Kyogo Furuhashi scored at his old hunting ground and Junya Ito joined him on the scoresheet as Japan beat Tunisia 2-0 on Tuesday for their sixth straight win in international friendlies.
Celtic forward Furuhashi, back at Noevir Stadium -- home to his former club Vissel Kobe -- showed good composure burying the 43rd-minute opener before Ito doubled the lead in the 69th in Japan's final match ahead of the Asian second-round qualifying for the 2026 World Cup starting in November.
On a five-match winning run and scoring a whopping 22 goals, Japan kept their first clean sheet in five games after they scored four in each of their last four matches while also conceding, including an emphatic 4-1 victory away to Germany in September.
This month's two wins also saw Hajime Moriyasu's side avenge their defeats from last year, when the Samurai Blue lost 3-0 to Tunisia in June 2022 and 2-1 to Turkey in a Qatar World Cup warm-up match in November.
Japan pinned Tunisia in their own half for much of the first 45 minutes, with the double pivot of Wataru Endo and Hidemasa Morita pulling the strings in tight spaces. The Samurai Blue initially failed to turn their dominance into shots until Furuhashi made that one chance count.
Following a flowing buildup involving Endo, Morita and Takefusa Kubo, the ball reached Reo Hatate before his pass deflected off a Tunisia player and fell nicely into the path of his Celtic teammate. Furuhashi set himself up with good control and steered past Tunisia keeper Mouez Hassen from near the penalty spot.
"I'm happy to have scored a goal that contributed to the team's win," said Furuhashi, who was replaced at the break by Ayase Ueda. "I have much to improve and will work hard at my club."
Japan continued to dominate in the second half, with right-back Yukinari Sugawara pulling his effort just wide from outside the box in the 62nd minute and Kubo dragging one wide himself from a tight angle six minutes later, before Kubo put the ball on a plate for Ito to net Japan's second.
The Real Sociedad star skipped away from his marker down the left before rolling the ball for Ito, who side-footed his first-time effort inside the right-hand post.
Ueda rattled the post moments later with a fierce left-footed effort from a tight angle after fellow substitute Takumi Minamino cut back from the left, with Japan probing the visitors' goal until the last minute.
Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who joined Sint-Truiden over the summer despite interest from Manchester United, had no shots to save on his second Japan appearance. Tunisia had their first chance in the final minute of the match and came close to scoring, but substitute Haithem Jouini's deflected header struck the post.
"It was great as a team to have kept a clean sheet in the final game before the World Cup qualifiers," said Kubo, who began the match in the No. 10 position before shifting right toward the end. "I believe the fans coming to the match are expecting us to score and we're delivering that, which is a positive cycle."
Japan, 19th in the FIFA ranking, have now won five and lost one against 29th-ranked Tunisia.
