Japan Makes World Cup History with First-Ever 4-Goal Game and Record-Breaking Victory

Japan has written a new chapter in Asian football history on the FIFA World Cup stage.
The Japanese national football team, led by head coach Moriyasu Hajime, secured a resounding 4-0 victory against Tunisia in their second Group F match of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, held at Monterrey Stadium today (June 21). Ueda Ayase led the charge with two goals and one assist.
The four goals mark the highest number of goals scored by Japan, and indeed any nation from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), in a single FIFA World Cup match.
The previous record was three goals, which had been achieved twice.
North Korea was the first to do so in the quarterfinals of the 1966 England World Cup against Portugal, though they ultimately lost that match 3-5.
Later, Japan scored three goals in a 3-1 victory over Denmark during the group stage of the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
Reporting on the match, FIFA stated, "In the 151 matches played by AFC nations in FIFA World Cup history, no team had ever scored four goals in a single game," adding that "Japan has become the first team to do so."
Japan also set a new record for the largest margin of victory by an Asian nation in World Cup history.
The previous record was a two-goal margin.
South Korea’s record also stands at a two-goal margin, achieved in 2-0 victories against Poland in 2002, Greece in 2010, and Germany in 2018.
With this emphatic win against Tunisia, which was the 1,000th match in FIFA World Cup history, Japan also broke several of its own national records.
Ueda, who scored two goals, became the first Japanese player to net multiple goals in a single World Cup match.
Kamada Daichi, who scored the opening winning goal just 3 minutes and 27 seconds after kickoff, became the fastest goalscorer in Japanese World Cup history.
Having also scored in the first match against the Netherlands (a 2-2 draw), Kamada became the second Japanese player to score in two consecutive World Cup matches, following Inamoto Junichi in 2002.
Head coach Moriyasu, who has led the Japanese national team to the World Cup stage for two consecutive tournaments, set a new record for the most World Cup wins by a Japanese manager.
After causing a sensation by defeating Germany and Spain in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Moriyasu secured his third World Cup victory with this win over Tunisia.
Meanwhile, with this victory, Japan has tied the record for the most World Cup wins by an Asian nation, previously held by South Korea.
South Korea, appearing in its 12th World Cup, has played 40 matches in total up to its second match of this tournament against Mexico, recording 8 wins, 10 draws, and 22 losses (penalty shootouts are counted as draws).
Japan, in its 8th World Cup appearance, has recorded 8 wins, 7 draws, and 12 losses in 27 matches.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.