World Cup: Bundesliga trio start for Japan against the Netherlands

1 week ago 10

World: World Cup

Netherlands

Japan

⚽ V. van Dijk (51), ⚽ C. Summerville (64)

⚽ K. Nakamura (57), ⚽ D. Kamada (88)

By Eskender Tamrat@eskeFussball

Japan face Netherlands in the opening Group F fixture of the 2026 World Cup.

Japan and the Netherlands will kick off their World Cup campaign in Texas on Sunday night. There are seven Bundesliga-based players in Hajime Moriyasu’s squad, with FC Bayern’s Hiroki Itō, Eintracht Frankfurt's Ritsu Dōan and Mainz’s Kaishū Sano making the starting lineup.

From the starting XI of the Samurai Blue, Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt) also had previous Bundesliga experience. With Wataru Endo's international retirement and former Borussia Mönchengladbach defender Kō Itakura on the bench, Dōan will captain Japan.

Meanwhile, Leverkusen’s Mark Flekken is the substitute goalkeeper for the Netherlands. From their eight players with previous Bundesliga experiences, Micky van de Ven (Wolfsburg), Ryan Gravenberch (FC Bayern) and Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund) are in Ronald Koeman’s XI.

Confirmed Netherlands vs. Japan Lineups

Netherlands XI: Verbruggen; Dumfries, van Hecke, van Dijk ©, van de Ven; Gravenberch, de Jong, Reijnders; Summerville, Malen, Gakpo

*** Disclaimer: This Article is auto-aggregated by a Rss Api Program and has not been created or edited by Bdtype.

(Note: This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News Rss Api. News.bdtype.com Staff may not have modified or edited the content body.

Please visit the Source Website that deserves the credit and responsibility for creating this content.)

Watch Live | Source Article