Netherlands humiliated by first World Cup group-stage draw in 36 years; local media: "Coach Kuman rated 5 points"

*This content was translated by AI.

Netherlands suffers historic first group-stage draw in World Cup history; Coach Kuman rated 5 points

The Netherlands, considered a favorite to win the 2026 North, Central America and Caribbean Cup, allowed Japan to equalize twice, resulting in a 2-2 draw. This marked their first failure to win a group-stage opener since a draw in 1990, ending a 36-year streak. Local Dutch media and fans expressed their anger.

In the Group F opener held on the 14th (local time) at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, the Netherlands took the lead twice through goals by Van Dijk (51st minute) and Summerbill (64th minute). However, Japan's Nakamura (57th minute) and Kamada (88th minute) scored equalizers to level the score both times.

FOX Sports immediately reacted in its post-match highlight segment, calling the match "the best game of the tournament so far."

Since drawing 1-1 with Egypt in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the Netherlands had always won their group-stage opener in every tournament they participated in. The winning streak in the first group-stage match continued with victories against Saudi Arabia (2-1) in 1994, South Korea (5-0) in 1998, Serbia (1-0) in 2006, Denmark (2-0) in 2010, Spain (5-1) in 2014, and Senegal (2-0) in 2022. The draw against Japan this time ended that 36-year winning streak in the opening group-stage match.

Local media harshly criticized Coach Kuman's tactics for taking the lead twice only to end in a draw. The Dutch sports daily VoetbalPrimeur assigned player ratings and gave Coach Kuman a score of 5. The reason cited was: "Five substitutions failed to make the team stronger. The coach must take responsibility for that."

Particularly, fans were angered by the substitution that immediately removed Summerbill, who scored the go-ahead goal in the 64th minute, in the 78th minute. The criticism was fierce, arguing that taking off a player who had just scored before the match was decided prevented the team from stopping Japan's counterattack in the late stages of the second half. Dumfries also received a rating of 5. The harsh criticism stated: "A player scheduled to move to Real Madrid performed like this. Instead of posing a threat through deep penetration, he became an obstacle." AjaxShowtime declared, "The Oranje (Orange) served themselves badly. Drawing after leading twice was a self-inflicted result."

The only highlight was Van Dijk's turnaround. After a poor first-half performance, former Netherlands international Rafah van der Part mocked him during the broadcast, saying he looked like a "Boeing 747," but Van Dijk scored the opening header in the second half, prompting laughter with the comment that the "airplane took off." VoetbalPrimeur gave Van Dijk a rating of 6.5. Gravenberch was the only player to receive a positive evaluation of 6 points, contributing two assists and playing a box-to-box role.

Dutch fans poured angry comments as the first half dragged on with both teams failing to score. VoetbalZone collected viewer reactions, reporting comments such as "Wake me up, make the game faster," "They are running as if the stadium temperature is 50 degrees," and "The hydration break was the best scene of the first half."

Foreign media evaluations of Japan were positive. ESPN stated, "Japan proved its dark horse credentials," while NBC Sports analyzed, "Even with 60-40 possession, the Netherlands' dominance was not a bad picture for Japan, who enjoys counterattacks." The prevailing assessment of Kamada's 88th-minute equalizing header was that it was "a lucky goal, but a result of Japan's fighting spirit that never gave up until the end."

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*This content was translated by AI.