GUADALUPE, Mexico - Ayase Ueda bagged a brace, with Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito joining him on the scoresheet, as Japan cruised past Tunisia 4-0 on Saturday in the 1,000th match in World Cup history.
Hajime Moriyasu's 18th-ranked Japan put in a convincing performance against world No. 45 Tunisia in front of 51,243 at Estadio Monterrey in Mexico as they moved up to four points in Group F after two matches, taking a big step toward a place in the round of 32.
The Samurai Blue also ended their long second-match hoodoo at overseas World Cups, having not won a single game in their past six attempts, with their only previous victory at this stage of the tournament arriving in 2002 when they were co-hosts.
"It was the thousandth World Cup match, a commemorative game watched by people around the world, and I'm glad we managed to win it," said Moriyasu, who was facing a Tunisia side led by new manager Herve Renard for the first time.
"Tunisia happened to change their manager (before this game) and they were in a difficult situation tactically, which I feel helped us score a lot of goals."
With overwhelming support from their traveling fans, joined by a boisterous Mexican contingent, Japan had an early penalty appeal waved away as Ueda was clattered inside the box before Hannibal Mejbri's speculative effort curled just wide at the other end.
A breathtaking end-to-end attack culminated in the shrewd fourth-minute opener from Kamada, who started in attacking midfield and netted in his second straight game, using the inside of his left foot to flick in Keito Nakamura's low cross from the left following a flowing movement beginning down the opposite flank.
The Samurai Blue kept up the pressure as Ueda turned inside the box before his dangerous cross was cleared, while Takehiro Tomiyasu's close-range effort moments later was clawed off the line by Tunisia keeper Aymen Dahmen by a matter of millimeters.
Ueda doubled Japan's lead in the 31st minute, turning in acres of space on a counter but seemingly missing his chance to pull the trigger. But he eventually did so emphatically with a shot from just inside the box that traveled through the legs of a defender and into the far bottom corner for his first World Cup goal.
With captain Ko Itakura marshalling the back three and Ao Tanaka dominant in midfield in their first starts at this World Cup, Japan kept Tunisia at bay, transitioning quickly and snuffing out danger early when out of possession.
Junya Ito, also making his first start in place of injured Takefusa Kubo after a strong cameo against the Netherlands, put the result beyond doubt in the 69th minute as Ueda lifted a first-time pass over the Tunisia backline for the attacker to sweep into the net.
Ever-reliable Kaishu Sano had a reward for his solid performance when his right-wing cross found the head of Ueda, whose effort looped inside the far post to put the icing on the cake with seven minutes to go.
"I'm genuinely happy. It feels as if what I've built since feeling that frustration four years ago paid off," said Ueda, who was limited to 45 minutes of action as a World Cup debutant in 2022 in Qatar.
"(The first World Cup goal) felt totally different to all the ones I had scored before in terms of joy, sense of accomplishment and the weight of responsibility I've been carrying...The quality of my play is different from four years ago, and I'm playing with confidence."
The Netherlands hammered Sweden 5-1 earlier in the day as they moved top of the group, level with Japan on points but ahead on goals scored, while Sweden remain on three points with Tunisia none.
Japan take on Sweden in their last group game on Thursday when the Netherlands face Tunisia.
