Pre-match information
The Tunisia team is going through a period of turmoil after a heavy 1-5 defeat to Sweden in the opening match. That result caused the Tunisian Football Federation to decide to sack coach Sabri Lamouchi after only one match, making him the first coach in World Cup history to lose his job right in the group stage after the opening match.
The person chosen to replace him is Herve Renard, an experienced strategist who has led Zambia, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia and the French women's national team. However, his task is not easy when Tunisia is facing the risk of being eliminated early.
The defeat to Sweden was Tunisia's biggest defeat in World Cup history. The North African team's defense revealed many problems, especially the forgettable performance of goalkeeper Abdelmouhib Chamakh with two direct mistakes leading to the goal conceded.
Tunisia also became the second team since 1966 to concede 3 goals from outside the penalty area in a World Cup match, showing alarming gaps in defense.
On the other side, Japan entered the match with a much more positive mood after a courageous 2-2 draw against the Netherlands. Hajime Moriyasu's team was led twice but still won one point thanks to their persistent fighting spirit.
Japan continues to prove that they are one of the teams that is difficult to defeat since the 2022 tournament. Despite conceding goals in all 7 recent group stage matches at the World Cup, the "Green Samurai" have only lost 2 of those matches.
Japan's biggest strength is the ability to create breakthroughs from the bench. 5 of their last 7 goals at the World Cup have the footprint of substitute players, showing the remarkable squad depth of the Asian representative.
