🔥 Netherlands sunk by Kamada on 89': Japan's double comeback, Oranje 🥶 | OneFootball

It ends 2-2 between the Netherlands and Japan in the opening match of Group F at the 2026 World Cup. It was a spectacular draw that took shape entirely in the second half, with the Oranje going ahead twice and the Japanese managing to come back on both occasions.

💡 Want to stay up to date on everything happening in the USA, Mexico and Canada? Don’t forget to bookmark the World Cup! To follow the competition, search for "World Cup" on OneFootball and click the star next to it so you won’t miss a single story!

There were few chances in the first half, but the best one fell to Malen, denied by an excellent save from Suzuki. The match came alive after the break. In the 51st minute, captain van Dijk put the Netherlands in front with a commanding header from a Gravenberch assist. Japan responded six minutes later through Nakamura, whose right-footed strike from the edge of the box made it 1-1.

Koeman’s men went back in front in the 64th minute thanks to a brilliant solo play from Summerville, who curled an unstoppable left-footed shot past Suzuki.

Just when the match seemed to be heading toward an Oranje victory, Japan found the strength to respond again: in the 89th minute, from a corner, Ogawa’s header was deflected by Kamada, wrong-footing Verbruggen and making it 2-2.

One point apiece for the Netherlands and Japan, who begin their World Cup campaign by sharing the spoils while waiting for the other group match between Sweden and Tunisia.

💣 Kamada at the DEATH: Japan level in the 89th minute

Just when a Dutch victory seemed close at hand, Japan found the equaliser in the 89th minute.

From a corner, Ogawa headed the ball in the box and it fortuitously ricocheted off Kamada’s head, completely wrong-footing Verbruggen.

🎯 Summerville the SNIPER: tribute to Van Nistelrooy

The Netherlands responded immediately in a second half full of emotion. Summerville cut in from the right onto his left foot and unleashed a wonderful curling effort into the far corner.

The shot was precise and unstoppable for Suzuki, who could do nothing this time.

After Keito Nakamura’s temporary equaliser, the Netherlands regained the lead thanks to a moment of real quality from Summerville, who ran to the bench to embrace and dedicate the goal to former Oranje striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

💥 Nakamura scores: IMMEDIATE equaliser!

Japan reacted straight away after the Oranje opener, with the national team finding an equaliser.

The move started with a brilliant initiative from Takefusa Kubo, who got to the byline and pulled it back to Keito Nakamura on the edge of the area.

The forward shifted onto his right foot and fired a shot from the edge of the box that went through Dumfries’ legs and caught Verbruggen by surprise.

🎯 Captain Van Dijk BREAKS THE DEADLOCK!

The Netherlands opened the scoring at the start of the second half thanks to captain Virgil van Dijk.

From a perfect cross by Gravenberch from deep, the centre-back rose above everyone in the box and headed the ball into the corner to Suzuki’s left.

A towering header that broke the deadlock and put Koeman’s team ahead: it was 1-0 to the Netherlands.

🔥 DOUBLE chance for Japan

Japan grew in confidence after the Netherlands’ strong start and tried to threaten on the counterattack.

Shortly before half-time, the first chance for the Japanese came through Nakamura, who set himself and hit a right-footed shot from the edge of the box: the ball went just wide of Verbruggen’s right post.

Moments later Ueda also had a go: he burst down the right and shot at goal, but the effort was too angled and did not hit the target.

⚔️ An all-'Italian' Malen-Suzuki duel

The Netherlands started aggressively and went close to taking the lead through Malen. In the 2nd minute, the Oranje forward found space for a shot, but Suzuki responded with a great save to keep Japan level.

Ronald Koeman’s men kept pushing and created two consecutive headed chances in the 34th minute: Malen tried first, then it was van de Ven’s turn. On both occasions, however, Suzuki was ready and kept the score level.

✅ OFFICIAL lineups

NETHERLANDS (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven; De Jong, Garnvenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Gakpo, Malen. Coach: Koeman.

JAPAN (3-4-2-1): Suzuki; Watanabe, Taniguchi, Ito; Doan, Kamada, Sano, Nakamura; Kubo, Maeda; Ueda. Coach: Moriyasu.

📊 Qualification and head-to-head record

The Netherlands qualified for the 2026 World Cup by winning Group G in the European qualifiers with 20 points. The Oranje recorded wins against Finland (2-0 and 4-0), Malta (8-0 and 4-0) and Lithuania (3-2 and 4-0), while drawing both matches against Poland (1-1 and 1-1).

It was also a dominant path for Japan. After winning Group B of the second Asian qualifying round with six wins from six against Myanmar, Syria and North Korea, Moriyasu’s side also finished top of the third round with 23 points, ahead of Australia.

There have been three official meetings between the two national teams. The only one played at a World Cup dates back to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when the Netherlands won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Wesley Sneijder. The other two meetings were friendlies: a 3-0 Dutch win in 2009 and a 2-2 draw in 2013.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 Francois Nel - 2026 Getty Images