Tunisia face Japan in Monterrey on Saturday evening, in the 1000th match in FIFA World Cup history. The Africans are looking to bounce back from a difficult opening to the tournament, as they lost 5-1 to Sweden in their opener.
That result has meant Sabri Lamouchi has been replaced as manager by Herve Renard -- who's no stranger to being at World Cups with African teams, having led Ivory Coast in 2014 and Morocco in 2018. Renard's first task will be to bring back belief to a side whose confidence must have been dented by that result against Sweden.
The test doesn't get any easier for Tunisia, against a Japan side who showed character and grit in abundance, as they drew 2-2 against the Netherlands in their tournament opener. They went behind twice, first to Virgil van Dijk's header and then to a Crysencio Summerville screamer, but both times, Japan fought back. Keito Nakamura brought them back level the first, and then Daichi Kamada got the last touch after a nicely worked corner.
A win in this game should take Japan through to the knockout stages, while for Tunisia, anything other than a win in this game would leave them with the daunting task of having to beat the Netherlands in their final to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stages.
Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's game.
How to watch:
The match will be available on BBC One in the UK, Fox Sports in the U.S., Zee5 in India and SBS in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date, kick-off time:
U.S. ET: Saturday June 20, 11 p.m.
UK BST: Sunday June 21, 5 a.m.
India IST: Sunday June 21, 9:30 a.m..
Australia AEST: Sunday June 21, 2 p.m.
Venue: Estadio BBVA, Monterrey, Mexico
Referee: István Kovács (Romania)
Predicted Lineups
Tunisia
Abdelmouhib Chamakh
Omar Rekik | Montassar Talbi | Amine Ben Hamida
Yan Valery | Rani Khedira | Ellyes Skhiri | Hannibal Mejbri | Ali Abdi
Elias Saad | Anis Ben Slimane
Japan
Zion Suzuki
Tsuyoshi Watanabe | Shogo Taniguchi | Hiroki Ito
Ritsu Doan | Kaishu Sano | Daichi Kamada | Keito Nakamura
Takefusa Kubo | Daizen Maeda
Ayase Ueda
Talking Points
Japan need to switch styles
Unlike their opener against the Netherlands, Japan are likely to have a lot more of the ball in this game. They're no strangers to this kind of situation. They are the dominant force in Asian football, so they do play a number of games where they do have a lot more of the ball, so they should be able to adjust.
However, that could minimise what has seemed their biggest strength -- their speed and directness on counter-attacks. They executed that game-plan to perfect against the Dutch, but this will be different. So, it will be interesting to see whether coach Hajime Moriyasu goes for a more attacking line-up, than the back three he fielded against the Dutch.
Junya Ito made a serious difference in that game against the Netherlands after coming on a second half substitute. Ito's running and dribbling in open play were both fantastic, and he also made a difference with quality set-piece deliveries. Maybe, there's a case to be made for him to start, alongside Takefusa Kubo and Daizen Maeda, behind the striker Ayase Ueda.
Herve Renard's time to shine is now
Sabri Lamouchi's departure represented the first time ever that a national team has sacked a head coach after just one match of a World Cup. The task that Renard now faces, after joining the team on Tuesday, is an unenviable one. He needs to build some kind of confidence, and he needs to ensure that they are not as easy to attack as Sweden found in that opening game.
Tunisia have conceded ten goals in their last two games -- having lost 5-0 to Belgium in their final friendly before the World Cup, before losing 5-1 to Sweden in the tournament opener. With that kind of record, no team can hope to win games at this level. Renard's no stranger to African nations, and he's no stranger to taking on a challenge.
Let's also not forget, he was the man that masterminded Saudi Arabia's win against Argentina in the last World Cup. This is a manager with pedigree of being able to get results at this level, but he's come into something resembling a dumpster fire, and fixing that will take every bit of nous that Renard has.