The Netherlands and Japan are looking well set to advance to the World Cup 2026 against European opponents as they face the Netherlands and Sweden.
De Oranje have unsurprisingly been favourites to win the group from the start, and have done nearly everything at reach to confirm it. But they could face some stiff competition, especially from a Japan side who held them to a draw on matchday one and responded to their 5-1 win over Sweden with a four-goal victory of their own against Tunisia.
That said, Ronald Koeman’s men have a higher chance of earning yet another large result against the Eagles of Carthage than the Samurai Blue against the Scandinavians.
World Cup 2026 Group F outright odds
Get the latest odds for each team to win Group F below:
Netherlands Group F odds
Netherlands are unsurprisingly the favourites to win Group F as the only team in this group with serious World Cup pedigree. De Oranje have been finalists at the World Cup three times without ever winning the trophy, and they’ll hope to finally end that long-running hoodoo in the USA, Canada and Mexico this summer.
However, it’s not exactly a vintage Netherlands outfit under Ronald Koeman. While Memphis Depay has always been reliable on the international stage, it does feel like the Dutch attack is a level below that of the frontrunners for the tournament like France and England. Then again, Brian Brobbey, Cody Gakpo and Crysencio Summerville had something to say about that against Sweden.
They do, however, possess a well-balanced midfield with the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Tijjani Reijnders and Frenkie de Jong in their ranks.
The backline will be marshalled by Virgil van Dijk, who turns 35 during the tournament, and as skipper, he will expect to lead his side to the top spot in Group F.
Japan Group F odds
Japan faced very few problems in securing their spot at the 2026 World Cup, winning Group C of the AFC qualifying with seven wins and just one defeat from 10 matches. That qualifying campaign included a 7-0 mauling of China and four goals each for both Daichi Kamada and Koki Ogawa.
It’s worth noting that although the odds were against them before the tournament kicked off, Japan upset two European heavyweights in the group stages in Qatar back in 2022, finishing top of Group E after wins over both Spain and Germany. Could they topple another of the big boys in the group stages this time? They made a good start by holding the Netherlands to a draw and need just one point against Sweden to automatically secure a spot in the knockout stages.
Sweden Group F odds
Viktor Gyokeres’ late strike secured Sweden’s passage to the finals this summer in a thrilling 3-2 win over Poland. Graham Potter’s side had squeezed out Ukraine in the playoff semi-finals prior, with the Arsenal forward bagging a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory.
Gyokeres formed a great partnership with Alexander Isak in Sweden’s opening match, inspiring Potter’s side to a 5-1 thrashing of Tunisia which has given them a huge chance of reaching the knockout rounds.
However, they must now pick themselves up against Japan after being utterly dismantled by the Dutch.
Tunisia Group F odds
Tunisia were unstoppable in Group H of the CAF World Cup qualifying period, winning nine and drawing one of their ten games and managing to keep clean sheets in all ten of those matches – although with Namibia and Liberia finishing in second and third place of that group with 15 points each, you can ask questions about the quality of opposition on show.
The Eagles of Carthage have qualified for five of the last seven World Cups only to be knocked out in the group stages on all five occasions. And you guessed it, it happened again this time.
That hunch was backed up as Tunisia pressed the self-destruct button with big mistakes and a defensive disasterclass against Sweden, in a result that cost manager Sabri Lamouchi his job. Now it remains to be seen whether Herve Renard gets the sack after suffering a four-goal loss of his own in his debut.
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World Cup 2026 Group F fixtures and results
Here are the fixtures for Group F at the 2026 World Cup.
World Cup 2026 Group F table
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