Netherlands looked set to clinch all three points in their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener, but Daichi Kamada and Japan had other ideas.
Japan twice came from behind to snatch a 2-2 draw with Netherlands, with Daichi Kamada scoring the decisive goal at Dallas Stadium.
Crysencio Summerville‘s first Netherlands goal looked set to seal the Dutch a win in their opening game of the 2026 World Cup, but Japan’s late pressure paid off after an 88th-minute corner.
Donyell Malen almost broke the deadlock in the third minute as he spun away from his defender to fire a powerful shot on goal, but Zion Suzuki got behind it.
Both sides struggled to create openings in a cagey first half, but Keito Nakamura should have given Japan the lead on the stroke of half-time as he found space just outside the box, only to drag his effort wide of the left post.
But the second half sparked into life within just six minutes. Tijjani Reijnders’ poor free-kick was recycled by Ryan Gravenberch, whose pinpoint delivery was nodded home by Virgil van Dijk. It was his 13th international goal, with only current boss Ronald Koeman (14) scoring more as a defender in Dutch national team history.
However, Netherlands’ lead lasted all of six minutes as Japan levelled against the run of play. Takefusa Kubo was given too much space down the right, and his pullback was drilled into the bottom-left corner by Nakamura, with the help of a small deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.
Summerville restored Netherlands’ lead in the 64th minute, with Gravenberch again the provider. He spread play out to the right, and Summerville cut inside to whip his shot in off the far post.
Cody Gakpo forced Suzuki into another smart stop shortly after, but Japan continued to up the intensity. A late corner was whipped into Koki Ogawa, whose header bounced off Kamada and in, with Bart Verbruggen unable to keep it out despite getting a hand to it.
Netherlands End Goalscoring Woes, but Fall Short Against Japan’s Resilience
Coming into the World Cup, Koeman was left frustrated after Netherlands failed to score from open play in three straight matches, and those troubles did not look set to end in the first half.
In fact, three of their four first-half efforts came from set-piece situations (two corners, one free-kick).
However, Van Dijk popped up with yet another important goal. Though he was starting his 66th game for club and country this season (more than any other European player in Europe’s top five leagues), he showed no signs of slowing down as he became Netherlands’ second-oldest World Cup scorer with his first-ever major tournament goal at the age of 34 years, 341 days old.
Japan have so often proven a bigger threat after the break in the World Cup, though, and that was the case again. Nine of their last 10 goals in the tournament have been scored in the second half.
Their resilience will be key to this campaign if they want to get past the round of 16 for the first time – this is their eighth appearance at the World Cup, and given what they showed on Sunday, they could be set to end that run.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Netherlands vs Japan stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group F meeting at Dallas Stadium in Arlington, Texas on 14 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Netherlands 2-2 Japan: Post-Match Opta Facts
Daichi Kamada scored Japan’s latest ever goal in a FIFA World Cup match, equalising in the 88th minute. It was also the second-latest result-altering goal conceded by Netherlands outside of extra-time in the finals, after only a 90+5 equaliser by Mexico in 1998.
This was the first time that Netherlands took the lead twice in a FIFA World Cup match but failed to go on and win, and only the second time Japan trailed twice but avoided defeat at the finals, after a 2-2 draw against Senegal in 2018.
Netherlands failed to win a FIFA World Cup match against an Asian nation for the very first time in their sixth such game, conceding more times today (2) than in their first five combined (1).
This was the first FIFA World Cup match to be goalless at half-time but then end in a draw in which both sides scored twice since Germany 2-2 Ghana in 2014.
Virgil van Dijk – who scored his first ever major tournament (World Cup/EUROs) goal – became Netherlands’ second-oldest ever FIFA World Cup scorer (34y 341d), after Giovanni van Bronckhorst against Uruguay in 2010 (35y 151d).
Crysencio Summerville was the first player to see his first goal for the Netherlands come in the FIFA World Cup since Daley Blind against Brazil in 2014.
Ryan Gravenberch was only the second Netherlands player on record (from 1966) to assist two goals in his first FIFA World Cup appearance; the other was Daley Blind against Spain in 2014.
Netherlands named a FIFA World Cup starting XI without a single player playing their club football in the Dutch Eredivisie for the first time ever, in their 56th game at the finals.
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