Netherlands gives up victory against Japan in the final phase of the start of the World Cup

The Dutch national team started the 2026 World Cup with a draw against Japan. Crysencio Summerville seemed to have put Oranje on the road to victory with his first international goal, but two minutes from time Koki Ogawa equalized (from a pass from Daïchi Kamada). Japan last lost to a European opponent (Belgium, 3-2 in the round of 16) in the 2018 World Cup, although the penalty shootout defeat against Croatia at the last World Cup tournament is not counted. Japan was also able to impress in the last test matches against top teams such as England and Brazil. The Samurai Blue also proved to be a stubborn opponent for the Netherlands. With Feyenoorder's Tsuyoshi Watanabe in central defense, Japan played compactly, which made it difficult for the Dutch to find gaps. Donyell Malen was the most noticeable player in the early stages of the game. However, the AS Roma striker, who was unfortunate in the friendlies against Algeria and Uzbekistan, showed great determination at the start of the World Cup game. After just two minutes, he cleverly turned around a defender and brought the ball dangerously towards the goal, but goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was just able to save the shot. Although the initial phase was promising, it took a long time for the Dutch to create another opportunity. There was a lack of pace to overcome Japan and the final passes were often inaccurate. Only in the final phase of the first half

There was real danger at the moment when Malen headed at Suzuki from a corner from Tijjani Reijnders. However, the Japanese had the better chances. First Keito Nakamura hit the post next to Bart Verbruggen's goal, then Ayase Ueda missed a good opportunity. Virgil van Dijk gave Ueda some space at this moment, which also led to a dangerous counterattack by the Dutch. After the half-time break, the Netherlands started stronger and seemed to have reacted to the missed chances before the break. A promising attack with Summerville initially brought nothing, but soon it happened: Van Dijk headed diagonally into the far corner from a cross from Ryan Gravenberch and gave the Netherlands the lead. This brought him closer to Koeman (14 goals). This goal revives the game. Japan hit back five minutes later when Nakamura moved in from the left. Verbruggen was slightly hampered by Maeda standing in the path of the shot and was unable to prevent their first goal of the World Cup. Shortly afterwards, Japan threatened the goal again, but Summerville interrupted the counterattack and was shown a yellow card. A little later, the West Ham player gave Oranje the lead again with a beautiful shot into the far corner. A lot happened in the first phase after halftime. Gakpo also caused danger with a nice move in the penalty area, but was later found to be offside. After a drinking break, Koeman brought in Memphis Depay, Teun Koopmeiners and Quin

ten Timber as a substitute to bring a breath of fresh air into the game. Gakpo tried again, but this time Suzuki was able to parry his shot from close range. Japan responded with the substitutions of Koki Ogawa, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Yukinari Sugawara to bring fresh blood into the game. After these changes, Japan took charge and Koeman also used Nathan Aké and Brian Brobbey to secure the win. However, the pressure on the Dutch defense increased significantly and the equalizer came two minutes from time when Ogawa got off Van Dijk's back at a corner and beat Verbruggen with a header. So the Netherlands had to be satisfied with one point, but was at least able to equal a World Cup record set by Brazil. Sweden is waiting for the Netherlands on Saturday.