The coaching change for Tunisia brought no benefit. The African team looked hopeless again and suffered a clean 0-4 defeat to Japan. The match in Monterrey, Mexico, became the thousandth in the history of World Cup final tournaments. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

**Group F, Matchday 2, June 21, Monterrey, BBVA**

⚽ TUNISIA – JAPAN 0:4 (0:2). Goals: Kamada 4 (0:1), Ueda 23 (0:2), D. Ito 69 (0:3), Ueda 84 (0:4)

In the first match of Group F's second round, Sweden mirrored their 5-1 victory over Tunisia with an equally large 1-5 defeat to the Netherlands, thus giving the Africans a chance to return to the tournament fight. The Japanese, after a hard-fought 2-2 draw with the 'Oranje', naturally aimed for a victory that would virtually secure their place in the playoffs.

Frenchman Hervé Renard, who replaced his compatriot Sabri Lamouchi at the helm of the Africans after the Swedish disaster, failed in his firefighter role. Tunisia played poorly again. The mobile Japanese outplayed their opponents in almost every episode, while the Tunisians, except for rare moments, simply drifted with the flow.

Unsurprisingly, the 'Samurai' took the lead in the 4th minute. A cross from Keito Nakamura of French club Reims was turned into a goal by the heel of Daichi Kamada of English club Crystal Palace. Midway through the half, Ayase Ueda scored. The Feyenoord forward fired a powerful shot from about 25 meters, sending the ball just inside the post – 2-0.

After the break, the 'Eagles of Carthage' looked just as incoherent. The Japanese continued to play their football. In the 69th minute, the second goal's scorer Ueda played a penetrating pass to Junya Ito, who faced the goalkeeper one-on-one, and the Genk midfielder did not miss. At the end of the match, Ueda scored a beautiful header to complete his double – 4-0.

In the third round of Group F on June 26, parallel matches will see Japan face Sweden and Tunisia take on the Netherlands.

Last night, two matches were played in Group E. Germany came from behind to beat Ivory Coast 2-1 and advanced to the playoffs. Ecuador and Curaçao played to a 0-0 draw.

The 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup started on June 11 and will end on July 19. It is the first to be held in three countries – the USA, Canada, and Mexico – and the first to feature 48 teams. After the group stage, the top two teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will continue the competition. The playoff matches will begin with the Round of 32.