Netherlands' Virgil van Dijk is expected to man the defence against Japan in their FIFA World Cup 2026 match. | Photo Credit: AP

The Dutch have advanced to the World Cup final three times, most recently in 2010; they have lost each time and are once again among the top contenders, going into their group-stage match against Japan.

Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman acknowledged that his side will need to perform at their highest level against a motivated opponent.

Japan has stuck with Hajime Moriyasu as manager, in contrast to the Dutch, who switched coaches from Louis Van Gaal to Koeman, and the team has also suffered injury setbacks in players like captain Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma.

Netherlands vs Japan head-to-head:

• Total matches: 3
• Netherlands: 2
• Japan: 1

Netherlands vs Japan form guide:

Form guide: Netherlands

• Netherlands 2-1 Uzbekistan
• Netherlands 0-1 Algeria
• Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador
• Netherlands 2-1 Norway
• Netherlands 4-0 Lithuania

Form guide: Japan

• Japan 1-0 Iceland
• England 0-1 Japan
• Scotland 0-1 Japan
• Japan 3-0 Bolivia
• Japan 2-0 Ghana

Netherlands vs Japan predicted XI:

Netherlands (4-3-3): Verbruggen — Van de Ven, Van Dijk, Van Hecke, Dumfries — Gravenberch, Reijnders, De Jong — Summerville, Malen, Gakpo.

Japan (3-4-2-1): Suzuki — Taniguchi, Watanabe, H. Ito — Doan, Kamada, Tanaka, Nakamura — J. Ito, Kubo — Ueda

Published on Jun 14, 2026