Tunisia
JapanThis was the 1000th match in FIFA World Cup history, and Japan filled the occasion with genuine quality. Tunisia, forced to chase the game from the fourth minute and unable to find the goals that might have made it competitive, were pushed into exactly the open, desperate football that Japan's high-pressing transition system is built to devour. Four goals against an xG of 2.07 — compared to Tunisia's 0.05 — describes a match that was every bit as one-sided as its scoreline implies.
Tunisia
Tunisia were effectively eliminated before kickoff and nothing in the ninety minutes that followed altered that verdict. Renard's side created almost nothing — two shots in total, an expected goals figure that barely registered — and a defensive organisation that had already conceded five against Sweden crumbled under Japanese transition speed from the fourth minute onwards. The Eagles of Carthage competed with dignity in their opener and found none of the same footing available here.
Japan
Japan were magnificent, and the scoreline — four goals, Japan's largest margin of victory in World Cup history — does not flatter them. Daichi Kamada struck in the fourth minute, Japan's quickest-ever World Cup goal, Ayase Ueda doubled the lead before the half-hour, Junya Ito added a third in the 69th, and Ueda converted again late in the 83rd to complete the rout. The counter-attacking system Moriyasu has built functioned with clinical, organised precision throughout: composed in defence, lethal in every transition.