Netherlands v Japan: Commentary, updates, goals and stats as Oranje face Asian giants

One of the most impressive matches in the group stage of the World Cup as the Netherlands will face Japan in Dallas.

Ronald Koeman’s Oranje are expected to progress to the finals but their opening performance is by no means straightforward.

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Japan did not come to this tournament as an underdog, but as a team that earned the right to be taken seriously.

Hajime Moriyasu’s team beat Germany and Spain in the last World Cup. In the March window they beat Scotland 1-0 and won 1-0 at Wembley, becoming the first Asian country to beat England.

Where to watch Netherlands v Japan

Netherlands vs Japan kicks off at 9pm UK time. You can watch it on ITV 1 and broadcast on ITVX.

Click HERE for the full World Cup TV guide

Netherlands v Japan stats

• This will be the Netherlands’ 12th World Cup match. No other team has finished second as often as the Dutch without winning the trophy (three times – 1974, 1978, 2010).
• The Netherlands have won 54.5% of their matches in the World Cup (30 out of 55, excluding qualifiers) and only Brazil (66.7%) and Germany (60.7%) have a higher winning rate in the history of this tournament. The Dutch are also only four away from reaching 100 goals in the World Cup.
• Apart from penalties, the Netherlands have lost only one of their last 19 World Cup matches (W14 D4). That lone loss came in the 2010 final against Spain (0-1 after extra time). Meanwhile, their last defeat in the group stage came in 1994, a 0-1 loss to Belgium.
• This will be Japan’s eighth consecutive World Cup appearance – a run dating back to 1998. It is the second longest consecutive participation by an Asian country after Korea.
  The Republic’s current run of 11 World Cup championships is in a row.
• Japan has never advanced to the round of 16 in the World Cup. In fact, they are the ones who hold the record for the most matches they have played without reaching the quarter-finals in this tournament (25).
• Japan have scored more goals than any other team in the 2026 AFC World Cup qualifiers –
  they found the net 54 times, including a 3-0 win against North Korea. Apart from
  Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

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