Tunisia v Japan: World Cup 2026 – live
⚽️ Kick-off time: 9pm local/2pm AEST/5am BST/12am EDT ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Golden Boot | Mail Jonathan Changes for Japan too with Tomiyasu and Itakura coming into the back three, and Ito and Tanaka into the front three. Expect the same 3-4-3 structure that has served Moriyasu well in recent months as he has built Japan from a side capable of dominating Asia to one equipped to handle the rest of the world. Japan (3-4-3) 1 Suzuki; 22 Tomiyasu, 4 Itakura, 21 Ito; 10 Doan, 24 Sano, 15 Kamada, 13 Nakamura; 14 Ito, 7 Tanaka, 18 Ueda. Continue reading...
By Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Tunisia v Japan from Estadio Monterrey. Kick-off in this Group F clash is 9pm local time (12am EDT/5am BST/2pm AEST).
Wherever you happen to be in the world thank you for keeping me company on what is perhaps the graveyard shift of the entire tournament. There isn’t the novelty of the first round of group matches, there isn’t the jeopardy of the third, and our cups already runneth over thanks to three of the matches of the World Cup so far already this matchday.
Moreover, Tunisia were so bad against Sweden the other day they sacked their manager on the spot, while Japan looked tidy against the Netherlands, suggesting the result might not require the clairvoyance of Paul the octopus.
That is not to say there is nothing at stake. Tunisia must get a positive result to remain alive in the competition. Japan will want to secure their place in the knockout stages before a clash with a Sweden side that boats one of the most impressive forward lines in the draw.
Maybe, for all my pessimism, we will be treated to a cracker.
I’ll be back shortly with team news and a roundup of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an enjoy the fallout from Curacao somehow denying Ecuador in Group E and email any thoughts about the World Cup to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.