Key events
Tunisia XI
Renard has immediately stamped his authority on this Tunisian side. He’s replaced the goalkeeper Chamakh (who only scored a 3 on Guardian’s player ratings for the opening match), Dylan Bronn comes into the back three, and Sebastien Tounekti starts in the front three. It looks as though Mejbri, the chief outlet against Sweden, will play in a midfield two rather than as a floating No 10.
Tunisia (5-3-2): 16 Dahmen, 20 Valery, 2 Abdi, 3 Talbi, 4 Rekik, 6 Bronn; 17 Skhiri 10 Mejbri; 26 Tounekti, 25 Ben Slimane; 8 Saad.
Preparations for this tournament, and this match in particular, have not gone smoothly for Tunisia. But it’s always nice to have Herve Renard and his fitted white dress shirt on the touchline.
Tunisia have sacked their head coach Sabri Lamouchi and appointed Hervé Renard until the end of the World Cup, after losing their opening game 5-1 to Sweden.
Former Nottingham Forest manager Lamouchi had only taken over in January and was in charge for just five matches, but he has become the first coach to be dismissed after a single game of a World Cup finals.
A statement from the Federation Tunisienne de Football announced the “termination of its contractual relationship” with Lamouchi by mutual agreement. Renard will bring World Cup experience having led Saudi Arabia to a surprise 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina in Qatar, and he also took charge of Morocco in 2018. The 57-year-old has also managed Ivory Coast, Zambia and Angola at international level.
Slight tangent, but I think you’ll enjoy it.
I am unlikely to be in Dublin September, but if I was I would make sure to visit an exhibition at Hen’s Teeth featuring original paintings of all of Roy Keane’s career red cards. The promotional image is a painting of Keane stamping on Gareth Southgate in an FA Cup semi-final.
I have no connection to the artist or the venue, but it popped up in my feed and I thought it looked brilliant.
Ed Aarons was in Kansas City to witness the smallest nation in World Cup history securing their maiden point at the finals.
With well over an hour to kick-off there’s plenty of time for an update from Chandler and Joey / Will and Grace / 2 Broke Girls or whatever your preferred combination of New York flatmates happens to be, on the World Cup Daily podcast.
Bracketology has been a godsend, hasn’t it? With the final round of group matches hoving into view it has never been more valuable. I might be crazy, but I now have England taking on DR Congo in the round of 32.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Tunisia v Japan from Estadio Monterrey. Kick-off in this Group F clash is 9pm local time (12am EDT/5am BST/2pm AEST).
Wherever you happen to be in the world thank you for keeping me company on what is perhaps the graveyard shift of the entire tournament. There isn’t the novelty of the first round of group matches, there isn’t the jeopardy of the third, and our cups already runneth over thanks to three of the matches of the World Cup so far already this matchday.
Moreover, Tunisia were so bad against Sweden the other day they sacked their manager on the spot, while Japan looked tidy against the Netherlands, suggesting the result might not require the clairvoyance of Paul the octopus.
That is not to say there is nothing at stake. Tunisia must get a positive result to remain alive in the competition. Japan will want to secure their place in the knockout stages before a clash with a Sweden side that boats one of the most impressive forward lines in the draw.
Maybe, for all my pessimism, we will be treated to a cracker.
I’ll be back shortly with team news and a roundup of all the matchday action so far. In the meantime you can keep an enjoy the fallout from Curacao somehow denying Ecuador in Group E and email any thoughts about the World Cup to jonathan.howcroft.freelance@theguardian.com.
The first result to plug into the matrix this matchday was the Netherlands announcing themselves as serious contenders with a 5-1 thumping of Sweden in a highly entertaining affair. It’s over to Japan to keep pace in Group F.
When given oxygen the Netherlands were simply too good, scoring straight after the restart when Summerville twisted Sweden inside out and allowed Dumfries to cross again. Gakpo could not miss from a couple of yards and, enjoying a wildly productive afternoon of his own, proceeded to score another. This time he took a pass from Summerville, who had not been deemed fit to start, and cracked low to Kristoffer Nordfeldt’s right from 20 yards.
Germany boast a supremely talented squad and innvoative young coach, but their World Cup hopes always threatened to come down to the ability of the unfancied Kai Havertz and Deniz Undav to find the back of the net. So far so good.
Some footballing stereotypes just will not fade away. Germany may no longer be the mirthless, methodical winning machine who would slowly maul their opponents until they inevitably engineered victory, but, evidently, they still know how to fashion match-winners from final moments.
Consequently, the Germans will play in the World Cup knockout stages for the first time in 12 years after another victory at the death. Côte d’Ivoire had gone ahead in a lively encounter on Saturday through Franck Kessié’s 30th-minute goal for Les Éléphants. But it was cancelled out by Deniz Undav’s 68th-minute equaliser and 94th-minute winner for Die Mannschaft.
