Tunisia v Japan: Preview, predicted line-ups and where to watch

Herve Renard will take charge of Tunisia for the first time as they face Japan in their second 2026 World Cup game after Sabri Lamouchi was sacked.

Lamouchi was dismissed following Tunisia’s 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their first Group F game.

Renard has been tasked with turning their campaign around. The Frenchman had been expected to lead Saudi Arabia into the World Cup after securing the Gulf nation’s qualification, but he was sacked in April.

The 57-year-old will take charge of his fourth different team at a World Cup, having previously coached Ivory Coast (2014), Morocco (2018), Saudi Arabia (2022) at the tournament.

Renard oversaw Saudi Arabia’s stunning opening win over Argentina in 2022, though they still exited the tournament at the group stage.

With the top eight third-placed finishers progressing to the round of 32, Tunisia have hope of reaching the knockouts but, following their hammering by Sweden that severely damaged their goal difference, they will likely need a positive result in each of their final two games.

That will be easier said than done. While Japan did not produce their best against the Netherlands, they twice came from behind to claim a 2-2 draw.

Japan are highly fancied as potential dark horses having beaten the likes of England and Brazil in friendlies in recent times.

Though Renard acknowledges their qualities, he urged Tunisia to maintain an insular focus as they aim to keep their hopes alive.

“[When] the federation contacted me, I didn’t hesitate for a second,” he ‌told a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s a challenge that isn’t easy, but ‌it’s a motivating challenge.

“I just told them [the players] we have to hold our heads high, ‌we have to move forward… you’re here to represent the country, Tunisia. It’s an honour, it’s a duty. And we owe it to ourselves to do much better than the result of the first match.

“I know very well the quality of this team [Japan], but at the moment we need to be focused on ourselves.”

Team news for Tunisia v Japan

Tunisia have no fresh injury worries to deal with, though multiple changes could be made by Renard as he aims to rescue their campaign.

Japan will be without Takefusa Kubo due to the knee injury he suffered against the Netherlands.

Predicted line-ups for Tunisia v Japan

Tunisia: Chamakh; Valery, Rekik, Talbi, Ali Abdi; Skhiri, Khedira; Achouri, Hannibal, Gharbi; Chaouat

Japan: Suzuki; Taniguchi, Watanabe, H. Ito; Sugawara, Kamada, Sano, Nakamura; Roan, Maeda; Ueda

Where to watch Tunisia v Japan: TV and online streams

Tunisia v Japan kicks off at 5:00am UK time on Sunday. It will be broadcast on BBC One and is also available to stream on the iPlayer and via the BBC Sport website.

Stats for Tunisia v Japan

• This will be the 1,000th game in World Cup history.
• Japan have conceded in each of their seven World Cup games since 2018, but have only lost two of those matches (W3, D2).
• Indeed, the Samurai Blue have lost just one of the previous four matches at the World Cup in which they have conceded the first goal (W2, D1).
• Five of Japan’s seven goals since the start of the 2022 World Cup have involved a substitute (three goals, two assists).
• Tunisia and Japan have met once previously a the World Cup, with Japan prevailing 2-0 in the 2002 group stage.
• Japan have lost only one of their six matches against Tunisia (W5), a 3-0 home defeat at the Kirin Cup in 2022.
• Having won their first two World Cup games versus African sides, Japan have failed to win each of their last two (L1, D1).

Prediction for Tunisia v Japan

It will be hard for Tunisia to be as bad as they were against Sweden. At the same time, it’s tough to expect an improve that will be sufficient enough to upset Japan.

Prediction: Tunisia 0-2 Japan

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