🔴 Netherlands-Japan 1-1 | Van Dijk scores 🎯 Nakamura hits back🔥

Source Summary

At Boston Stadium, Koeman’s Netherlands make their debut, with many considering them one of the tournament’s possible dark horses. Facing them is Moriyasu’s Japan, making the eighth World Cup appearance in its history. 💡 Want to stay up to date on everything happening in the USA, Mexico and Canada? Don’t forget to add the World Cup to your favorites! To follow the competition, search for OneFootball "World Cup" and click the star next to it so you don’t miss a single story! Group F is completed by Sweden and Tunisia, who will face each other later in the Italian night. For the Netherlands, it is a chance to get off to the right start and confirm their ambitions as one of the main contenders; for Japan, meanwhile, it is an opportunity to send an immediate message to the group and keep alive the dream of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time ever. 🔴 Article constantly being updated — for live text commentary, click on the match card above. 💥 Nakamura scores: INSTANT equalizer! Japan reacts immediately after the Oranje opener: the Japanese national team finds the equalizer. The move starts with a brilliant initiative from Takefusa Kubo, who gets to the byline and lays it back to Keito Nakamura at the edge of the box. The forward cuts onto his right foot and unleashes a shot from the edge of the area that goes through Dumfries’ legs and catches Verbruggen by surprise. 🎯 Captain Van Dijk BREAKS the deadlock! The Netherlands break the deadlock at the start of the second half thanks to captain Virgil van Dijk. From a perfect cross by Gravenberch from deep, the center-back rises highest in the box and heads the ball into the corner to Suzuki’s left. A towering header that breaks the balance and puts Koeman’s side in front: it’s 1-0 to the Netherlands. 🔥 DOUBLE chance for Japan Japan grows in confidence after the Netherlands’ strong start and tries to threaten on the counterattack. Shortly before half-time, the first chance for the Japanese comes from Nakamura, who sets himself and shoots right-footed from the edge of the box: the ball goes just wide to Verbruggen’s right. Moments later Ueda also tries his luck: a burst down the right and a shot at goal, but the effort is too angled and does not hit the target. ⚔️ An all-'Italian' duel: Malen vs Suzuki An aggressive start from the Netherlands, who come close to taking the lead through Malen. In the 2nd minute, the Oranje forward finds space for a shot, but Suzuki responds with a great save to keep Japan in it. Ronald Koeman’s men keep pushing and create two consecutive headed chances in the 34th minute: first Malen tries again, then it is van de Ven’s turn. On both occasions, however, Suzuki is alert and keeps the score level. ✅ The OFFICIAL lineups NETHERLANDS (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven; De Jong, Garnvenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Gakpo, Malen. Coach: Koeman. JAPAN (3-4-2-1): Suzuki; Watanabe, Taniguchi, Ito; Doan, Kamada, Sano, Nakamura; Kubo, Maeda; Ueda. Coach: Moriyasu. 📊 Qualifying campaign and head-to-head record The Netherlands qualified for the 2026 World Cup by winning European Qualifying Group G with 20 points. The Oranje recorded wins against Finland (2-0 and 4-0), Malta (8-0 and 4-0) and Lithuania (3-2 and 4-0), while drawing both matches against Poland (1-1 and 1-1). Japan also enjoyed a dominant campaign. After winning Group B in the second Asian qualifying round with six wins from six matches against Myanmar, Syria and North Korea, Moriyasu’s side also finished top of the third round with 23 points, ahead of Australia. There have been three official meetings between the two national teams. The only one played at a World Cup dates back to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when the Netherlands won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wesley Sneijder. The other two meetings were friendlies: a 3-0 Dutch win in 2009 and a 2-2 draw in 2013. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.