World Cup

Netherlands vs Japan World Cup 2026 prediction

One of the most exciting matchups of round 1 see the Netherlands face Japan in Arlington, Texas on Sunday evening, British Summer Time.

Ronald Koeman’s side head to North America off the back of an impressive qualifying campaign that saw them go unbeaten with six wins and two draws, scoring 27 goals and conceding only four. Worth noting that Poland, Finland, Malta and Lithuania was the competition, so it’s not a real test of what they are going to be up against this summer.

The Oranje boast a very impressive squad that is capable of going deep in the competiton. Is Ronald Koeman the man to get the best out of them? Not hugely inspired by him, but brother Erwin is among the coaches and he’s a solid tactician.

Target man Wout Weghorst could lead the line for the European side. Although the 33-year-old proved to be a super sub in Qatar 4.5 years ago. Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo plays out wide, whilst Sunderland’s Brian Brobby could be an option down the middle.

Memphis Depay, Donyell Malen and Justin Kluivert are other attacking talents in the squad, supported by the likes of Manchester City’s Tijjani Reijnders, Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong, Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Juventus’ Teun Koopmeiners in midfield. As well as Internationale’s Denzel Dumfries bombing on from full-back. Defensively they were solid in qualifying with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke.

Interestingly, the Netherlands haven’t lost a World Cup game since the final against Spain in 2010, which came in extra-time. They lost on penalties in the quarter-finals to Argentina in 2022, didn’t qualify in 2018 and lost on penalties to Argentina in the semi-finals in 2010 (beating Brazil 3-0 in the third-place playoff).

Japan had no problems in qualifying, winning six ouf six in the group stage, scoring 24 and not conceding a single goal. However, the opposition was only North Korea, Syria and Myanmar. In the final group stage they won seven, drew two and their single loss was 0-1 away to Australia. They won the group by four points above Australia. Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Bahrain were the other sides.

I like a lot of players in this squad and expect them to finish in the top two of this group.

Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki is a great shot-stopper with good distribution of the ball. Head coach Hajime Moriyasu likes playing a 3-4-3 formation, which I think could be risky versus this Netherlands attack but should make for a very exciting opening game. Bayern Munich’s Hiroki Itō and Feyenoord’s Tsuyoshi Watanabe are amongst the defence. Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo is a playmaker and goal threat down the wing, whilst Leeds United’s Ao Tanaka, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Ritsu Dōan and Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada are other noteable names in midfield. Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda should lead the line up front.

Expecting an exciting game between these two but with the Netherlands to come out on top.

Best bet: Netherlands to win is 1/1 with Bet365
Value bet: Over 3.5 goals is 5/2 with Bet365