy defeat against a ruthless Swedish attack. That embarrassing performance cost their previous manager his job after just five games.

Renard famously steered Saudi Arabia to a shock victory over Argentina four years ago. He hopes to inspire a similar upset against their highly fancied Asian opponents tonight. The Eagles of Carthage have lost five of their last eight international matches.

Japan

In contrast, Japan enter this historic fixture carrying massive momentum and widespread praise. The Samurai Blue showcased incredible resilience to recover twice against a powerful Dutch squad. Daichi Kamada secured a dramatic late draw to keep their knockout dreams alive.

They lost just one of their previous four World Cup matches when conceding first. Moriyasu felt slightly disappointed despite extending their impressive recent tournament form. Beating Tunisia tonight would push them incredibly close to the coveted knockout stages.