Group F could be a very interesting group featuring Holland as top seeds with Japan the first qualifiers , Tunisia from African and the European Playoff winners Sweden who have come from a dismal qualifying campaign to impressive playoffs victories.
HOLLAND –
Holland had a fairly comfortable qualification winning 6 of 8 games and drawing 1-1 twice with Group runner up Poland.
A 2-1 friendly win over Norway in March was added to with a 1-1 draw against Ecuador where the early dismissal of Denzel Dumfries no doubt impacting the game.
The Dutch are managed by legend Ronald Koeman
In goal Holland have Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen with back up from Mark Flekken of Bayer Leverkusen.
The defence is led by captain Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool alongside Manchetser City’s Nathan Aké and Denzel Dumfries of Inter Milan. Fellow Liverpool player Jeremie Frimpong plays in right wing back role , while Jurriën Timber is likely to feature of the left. The Dutch also have Manchester Utd’s Matthijs de Ligt and Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven.
In midfield Holland are well served by Juventus star Teun Koopmeiners, Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders of Manchester City, PSV’s Jerdy Schouten will miss the tournament due to a recent injury. Frenkie de Jong of Barcelona who has had injury problems in the lead up to the World Cup. Tottenham’s Xavi Simons misses out due to injury.
The attack has come in for some criticism in recent years particularly Memphis Depay, he is assisted by Roma’s Donyell Malen and Cody Gakpo of Liverpool.
They have sometimes turned to the physical presence of former Manchester Utd player , now at Ajax Wout Weghorst.
JAPAN –
Japan impressed at World Cup 2022 with come from behind wins over Germany and Spain and were unfortunate to be knocked out on penalties by Croatia.
They qualified for World Cup 2026 winning all 6 games to top Group B in the Second Round before winning Group C ahead of Australia in the Third Round to secure their qualification with some ease.
Their March 2026 1-0 wins over Scotland and England suggest they are tight in defence and coming into the tournament with confidence.
Japan manager is Hajime Moriyasu
Zion Suzuki of Parma is their goalkeeper.
The defence includes Takehiro Tomiyasu of Ajax , Tsuyoshi Watanabe of Feyenoord and Hiroki Ito from Bayern Munich.
Japan’s midfield is expected to feature Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, Junya Itō from Genk, Leeds Utd’s Ao Tanaka and Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada.
Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma and Monaco’s Takumi Minamino both miss out through injury.
In attack Japan can call on the experience of Daizen Maeda from Celtic. Ayase Ueda of Feyenorrd will likely feature alongside Freiburg’s Yuito Suzuki.
TUNISIA –
Tunisia qualified with some ease from African Group H winning 9 and drawing 1 of their 10 games without conceding a goal to win the group and secure automatic qualification.
Tunisia competed in the African Cup of Nations taking 4pts from their 3 games in December 2025 finishing second in their group behind Nigeria. They were beaten on penalties in the last 16 after a 1-1 draw with Mali.
A new manager has taken over – Sabri Lamouchi, so the team is currently in a period of change.
March 2026 friendlies saw them draw 0-0 with Canada and beat Haiti 1-0.
Aymen Dahmen is their normal goalkeeper.
In defence they have Ali Abdi, Montassar Talbi of Lorient and Servette’s Dylan Bronn.
The midfield has captain Ellyes Skhiri of Eintracht Frankfurt alongside Anis Ben Slimane of Norwich City and Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri.
Rani Khedira of Union Berlin has recently changed to Tunisia’s nationality and is brother of former German and Real Madrid star Sami Khedira
In attack they will have Firas Chaouat and Celtic’s Sebastian Tounekti. Louey Ben Farhat could add young energy to their attacking options.
SWEDEN –
Sweden had a terrible qualifying campaign under manager Jon Dahl Tomasson, and he was replaced by former Brighton and Chelsea manager Graham Potter for the playoffs. They had qualified for the playoffs by winning their Nations League group and took full advantage beating Ukraine 3-1 in Valencia then Poland 3-2 at home in the final.
They have Kristoffer Nordfeldt in goal.
The defence is led by captain and former Manchetser Utd’s Victor Lindelöf now at Aston Villa. He is partnered by former Celtic player Carl Starfelt now at Celta Vigo and Gustaf Lagerbielke of Braga.
Jesper Karlström of Udinese and Brighton’s Yasin Ayari play alongside Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski with Newcastle winger Anthony Elanga.
In attack Sweden are well served by Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres who scored a hat trick against Ukraine and the winner against Poland alongside Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren.
Alexander Isak Sweden’s talismanic striker has recently returned to the Liverpool team following a long term injury.
Group F Fixtures
14/6/26 9pm Holland v Japan
15/6/26 0.00am Sweden v Tunisia
20/6/26 6pm Holland v Sweden
21/6/26 5am Tunisia v Japan
26/6/26 0.00am Holland v Tunisia
26/6/26 0.00am Japan v Sweden
PREDICTIONS
This is an intriguing group with the cohesion of the Japanese , the Swedish team which has good attacking options and a new manager , pitted against the African’s of Tunisia and Holland who have experience and perhaps a squad getting older and with injuries and loss of form might struggle.
I can see a surprise with Japan beating Holland in the opening game and Sweden beating Tunisia.
Sweden then will have more freedom and will take the game to the Dutch who will likely hang on and get a draw while Japan beat Tunisia.
Japan 7pts and Sweden 5pts will play out a draw to confirm their passage and leave Holland fighting Tunisia for third place which they will do , with a narrow but decisive 2 goal win.
1st Place prediction – Japan 7pts
2nd Place prediction – Sweden 5pts
3rd Place prediction – Holland 4pts GD +1
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