The Netherlands take on Japan in Group F’s curtain-raiser on Sunday, in one of the most eye-catching fixtures of the 2026 World Cup so far.
The Dallas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, will supply the backdrop for a game between arguably the greatest nation yet to win football’s biggest prize and many people’s pick for tournament dark horses.
The Oranje, under the stewardship of legendary defender Ronald Koeman, will be looking to go deep into the competition having experienced mixed fortunes in recent editions – from runners-up in 2010 to third-place in 2014; not qualifying in 2018 to a last-eight appearance four years later.
But they will meet a Japanese side in scintillating form. The Samurai Blue breezed through qualifying to reach their eighth-straight finals, scoring more than 50 goals in the process.
Recent friendly results have only further bolstered belief, with six wins on the bounce, including notable victories over Brazil and England.
Netherlands team news
The Netherlands boss sticks with the same starting team that beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in the Netherlands’ final pre-tournament friendly.
Memphis Depay, who is fit again, starts on the bench.
Netherlands XI: Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven, Gravenberch, De Jong, Summerville, Reijnders, Gakpo, Malen.
Japan team news
Nine of the Japan starting eleven started in the victory over England at Wembley back in March.
Takefusa Kubo and Daizen Maeda come in for Junya Ito and the injured Kaoru Mitoma.
Japan XI: Z. Suzuki; Watanabe, Taniguchi, H. Ito, Doan, Sano, Kamada, Nakamura, Kubo, Maeda, Ueda.
Where to watch Netherlands v Japan
Netherlands versus Japan kicks off on Sunday at 9pm UK time. You can watch it on ITV 1 and stream via ITVX.
Click HERE for a full World Cup TV guide
Stats for Netherlands v Japan
- This will be the Netherlands’ 12th World Cup appearance. No other team has finished runner-up as often as the Dutch without ever winning the trophy (three times – 1974, 1978, 2010).
- The Netherlands have won 54.5% of their matches at the World Cup (30 out of 55, shoot-outs excluded) and only Brazil (66.7%) and Germany (60.7%) have a higher win rate in the history of the tournament. The Dutch are also only four away from reaching 100 goals at the World Cup.
- Excluding penalty shootouts, the Netherlands have lost only one of their last 19 World Cup matches (W14 D4). That sole defeat came in the 2010 final against Spain (0-1 after extra time). Meanwhile, their last loss in a group stage match dates back to 1994, a 0-1 defeat to Belgium.
- This will be Japan’s eighth consecutive World Cup appearance – a run stretching back to 1998. It’s the second-longest run of consecutive participations by an Asian nation behind Korea
Republic’s current run of 11 consecutive World Cup tournaments. - Japan have never advanced beyond the round of 16 at the World Cup. In fact, they hold the record for the most matches played without ever reaching the quarter-finals at the tournament (25).
- Japan scored more goals than any other team in the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup –
they found the net 54 times, which included a 3-0 forfeit victory against North Korea. Outside of the
hosts, Japan were the first nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
