FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group F Preview

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is upon us, and teams are either playing their last set of friendlies or putting in the hard yards at training camps, many looking to get their hands on the trophy that will etch them into the history books.

As for us, we at SportsKhabri continue with our in-depth coverage of all World Cup groups. Here, we cast our gaze on Group F, which features a European heavyweight, an Asian powerhouse, an underrated African side, and a European nation looking to make its mark on the biggest international stage.

So without any further ado, let’s take a look at all the teams in Group F at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

FIFA World Cup 2026 | Group F Teams

Netherlands (UEFA)
Japan (AFC)
Sweden (UEFA)
Tunisia (CAF)

The run-in

Netherlands

The Oranje sealed their spot for a 12th appearance at the men’s World Cup with relative ease. An unbeaten record that saw them score 27 goals in eight matches meant that they topped their qualifying group.

This time around, head coach Ronald Koeman will look to ensure that his side go beyond the quarter-final stage and, hopefully, make this the year they win their maiden World Cup.

Japan

The Blue Samurai had a historic qualifying campaign and were the first team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Under the management of Hajime Moriyasu, Japan stormed through the qualifying groups and sealed their spot in the finals with three games in hand.

Japan have, over the years, built themselves into one of the strongest Asian sides, and this World Cup provides them with an opportunity to cement that claim in style.

Sweden

Making the World Cup for Sweden seemed like a very distant proposition despite the team having some of the biggest names in their ranks playing for Europe’s biggest clubs. In fact, so dire was the state of their prospects that it forced them to do the one thing they had never done in their footballing history: sack their manager and hire a new one.

However, UEFA’s convoluted procedures and Sweden’s status as one of the best-ranked Nations League group winners meant that they qualified for the play-off stage despite finishing bottom of their qualifying group without a single victory. It was then under new coach Graham Potter that they finally found some fluency, dispatching Ukraine and Poland in the play-offs to book their tickets for the competition.

Tunisia

The Eagles of Carthage were in a class of their own when it came to their qualifying campaign. Not only did they finish top of their qualifying group with an unbeaten campaign (nine wins and a draw), they also had the most points among African nations in qualification (28) and had the distinction of not conceding a single goal in their qualifying campaign.

Tunisia will hope to carry this form into the World Cup as they look to get out of the group stage for the first time in World Cup history.

How each team stacks up

The Netherlands on paper have a very strong unit, but one caveat is that several of their key players have had their club seasons curtailed due to injuries. The likes of Memphis Depay, Denzel Dumfries, and Frenkie de Jong have all missed significant game time, while Xavi Simons and Jerdy Schouten are out due to ACL injuries. Even coach Koeman is going through a tough personal phase, but the Dutch have long been a resilient group. Led by the indomitable Virgil van Dijk, they will look to play their 4-3-3 and create attacks by keeping possession of the ball and attacking with a fast tempo.

Japan, meanwhile, believe that they cannot only stave off big sides, but also have the quality and wherewithal to beat them, which was clearly evident in their recent victories against global giants Brazil and England. With a 3-4-2-1 coupled with a ferocious press, they will be reliant on the likes of Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Junya Ito, and Ayase Ueda to get them on the front foot.

Elsewhere, the Swedes have two big strikers in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres, but they will sorely miss their talisman and captain Dejan Kulusevski, who has still not fully recovered from his injury. Coach Potter prefers to play with a back four but has opted to go for a back five in order to shore up the defence. While their recent form has been worrying, Gyökeres’ recent return to form could prove to be decisive for them.

Lastly, Tunisia will be hoping to bank on their solidity and intensity at the back to make things very cagey for their opponents. Most importantly, they will hope that they finally find some stability and consistency under new coach Sabri Lamouchi, with the 54-year-old being their fifth manager since their AFCON 2023 capitulation.

Who makes it out of Group F

The Netherlands look like heavy favourites to get the top spot despite their injury issues, though the deciding factor could be their clash with Japan, who are no longer underdogs but a genuine threat in their own right.

It is too close to call this group, because there is not much disparity in quality among the sides, but if push comes to shove, we believe the Dutch have just enough to top the group, followed by Japan and a closely fought tussle for third place between Sweden and Tunisia.