Netherlands vs Japan Preview - Netherlands and Japan to draw in their opening World Cup clash

John Eastwood

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Last updated: 13 Jun 2026

John Eastwood 13 Jun 2026

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Japan unbeaten in 12 of last 13 matches; recent wins over England and Brazil.
Netherlands struggling for form but recently ended 2-game winless run.
Prediction: 1-1 draw, both teams expected to score.

Expired

Japan have lost just one of their last 13 games (Getty)

Netherlands vs Japan Preview

Japan are in great form and have won against some big teams recently, including England and Brazil while Netherlands have been quite average recently. I do feel this will end level though.

Netherlands vs Japan Preview
Head to Head
Netherlands Form
Japan Form
Netherlands vs Japan News & Predicted Lineups

Netherlands are winless in 2 of their last 3 matches.
Netherlands have seen BTTS in 3 of their last 4 matches.
Japan are unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 matches.
Japan have scored in their last 7 matches.

Head to Head

In four previous matches, Netherlands lead 2-1 with one draw.

Netherlands Form

Netherlands had a great run in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, advancing as Group G winners with six wins and two draws ahead of Poland, Finland, Malta and Lithuania.

Oranje started the year with a 2-1 win over Norway in late March friendly, followed by a 1-1 draw against Ecuador a couple of days later.

Earlier this month, Ronald Koeman’s side lost 1-0 at home to Algeria despite having 2.19 expected goals and firing 17 shots (Donyell Malen missed two, Cody Gakpo one goal chance).

They returned to winning ways with a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan on Monday, Gakpo scoring both goals from penalty spot. It was a well-deserved victory, posting 4.62-0.98 expected goals.

Japan Form

Japan were one of the most dominant teams in the Asian World Cup 2026 qualifiers, topping Group C with 23 out of possible 30 points with an impressive 30-3 goal difference.

Their confidence received a huge boost after claiming two big victories on British soil in March, earning back to back victories against Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park and England 1-0 at Wembley.

The Blue Samurai hosted Iceland in their last test match earlier this week and claimed another narrow 1-0 win, Koki Ogawa netting the winning goal just before stoppage time. This was their sixth straight victory in international friendlies.

Netherlands vs Japan News & Predicted Lineups

Netherlands (4-3-3) Bart Verbruggen; Denzel Dumfries, Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven; Frenkie de Jong, Ryan Gravenberch, Tijjani Reijnders; Donyell Malen, Memphis Depay, Cody Gakpo

Jurrien Timber and Xavi Simons will miss the World Cup action due to recent injuries, Matthijs De Ligt also being injured from before.

Virgil van Dijk has the most appearances for the national team on this roster (91), while Memphis Depay is the all-time best scorer with 55 goals.

Japan (3-4-3) Zion Suzuki; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito; Yukinari Sugawara, Wataru Endo, Ao Tanaka, Daichi Kamada; Ritsu Doan, Ayase Ueda, Takefusa Kubo

One of Japanese best players Kaoru Mitoma will miss the tournament due to an ankle injury, as well as Takumi Minamino.

Feyenoord's Ayase Ueda is expected to lead the attack. He is currently at 39 appearances and 16 goals for the national team.

Verdict

Netherlands v Japan

Japan are undefeated for seven games straight, while beating Brazil, England, Scotland and a couple of more teams in this stretch. The Netherlands barely ended their two-game winless run with a stoppage time win over Uzbekistan, so I don’t trust them to win here.