One of the most intriguing games of the World Cup group stage as the Netherlands face Japan in Dallas.
Ronald Koeman’s Oranje are fancied to make a run into the latter stages but their opening assignment is not straightforward by any means.
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Japan arrive at this tournament not as underdogs, but as a side that has earned the right to be taken seriously.
Hajime Moriyasu’s squad beat Germany and Spain at the last World Cup. In the March international window they beat Scotland 1-0 and then won 1-0 at Wembley, becoming the first Asian nation ever to defeat England.
Where to watch Netherlands v Japan
Netherlands versus Japan kicks off 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 KoreaRepublic’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 thehosts, Japan were the first nation to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
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