Tunisia have become the first African team to be knocked out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat to Japan in their second Group F match.
The loss leaves the Eagles of Carthage rooted to the bottom of the group with zero points and no mathematical chance of reaching the knockout stages.
The North Africans’ World Cup campaign has been a nightmare from start to finish. They opened the tournament with a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Sweden before being outclassed by Japan, who ran riot in the World Cup’s 1,000th match. Ayase Ueda scored twice, while Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito also found the net in a dominant Japanese display.
Tunisia’s back-to-back defeats have seen them concede nine goals while scoring just once, making them one of the tournament’s poorest performers so far. The disappointing results also come despite a managerial change, with Hervé Renard taking charge after the opening defeat to Sweden, but he was unable to halt the team’s slide toward an early exit.
For Tunisia, attention now turns to salvaging pride in their final group match against the Netherlands, while Japan have boosted their chances of progressing to the Round of 32 with an impressive four-point haul from two games.
Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of The Accra Daily Mail, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.
