A FIFA World Cup history was made on Saturday, June 20 (Sunday June 21 IST) during the Group F match between Tunisia and Japan at Mexico's Estadio Monterrey. It marked the 1000th match of the FIFA World Cup since the tournament started in 1930.
This landmark match in the men's tournament saw Japan eliminating Tunisia from the 2026 World Cup with a thrashing 4-0 win, their biggest margin of victory ever in the tournament.
The first ever FIFA World Cup was played 96 years ago, in 1930 and since then a total of 1000 matches have been played so far. Japan and Tunisia were the lucky teams to grace the field for the historic 1000th football match at the World Cup.
A lot has happened over the last 1000 matches with several moments that have gone down in history. With a total of 22 men's World Cups being played since then, there have been eight nations that have won the ultimate prize in football.
Brazil has been the most successful nation in the history of the tournament, with 5 titles to their name. Fellow Latin American country Argentina are the defending champions and the winner of the 2026 edition is still awaited.
Japan completely dominated the 1000th match ever played at the men's FIFA World Cup. They had a spectacular 4-0 win, announcing themselves as a threat to be taken seriously going forward.
This victory marks Japan's biggest winning margin at the World Cup who have only managed to have a 2-goal margin before. In their match against Tunisia, they were completely in charge and so, the scoreline was not a surprise.
Daichi Kamada opened Japan's account early with a goal in the 4th minute. Ayase Ueda doubled the lead in the 31st minute and scored another in the second half (83') to make it a brace for himself. Junya Ito found the net in the 69th minute to make it three four Japan.
Japan has always impressed at World Cups. In the 2022 tournament in Qatar they managed to pull off impressive upsets when they defeated two giants: Germany and Spain.
Japan already has a foot in the Round of 32. Their final Group F match against Sweden will be crucial to secure their spot in the knockout stage. A draw in their final Group Stage match is all they need to be safe.
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