World Cup Previews: Group F
It’s officially World Cup week and the excitement is finally starting to build. Despite powers that be trying their best to detract from the joy, I am genuinely buzzing for this tournament to start. Roll on the 3am kick offs! Group F is a classic World Cup group, with plenty of chances for drama and upsets. Japan seem to be the hipsters’ dark horse pick this year, so look out for them finishing rock bottom with 0 points, and Sweden managed to squeeze in by the skin of their teeth due to their Nations League success… the less said about that the better. We’re at the half way stage now, let’s get stuck into Group F!
Japan
Qualifying
As mentioned earlier, Japan have become quite the darlings for football hipsters across the country heading into this summer. Ask anyone with a moustache and a beanie, Japan are the team to beat.
They breezed through the first stage of Asian qualifying, winning all 6 of their group games without conceding a goal and scoring 24 in the process. Their second stage showing was almost as dominant again, easily topping the group with 7 wins from their 10 games and only losing on the penultimate match day having already qualified to a desperate Australia side. They scored 30 goals across the second stage and only let in 3, a phenomenal record by anyone’s standards, and enough to pique the interest of the nerds far and wide.
Their form has continued in recent friendlies, too. They’re on a 6 game winning streak going into the tournament, starting with a 3-2 win over Brazil and then continuing with 5 consecutive clean sheets that included victories over Ghana, Scotland, and being the first Asian side to ever beat England. Maybe the moustaches have a point.
Japan come into the tournament as clearly the strongest representatives of their federation and, with a relatively winnable group in front of them, could easily make deep strides into the knockout rounds. With all this expectation building around them, the big question that remains is how they handle the pressure.
One To Watch
This Japanese squad is blessed with talent from front to back, and you could make a case for anyone to be the difference maker this summer. Thus is the strength of the system, nobody really stands out as the far-and-away superstar.
One man who I think could be pivotal in any success for Japan this summer, however, is Keito Nakamura. Nakamura has spent the last three seasons at Reims in France, and was reportedly a target of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool before he made that move. After last year’s relegation, he has spent a year tearing up Ligue 2 in preparation for this tournament and looks set to start on the left for his country in the US. Typically a left winger, he will probably play a little deeper in a wing-back-esque role for Japan, although they naturally allow these players a lot more freedom than your usual wide defenders. He is a relentless hard worker, a threat in front of goal and an accomplished crosser of the ball, the perfect profile for this role as an attacking wing back expected to be a nuisance in both boxes.
He signed off his club season with 4 goals in a 5-3 win before jetting off to join up with the Japan squad for the World Cup, and he will carry that confidence into the tournament. If Japan fulfil all the promise around them, you can be certain that Nakamura will be bombing up and down that left hand side causing havoc throughout.
Netherlands
Qualifying
This is far from a vintage Dutch team, but they got the job done when it mattered. Ronald Koeman guided them to an unbeaten qualifying cycle, topping their group ahead of Poland by 3 points, scoring 27 and only conceding 4 along the way.
After back-to-back semi final appearances, failing to make it to Russia in 2018 was a disaster for the Dutch. They pulled back some dignity with a solid quarter final showing in Qatar, but a strong tournament here could go a long way to repairing the Netherlands’ reputation on the international scene. Their key players are aging fast, and with their replacements either not developing at the desired rate or simply nonexistent, it could be a transitional few years for this Dutch side. 2026 will be the last big tournament that Virgil Van Dijk will be at the top level for, can he sign off with a bang? Or will world football’s perennial nearly men stay just that a little while longer?
One To Watch
Donyell Malen has enjoyed a career resurgence since signing for Roma from Aston Villa in January, and he looks set to be a key figure in the Netherlands attack this summer because of it.
He never really hit stride in Birmingham after signing from Dortmund in the January of 2025, but this move to Rome has reignited his career and then some. With 14 goals and 2 assists in 18 Serie A games, he finished just 3 goals shy of the golden boot despite only making his debut on the 18th of January. The Roma fans love him, Italian defenders hate him, and he has proven himself to be more than worthy of a starting place in this summer’s Dutch side. He can either play centrally or out on the right, but I think he is best used as an out-and-out goalscorer up top. He’s quick and effective in a high press as well as being a lethal finisher in the box. Out wide, his talents are wasted. Up front, he can really shine for the Netherlands in North America.
Sweden
Qualifying
What a mess. Sweden finished rock bottom and winless in their qualifying group under Jon Dahl Tomasson, putting in dismal performance after dismal performance and only managing to scrape together two points, both from Slovenia. Alexander Isak’s long-term absence was obviously a big hit to their chances, but they can’t blame it all on him. They’ve only got Premier League winner Viktor Gyökeres up front without Isak, to be fair.
If they failed so badly in qualifying, then why are they here? Ladies and gentleman, the Nations League. As champions of their oh-so-prestigious Nations League group, Sweden were granted an automatic place in the World Cup qualifiers should their hunt for a top two position go awry. Now with Graham Potter at the helm, a Gyökeres hat trick saw them cruise past Ukraine in the first round before they saw off Poland 3-2 in the final through an 88th minute winner from the big Arsenal man once again. Alexander who?
As unfair, unjust, and unbelievable as it seems, Sweden are at the World Cup. They’ve been dealt a fairly tricky group, but with so many teams sneaking though in third place they’re more than capable of finding themselves in the knockouts of the World Cup without winning a single game in their qualifying group. The beautiful game, eh?
One To Watch
Despite what their frankly abysmal showing in qualifying may have you believe, Sweden’s squad is full of talent. Derby County ‘keeper Jacob Widell Zetterström is certainly the pick of the bunch but, if I had to pick someone else, I think it could be a big summer for Brighton midfielder Yasin Ayari.
Ayari has started all but one of Sweden’s games under Potter, so he’s clearly trusted to be a key cog in their midfield. He’s also worked his way into the Brighton first team following several loan spells in the Championship. He still has to fight for his place and isn’t guaranteed a start, but a big summer in North America could go a long way towards ensuring he’s one of the first names on the team sheet at the Amex.
For his club, Ayari is deployed almost exclusively to break up play and distribute the ball to more creative players that can then advance it up the pitch. He does this brilliantly, and is extremely adept at pressing high to box opponents in their own area and suffocate them into making a mistake. Internationally, he has been trusted as more of a high-volume passer, still winning the ball but also being used to dictate play from deep as Sweden try to work an opening through the opposing back line. However he’s being used, Ayari has the most important trait for any midfielder at at World Cup. He can hit an absolutely beauty from long range. I can practically see him now in that bright yellow kit lining one up from 30 yards in the Mexican sunshine. Highlight reel, here we come.
Tunisia
Qualifying
Tunisia shocked the world when they beat eventual finalists France 1-0 in the group stages of the last World Cup in Qatar. That wasn’t enough to see them through to the knockouts, although they did finish 3rd on 4 points, a total that will almost certainly be enough this time round. Four years on, can they repeat the feats of 2022 and even go one step further?
They were handed a relatively easy qualifying group this time around, but they did their job and did it well. 10 games, 9 wins, 1 draw, 22 goals scored and 0 conceded. You can’t say fairer than that. Their nearest challenges were Namibia, but they never really ended up threatening them for top spot. Tunisia are another side who have qualified extremely strongly and earned their place at the big boys’ table, now it’s time to see if they can turn it on when it really counts against some tougher opposition.
One To Watch
Tunisia are a team that perform to a level greater than the sum of their parts. What they lack in standout individuals they more than make up for in rigid structure, tactical fluency, and straight up hard work. No man embodies that more than captain Ellyes Skhiri.
With 83 caps to his name, Skhiri is by far the most experienced member of the squad, and he’s been pulling the strings in the centre of the park for Tunisia for almost a decade. He’s been a solid and dependable presence in the heart of the midfield for Montpellier, FC Köln, and now Frankfurt for his entire career, and it’s clear to see why he’s sustained a consistent career at the top level for as long as he has. He’s works hard, does the ugly stuff, and is more talented than most give him credit for. Skhiri will win the ball, drive forwards, and play it to a teammate as if it’s the easiest thing in the world, and that’s what makes this Tunisian team so formidable. With players in the squad hailing from clubs across 12 different nations, guys like Skhiri are the glue that pull them all together into one cohesive unit.
Prediction
1. Netherlands
2. Japan
3. Sweden
4. Tunisia
I have the Netherlands and Japan split purely by goal difference in my table, with the Dutch side’s superior squad edging it over the ruthless efficiency of the Japanese team. Both will enjoy fairly comfortably days out against the disorganised but talented Sweden and the highly organised but uninspiring Tunisia, with Sweden’s sheer quality proving enough to brute force their way beyond the North African side into third.
Sweden are the wildcard here, they have so much ability throughout their squad that it’s easy to see them finishing top here, and potentially comfortably. Their organisation has been a mess for a long while, and Graham Potter doesn’t seem to have found the way to unlock this side’s true potential as of yet. Maybe he’s hiding something and they’ll take the tournament by storm, but recent friendly performances leave me wholly unconvinced.
All four sides in Group F will be great to watch in their own right, but you aren’t finding your World Cup winner in here.