MOTD Live: FIFA World Cup 2026
Tunisia v Japan
Tunisia v Japan (Kick-off 5.00am). Coverage of the Group F match at Monterrey Stadium in Mexico. This is scheduled to be the 1,000th match to take place at a World Cup finals, and the seventh meeting overall between the two nations, who were also drawn in the same group in 2002 when Samurai Blue served as co-hosts alongside South Korea. Goals from Hiroaki Morishima and former Bolton Wanderers-loanee Hidetoshi Nakata inspired the Japanese to a 2-0 win on that occasion in Osaka and helped them top the table ahead of Belgium and Russia, while also condemning the Eagles of Carthage to fourth place and an early exit. Since that time there have been four more encounters between these nations, with Japan triumphing in three of those games, including a 2-0 friendly win most recently in 2023, while the North Africans claimed a 3-0 win in the final of the 2022 Kirin Cup, which is an occasional invitation event organised and staged by Japan