Japan Knock Tunisia Out of World Cup with Dominant 4-0 Victory

Tunisia's rough run at the World Cup got even worse on Sunday morning. A 4-0 loss to Japan in Monterrey, Mexico means the North African side is officially out of the tournament, unable to climb out of the group stage.

The result caps off a brutal stretch for Tunisia. Just days earlier they were thrashed 5-1 by Sweden, then fired head coach Sabri Lamouchi and brought in former Saudi Arabia boss Herve Renard to try to turn things around. It didn't work. 

Japan went ahead inside four minutes, with Crystal Palace's Daichi Kamada poking the ball home from close range after a fast break caught Tunisia off guard.

From there, Japan only pulled further ahead. Ayase Ueda doubled the lead in the first half with a slick strike that slipped through a defender's legs and into the corner. Junya Ito made it three after being played through one-on-one and calmly rolling the ball past goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen. Ueda then capped his day with a looping header late on, finishing off both his brace and the scoreline.

Tunisia struggled to create anything of note all match, giving Japan room to play their usual passing-heavy game. 

Renard's side managed barely a shot on target and looked out of answers against a Japanese team that was sharper in almost every phase of play.

The win puts Japan level on points with the Netherlands at the top of Group F, both sides now on four points. 

Japan will look to lock in their spot in the knockout rounds when they face Sweden on Friday, while Tunisia close out their tournament against a Netherlands side already through to the next round.