After reaching an eighth successive World Cup, Japan open their Group F campaign with a testing encounter against three-times finalists the Netherlands.
Group F
Monday, 15 June | Dallas Stadium
Kick-off time
04:00 (GMT+8)
The match
Two heavyweight teams from across the globe will go head-to-head when the Netherlands and Japan meet in their opening Group F fixture. The Samurai Blue – competing in their eighth successive FIFA World Cup™ – were the first nation outside of the three co-hosts to punch their ticket to the tournament, qualifying with three group games to spare in the third round of the AFC preliminaries. Three-times finalists the Oranje were unbeaten in their qualifying campaign, finishing top of UEFA Group G to reach their 12th finals.
Possible Netherlands starting XI
Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven; De Jong, Reijnders, Gravenberch; Malen, Depay, Gakpo
Possible Japan starting XI
Suzuki; H Ito, Itakura, Tomiyasu; Doan, Kamada, Sano, Nakamura; Kubo, Ito, Ueda
Dallas Stadium
Dallas Stadium is a jaw-dropping example of stadium architecture that will witness nine World Cup 2026 matches. Since opening in 2009, it has been the home of five-time Super Bowl winners the Dallas Cowboys, and has also hosted the Concacaf Gold Cup and Mexico national team matches. The iconic venue will play host to five group-stage games, two Round of 32 fixtures, one Round of 16 tie and the first semi-final on Tuesday, 14 July.