Hervé Renard, the French coach of the Tunisian national team, expressed his deep sorrow and regret following the heavy and unexpected 4-0 defeat suffered by the “Eagles of Carthage” against Japan.
This loss came in their second group stage match of the 2026 World Cup. This bitter defeat officially confirmed Tunisia’s early exit from the global tournament, thus ending their campaign before even playing their final, albeit consolation, match against the formidable Netherlands.
“I had high hopes of quickly restoring the players’ lost confidence, and they certainly showed the will and desire to do better. However, we were severely punished in the opening minutes of the match by conceding goals, and in the second half, we failed to adequately defend against Japan’s fast-paced attack,” said Renard.
He added, “The Tunisian team’s overall performance in the first 20 minutes of the second half was somewhat acceptable, but overall, we never lived up to the standard expected in a major tournament like the World Cup.
“Japan is a great and highly developed team, and we shouldn’t look for any flimsy excuses to justify our defeat. Our performance today was not good at all, and we shouldn’t have played so poorly in a global event awaited by millions.”
The impressive Keito Nakamura was the architect, dancing into the box and squaring across the face of goal where Daichi Kamada was on hand to prod home through a troupe of blue and white shirts. His opener was his second of the tournament and the fastest that Japan have scored at a World Cup.
Ayase Ueda doubled the lead on the half-hour, being allowed the space of the Sierra Madre to stride towards goal and lash home from the top of the box.
Parachuted into the job earlier in the week, new Tunisia coach Herve Renard was unable to orchestrate a response from the North African side and Japan went further ahead as Ueda turned provider, with Junya Ito slotting home a third midway through the second half. Ueda then grabbed a second late on to complete the comfortable victory.
Japan’s win – the largest by any nation in World Cup history – moves them level with the Netherlands at the top of Group F, while Tunisia are now eliminated.
