Japan marked the 1,000th game in the history of the World Cup with a 4-0 thrashing of Tunisia on Saturday, to close in on a place in the last 32.
Ayase Ueda scored twice while Daichi Kamada and Junya Ito were also on target as the Asian giants joined the Netherlands on four points at the top of Group F.
Tunisia, who were thumped 5-1 by Sweden in their first game of the tournament, have been eliminated from the tournament with one group match remaining.
The Blue Samurai, who held the Netherlands to a 2-2 draw in their Group F opener, were always in control against Tunisia at the Monterrey Stadium.
The result marked a losing start for new Tunisia manager Herve Renard, who was hastily appointed to take over the World Cup campaign after predecessor Sabri Lamouchi was sacked following the wake of the Sweden drubbing.
But Renard’s team never looked like threatening a technically superior Japanese side that went quickly into their trademark smooth passing game.
Daichi Kamada opened the scoring after just four minutes, finishing from close range after deft interplay from Ao Tanaka and Keito Nakamura.
The Japanese almost scored again moments later, with only a desperate goal-line clearance from Dylan Bronn denying the Asian giants a second goal.
Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen was also working overtime, and had to claw away a shot that went agonisingly short of crossing the goal line.
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