Japan and Sweden conclude their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F campaigns with a crunch meeting in Dallas Stadium on 25 June.
Group F
Friday, 26 June | Dallas Stadium
Kick-off time
07:00 (GMT+8)
The match
Japan and Sweden will aim to secure their places in the knockout stages when they meet in this crunch clash at Dallas Stadium. The Asian heavyweights are looking to progress past the group phase for the third consecutive tournament, while Sweden moved out the opening round in the previous four tournaments they participated in, their last finals being Russia 2018.
The Samurai Blue opened with a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands before storming past Tunisia, 4-0. It has been peaks and valleys for Sweden thus far. A 5-1 victory over Tunisia was followed by a 5-1 defeat to the Dutch. All sorts of scenarios are in front of the Japanese, with a win guaranteeing passage. Meanwhile, Sweden must claim victory in order to progress, and could end up as section winners should they triumph and Netherlands fail to beat Tunisia.
The winner of Group F will go on to a Round of 32 clash versus the runner-up of Group C in Monterrey, while the nation which finishes as runners-up will take on the winner of that pool in Houston. If the third-placed side in the group qualify as one of the eight best, they have the potential to take on the winner of Group A, B, D, E or I in Mexico City, Vancouver, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston or New York New Jersey, respectively.
Japan possible starting XI
Z. Suzuki; Tomiyasu, Taniguchi, H. Ito; Doan, Tanaka, Sano, Maeda; J. Ito, Kamada, Ueda
Sweden possible starting XI
Nordfeldt; Lagerbielke, Hien, Lindelof; Elanga, Bergvall, Karlstrom, Ayari, Gudmundsson; Gyokeres, Isak
What they said…
“There are various scenarios — finishing top of the group, going through in second, or third — but our mindset has always been the same: to go for the win one match at a time. That’s how we’ve approached things, and we’ve prepared by sharing as a team the goal of winning the Sweden match first. Of course we’d like to finish top of the group, but I think chasing a big scoreline and losing our balance, would be the bigger risk.” Hajime Moriyasu, Japan coach
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.