World Cup 2026: Group F in focus
Netherlands sauntered through European qualifying, but have been dealt tough opposition in Japan, Sweden and Tunisia. Learn more about each team, their fixtures and who they could face in the Round of 32.
After impressing both defensively and in front of goal when booking their place at FIFA World Cup 2026™, three-time FIFA World Cup™ runners-up Netherlands will be hoping they can finally take the last step to being crowned world champions.
They won’t have things all their own way in what is sure to be a very competitive Group F though, starting against Asian powerhouse Japan, the first team aside from the host nations to qualify for the competition. A Tunisia side that didn’t concede a single goal in CAF qualification, and one of the UEFA play-off winners Sweden complete what looks set to be a closely-contested group.
Confederation: UEFA
Coach: Ronald Koeman
Best World Cup: Runners-up (1974, 1978 and 2010)
World Cup qualifications: 12 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P55 W30 D14 L11 F96 A52
Netherlands emerged undefeated from the UEFA qualifiers, finishing top of Group G on the back of six wins and two draws, and after having scored 27 goals while conceding just four.
Confederation: AFC
Coach: Hajime Moriyasu
Best World Cup: Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018 and 2022)
World Cup qualifications: 8 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P25 W7 D6 L12 F25 A33
Japan suffered defeat just once in their decisive third round of AFC qualifiers, and even that came after they had already secured their place at an eighth successive World Cup.
Confederation: UEFA
Coach: Graham Potter
Best World Cup: Runners-up (1958)
World Cup qualifications: 13 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P51 W19 D13 L19 F80 A73
After struggling in the European group stage, Sweden beat both Ukraine and Poland in the play-offs to secure their return to the world’s biggest stage.
Confederation: CAF
Coach: Sabri Lamouchi
Best World Cup: Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022)
World Cup qualifications: 7 (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026)
Overall World Cup record: P18 W3 D5 L10 F14 A26
Utterly dominant in their CAF qualifying group, Tunisia ensured back-to-back World Cup appearances by racking up nine wins and one draw, scoring 22 unanswered goals.
Netherlands have the most runners-up finishes of any team not to win the World Cup, and will be hoping they can finally take the last step to glory this year after losing the final in 1974, 1978 and 2010.
If he makes it onto the pitch for Japan this summer, 39-year-old defender Yuto Nagatomo will join an exclusive list of players to have appeared at five different World Cup tournaments.
Sweden’s top scorers at the World Cup are Henrik Larsson and Kennet Andersson with five goals apiece - the former registering his across three different tournaments and latter plundering them all at USA 1994.
Tunisia were the first African team to win a match at the World Cup, marking their debut in the competition with a 3-1 win over Mexico at Argentina 1978.
The winners of Group F will face the runner-up from Group C in Monterrey, while the runners-up will meet the Group C winners in Houston. If the third-placed team also progresses as one of the eight best, they will meet either the Group A, Group B, Group D, Group E or Group I winners in Mexico City, Vancouver, San Francisco Bay Area, Boston or New York New Jersey.