World Cup 2026: Group F Preview
- 6 days ago
- 8 min read
Virgil van Dijk is a larger-than-life presence in modern-day football, but has never reached the heights with Netherlands that he has with Liverpool. Can he wash out the taste of a trying club season by helping his national team to newfound glory?
Netherlands 🇳🇱
FIFA Rank: 8th
Qualified as: UEFA Group G winners
The Skinny
The favorites from each of the least couple groups we've previewed have been names that are synonymous with world football, and the Netherlands are no different. Few nations can boast as much of an influence on the game's history as the Dutch: some all-time great players, managers that revolutionized football, a historic club that used to be among the elites of England, perennial contenders at major tournaments. One key differentiation between them and Brazil and Germany, though: where the latter two have combined for 9 World Cups between them, the Dutch haven't won a single one. In fact, Netherlands' sole major trophy in their entire history was at the 1988 Euros, a pretty remarkable fact given how constantly they are perceived to be among the favorites (that fact is made only slightly more believable when you consider they're the only nation in World Cup history to make 3 appearances in a Final without winning one-- 1974, 1978 and 2010). Given the level of some Oranje teams of the past that failed to win this tournament, there's a healthy amount of skepticism that this latest edition will be the one to break the World Cup duck. But still, after the embarassment of missing out on the 2016 Euros and 2018 World Cup altogether, there's been some solid building blocks of progress in their last three tournaments: a quarterfinal run at the '22 Cup, a 4th place finish in the Nations League a year later, and a semifinals exit at the '24 Euros, in each case only being eliminated after a tough battle with the eventual champions. Can this experienced, balanced group weather the sweltering conditions and the weight of history and put the Dutch back on the map?
The Best XI
This Dutch "Best XI" almost looks like the inverse of the orange team we previewed yesterday, Ivory Coast: solid options across the pitch, but it's at the back of the park where you can see why they're percevied as contenders. Virgil van Dijk may have just endured what he called "his hardest season ever" at Liverpool, but is still one of the best defenders of all time, and helms a hypothetical back 5 that includes Tottenham speedster Mickey van de Ven, Man City stalwart Nathan Aké, and not one but two of the best right-backs in the world at the moment in Jurrien Timber (Arsenal) and Denzel Dumfries (Inter Milan, soon-to-be Real Madrid). Given the latter's tendency to excel in more of a wingback role, I wouldn't be surprised if Timber tucks into more of a RCB role in this lineup. Ryan Gravenberch may have regressed a little this past season with Liverpool after his breakout '24-'25 campaign, but he still provides a great pairing option with Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong. The Achilles heel for this Oranje side is their relative dearth of attacking options. Interestingly enough, their forward selection includes a number of guys (most proficiently Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo) who have consistently been better for country than for club, so it may not be that big of a concern, but I still think their best best up top might actually be young Brian Brobbey, who had a sneaky good Premier League season with overacheiving Sunderland, and who his national team captain recently called the most underrated player in this squad. Regardless of who starts at the 9, you can probably expect Man City's Tijani Reijnders and Marten De Roon of Atalanta to bolster them in attack.
Japan 🇯🇵
FIFA Rank: 18th
Qualified as: AFC Group C winners
The Skinny
For a nation that really wasn't on the football scene at all until the 21st-century, Japan has quickly ascended to "World Cup contender" status. The Samurai Blue didn't even qualify for a World Cup until 1998, and their first trip past the group stages came four years later, on home soil. Since that 2002 tournament, though, they've made the knockout stages three more times, and while they've failed to break through to the quarterfinals on each occasion, they've been awfully close-- falling in penalties to Paraguay (2010) and Croatia (2022), and losing to Belgium on virtually the last kick of the game (2018). Their Qatar outing was especially impressive, as the Samurai topped the Group of Death, beating Spain and Germany in the process, and were just a shootout away from eliminating eventual 3rd-place team Croatia. They've also taken home 3 Asian Cups this century, and have steadily built both a consistent identity and a player pool that places guys at some of the best clubs in the world. Injuries have unfortunately affected this squad coming into the tournament, but this is still a balanced and well-drilled side that has displayed the ability to be a tough out for any team, at the very least.
The Best XI
As just mentioned, injuries had a big effect on the makeup of this Japan squad, and especially decimated the attack: Borussia Mönchengladbach's Shūto Machino, Monaco's Takumi Minamino and most notably Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma all are big losses for this group. Still, there are plenty of good options available for them, starting with veteran forward Daizen Maeda (Celtic). Even without Minamino and Mitoma, Japan has a deep well of options at winger and attacking mid, in recent European Finalists Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg) and Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), three-time Cup goalscorer Ritsu Dōan (Frankfurt) and Real Sociedad phenom Takefusa Kubo. Captain and Liverpool workshorse Wataru Endō seemed to be another likely casualty of the injury bug after suffering a grisly injury for Liverpool back in February, but despite not playing another match for the Reds, was included in this squad and seems to have recovered in time for this tournament. If healthy, he'll certainly start, and likely alongside Leeds starter Ao Tanaka. The back line is laden with experience, including longtime Arsenal man Tomiyasu and Bayern Munich prospect Itō, and much sought-after young keeper Zion Suzuki (Parma) gets his chance to prove himself on the biggest stage.
Sweden 🇸🇪
FIFA Rank: 38th
Qualified as: 4th place in UEFA Group B;
defeated Ukraine and Poland in playoff
The Skinny
It's been a funny ol' last decade or so for Sweden, a nation that up until the early 2000s, was a constant force in world football (they're one of just three countries, along with Hungary and groupmates Netherlands, to play in multiple Finals despite never having won a title). They celebrated their long-awaited return to the World Cup in 2018 with a surprise quarterfinals run, and then erased years of futility in the Euros with a surprise quarterfinal run in that tournament in 2021. Then, they followed that up by missing the '22 World Cup and '24 Euros altogether, and it looked like Blågult ("The Blue And Yellow") were poised to miss a third major tournament in a row after a disastrous qualifying performance that saw the take 2 total points and finish last in a group with Switzerland, Kosovo and Albania, not exactly the titans of Europe, with respect. But, thanks to an odd quirk of the UEFA qualifying system, they were given a lifeline, earning a spot in a bonus playoff for qualification thanks to their strong performance in the 2024-25 Nations League. They made the most of their second chance there, dispatching of favored Ukraine and Poland teams in thrilling fashion. Is that a fluke, or enough to indicate a real turnaround? I guess we'll find out soon, but two things are for sure: 1. when Sweden has been in the World Cup, they've almost always performed very well there, and 2. this Sweden side has enough quality in it to suggest that's possible again.
The Best XI
Longtime Premier League manager Graham Potter is in charge of this Swedish side at this Cup, and has a bevy of Premier League talent at his disposal, especially in attack. Neither Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) nor certainly Alexander Isak (Liverpool) may have had the splashy debut season with their new clubs they were hoping for, but just one season ago, were perceived as two of the best goalscorers on the planet, and their recent form for Sweden at least suggests that quality level is still there. They'll be joined in attack by Newcastle's Anthony Elanga, and likely in creative midfield by Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall. Captain and Manchester United veteran Victor Lindelöf helms the back line, in between two fellow Premier League players in Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds) and Hjamar Ekdal (Burnley). In goal, they've got a trio of new faces on the international scene, but the likely starter seems to be stoke City man Viktor Johansson.
Tunisia 🇹🇳
FIFA Rank: 46th
Qualified as: CAF Group H winners
The Skinny
In the era of the expanded World Cup, there are many nations that have carved out a spot as a near-perennial qualifier for the World Cup, but never have been able to make it out of the group stage. In other words, they're among the top tier of their own continent, but behind enough from the rest of the world that they aren't able to rise to the level of the last 16 or beyond. Tunisia is a classic case of this kind of team: before 1998, the Eagles of Carthage had only ever qualified for one tournament, but since that year, have gone on to qualify for every single ensuing tournament save for one. Yet, in those 6 appearances, the North Africans have managed just a grand total of 2 wins and never progressed to the knockout stages. That said, both of those Cup wins in their history came in the last two tournaments, and 4 years ago in Qatar, Tunisia did score a famous win over France-- the reigning runners-up's lone regulation loss in the World Cup since 2014 --and would have been a shock qualifier for the Round of 16 had it not been for Australia's late winner over Denmark in the concurrent group match. Between that, and several strong showings in the last several Africa Cup of Nations, there's reason to believe this experienced squad could play spoiler in one of the more competitive groups at this tournament.
The Best XI
There's a good amount of Tunisian Professional League 1 representation in this squad, especially at the back, where all 3 goalkeepers included play domestically-- the likely starter there is CS Sfaxien's Aymen Dahmen. But just about everyone else is littered across Europe, many of them in top leagues, in fact. Veteran defender Dylan Bronn is now with Servette in Switzerland, but the rest of his likely fellow starters are in France and Turkey, including Nice standout Ali Abdi. Ahead of them, captain and Frankfurt man Ellyes Shkiri will patrol the midfield, likely in tandem with young Championship talents Anis Ben Slimane (Norwich City) and Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley). In attack, Tunisia-based Firas Chaouat likely gets the start at striker just by default of being the only pure '9' on the roster, but there's a wealth of good wingers to support him going forward; expect Hannover's Elias Saad and PSG youngster Khalil Ayari to be the choices to join up front.
Group Schedule (all times ET)
6/14, 4 PM: Netherlands v Japan (Dallas)
6/14, 10 PM: Sweden v Tunisia (Monterrey)
6/20, 1 PM: Netherlands v Sweden (Houston)
6/20, Midnight: Tunisia v Japan (Monterrey)
6/25, 7 PM: Tunisia v Netherlands (Kansas City) / Japan v Sweden (Dallas)
Group Prediction
This is the other group, alongside the United States' Group D, in which just about any permutation of finishes seems possible to me. I would be of course be surprised if Tunisia won the group or if the Netherlands finish last, sure. But in a group with 3 solid-but-clearly-flawed traditional contenders, and an underdog with loads of experience and a sneaky amount of talent, any other combination of '1-2-3-4' feels very feasible. Accordingly, I'm anticipating lots of draws and generally competitive matches here. Just as they did at the Euros two summers ago,, I think the Dutch may start slow with draws against Japan and Sweden, causing a good measure of nerves amongst their fans, before breaking through with a big win over Tunisia to clinch the group on the final day. For Japan, meanwhile, I'm expecting a similar group stage rollercoaster for them as last Cup, wherein they almost inexplicably lost to Costa Rica in between wins over Spain and Germany: an impressive opening draw vs. Netherlands is followed by a disappointing draw with Tunisia, only for Samurai Blue to score a crucial win over Sweden and jump them for the coveted 2nd place spot.
Comments