While You Were Sleeping: What you missed overnight at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Junya Ito and Yukinari Sugawara celebrate Japan's dramatic late equaliser against The Netherlands. Picture: Francois Nel/Getty
Daichi Kamada's 88th-minute equaliser secured Japan a hard-earned point against The Netherlands in Arlington on Sunday night, after Ronald Koeman's men had gone ahead twice.
Liverpool skipper Virgil Van Dijk headed the Oranje in front after 51 minutes when he guided Ryan Gravenberch's beautifully measured cross off the post and in.
Six minutes later Keito Nakamura's effort from the edge of the area flew past keeper Bart Verbruggen into the Dutch net but not before it took a healthy deflection off his Brighton teammate Jan Paul van Hecke.
The managers went through a rollercoaster of emotions in the 2-2 draw between Netherlands and Japan pic.twitter.com/InNLKl1MsM
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) June 14, 2026
West Ham's sought after star Crysencio Summerville did what he does best in the 64th minute, whipping a ball low into the bottom left corner after he found an inch of space on the edge of the Japan box, giving the Netherlands the advantage once more.
After knocking at the door several times in the last 15 minutes, the Japanese finally found their equaliser. Koki Ogawa came onto a corner in the 88th minute, heading the ball onto Daichi Kamada whose fortunate deflection managed to beat Verbruggen.
A fitting end to a thrilling second half, and the points shared. Read the full match report here.
B Verbruggen; D Dumfries, JP van Hecke, V van Dijk, M van de Ven; R Gravenberch (N Ake 81'), F De Jong, T Reijnders (Q Timber 70'); C Summerville (T Koopmeiners 70'), D Malen (M Depay 70'), C Gakpo (B Brobbey 85').
C Summerville, M van de Ven.
Z Suzuki; T Watanabe (T Tomiyasu 75'), S Taniguchi, H Ito; R Doan (Y Sugawara 75'), K Sano, D Kamada, K Nakamura; T Kubo (K Ogawa 75'), D Maeda (J Ito 66'), A Ueda (K Shiogai 84').
Virgil van Dijk.
"Football is a funny game because after Japan scored the second goal they started defending as well. So we could have scored a third goal. So I don't regret my choices."
"They (Japan) managed to be tenacious and at the same time be patient and keep calm and seize opportunities. So I'm very proud that they could keep their own pace. We were aiming to get three points, not one point. So in that point of view, of course it was a little bit disappointing."
Netherlands named a FIFA World Cup starting XI without a single player playing their club football in the Dutch Eredivisie for the first time ever, in their 56th game at the finals.
There was more late drama in Philadelphia where a late Amad Diallo strike stunned dark horses Ecuador in Group E.
It was a game that failed to truly spark into life until the closing stages when centre-half Wilfried Singo found the Manchester United winger with a cut-back leaving Diallo to calmly place it into the Ecuadorian net off his favoured left side.
IVORY COAST SCORES ITS FIRST GOAL OF THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP AND LEADS ECUADOR LATE! 🇨🇮 pic.twitter.com/FhmuARHEiA
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026
The Ecuadorians came close on a few occasions in the first half. Veteran striker Enner Valencia nearly took advantage of an Emmanuel Agbadou slip after 10 minutes, taking control of the ball in the area but firing over with his left.
Twice the South American outfit hit the woodwork, Alan Minda and John Yeboah both crashing efforts off the bar in the 23rd and 30th minute respectively.
Ivory Coast's Elye Wahi rattled the bar himself not long after the restart when the striker came onto a brilliant cross from Yan Diomande, his first-time effort gliding off the frame and out.
A surprise omission, Diallo came on before the hour and proved his worth with a cool finish in the 90th minute.
Read the full match report here.
No better way to celebrate a late equalizer than a conga line in the locker room 🇨🇮 pic.twitter.com/5x1xBN6mXN
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026
Y Fofana; G Doué (O Kossounou 89'), W Singo, E Agbadou, G Konan; Y Diomande, F Kessié, S Fofana (I Sangaré), B Touré (A Diallo 56'); N Pepe (C Oulai 77'), E Wahi (A Bonny 56').
G Doué, F Kessié, S Fofana.
H Galíndez; A Franco (J Porozo 62'), J Ordónez, W Pacho; J Yeboah (A Preciado 62'), M Caicedo, P Vite, P Hincapié; G Plata, A Minda (N Angulo 56'), E Valencia (K Rodriguez 77').
J Porozo.
Yan Diomande.
"We'll go eyeball to eyeball with them (Germany) and we'll try to give it our all. We have our own qualities. We'll lean on our own strength and we'll try to bring down the German wall."
"I never felt they deserved to win the match, but football is not about what you deserve. It's about taking your chances."
This defeat ended a 19-game unbeaten run for Ecuador in all competitions (W8 D11), their best-ever unbeaten sequence - OptaAnalyst.
Germany leads Group E after an exciting matchday 🇩🇪
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026
Who do you think will advance from the group? pic.twitter.com/bOrSZX9Ng8
Sweden demolished Tunisia in Guadalupe in the night's final game. Goals from Yasin Ayari, Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak and Mattias Svanberg were enough to seal three points for the Swedes.
The Scandinavians were ahead early on through a thunderous Ayari strike. After a goal-line clearance from Montassar Talbi, the ball fell to Ayari 25 yards out whose powerful effort fizzed past Talbi into the top right hand corner. The midfielder even refused to celebrate his first World Cup goal as his father is of Tunisian descent.
Liverpool striker Isak doubled the Swedish advantage on the half hour. Set off down the left flank by Gyokeres, Isak cut inside firing low past Chamakh.
Just when it looked like it might be a straight-forward night for The Swedes, Omar Rekik nodded Hannibal Mejbri's cross from a dead ball beyond a helpless Kristoffer Nordfeldt to claw one back.
Gyokeres settled Swedish nerves on the hour mark, however. Isak worked hard to win the ball from Ellyes Skhiri in a dangerous area, supplying the Arsenal striker who slotted home.
Mere seconds after entering the field, substitute Mattias Svanberg netted a fourth for Sweden with his first touch of the game.
A Swedish masterclass tonight 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/WhF9M0w3AH
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026
Ayari put the cherry on the icing for Sweden in the final minute of added time with another stunner from distance. Keep an eye on this guy.
Read the full match report here.
K Nordfeldt; G Lagerbielke, I Hien, V Lindelof; A Bernhardsson (D Svensson 90'), J Karlstrom (M Svanberg 84'), Y Ayari, G Gudmundsson (E Stroud 64'), B Nygren (L Bergvall 64'); V Gyokeres, A Isak (A Elanga 90').
A Chamakh; Y Valery (M Mahmoud 72'), A Rekik, M Talbi, M Hamida; E Skhiri (E Achouri 72'), R Khedira (I Gharbi 84'); A Ben Slimane (F Chaouat 84'), H Mejbri, A Abdi; E Saad (S Tounekti 72').
R Khedira.
Yasin Ayari.
Svanberg's goal was scored just 18 seconds after coming on, making it the second quickest goal ever scored by a substitute at the FIFA World Cup. The fastest was by Uruguay's Richard Morales who scored after just 16 seconds against Senegal in 2002.
Sweden stands tall in Group F as Japan and Netherlands share points pic.twitter.com/FHhVJ5VJ0N
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 15, 2026
Curacao gave it a good run but the might of the Germans proved too much and they dispatched of their opponents with seven of the best. Read the full report here.
The Iran striker Mehdi Taremi has said the controversy and disruption surrounding their involvement at the World Cup undermines Fifa’s message of peace and conceded he felt the tension before arriving in Los Angeles on the eve of their opener, hours before a peace deal was announced.
For the first time since the competition’s inception, a host nation has received a country with which it is at war.
On Sunday, Iran flew to LA from Tijuana, where they were relocated amid an ongoing row over visas, but are expected to face opposition from Iranians, many of whom believe the national team do not represent the country.
“This kind of tension undermines that joy and it undermines the message of Fifa and our people, which is about football and bringing about peace,” said Olympiakos forward Taremi.
“I think this World Cup could have provided a better atmosphere than it has and I hope in the future it will be better for all fans."
Lamine Yamal hasn’t featured for club or country since suffering a hamstring injury in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Celta Vigo in April. There were genuine concerns he might miss the World Cup. However, the 2026 Ballon d’Or contender is with the Spain squad for the tournament, and there is the possibility he’ll be fit for the game against Cape Verde.
Head coach Luis de la Fuente delivered a positive update on the teenager’s availability ahead of Monday’s game. “He is in condition to participate on Monday. We will assess the circumstances. You have an idea and the game takes you to something else. Lamine is ready to play but not to play the 90 minutes,” he said. Either way, Spain should have enough to breeze past the tournament debutants on Monday.
Romelu Lukaku endured a disappointing season. The Belgian hitman made just seven competitive appearances in all competitions for Napoli, all of which came from the bench. A series of muscle problems meant the forward spent more time in the physio room than on the pitch.
Even so, he struck his 90th Belgium goal in a 2-0 win over Croatia earlier this month. Head coach Rudi Garcia has, though, said that Lukaku will be eased back into the fold. “He has come a long way and still has some distance to go. Thinking he will start against Egypt is still far too premature,” Garcia said ahead of the pre-tournament friendly against Tunisia. Charles De Ketelaere looks set to lead the charge against the Pharaohs.
Uruguay kick off their World Cup campaign against Saudi Arabia on Monday . The South American giants know they’ll need to claim victory against the Middle East nation in order to boost their chances as progressing as group winners. And Marcelo Bielsa will look to the Saudi Pro League experience Darwin Nunez garnered over the season.
The Uruguayan forward may have been left out of Al-Hilal’s league squad list for the season half of the season, but he’ll come up against familiar faces on Monday. Bielsa, therefore, will count on Nunez’s Saudi Pro League stint as Uruguay seek to make a winning start to the World Cup.
Iran’s visa issues are no secret. Only recently did four members of their World Cup delegation win their appeal against having the application rejected by the United States. 11 members of the party, however, will not be allowed to enter the country when Iran play there.
Officials in Washington had previously stated that players would be permitted to enter the country for their matches this summer. The ongoing visa concerns, though, means the Middle East nation have moved their World Cup training camp to Mexico City. They’ll still need to travel to Los Angeles for their game against New Zealand, and those whose visa applications were rejected will need to remain at their base in Mexico.
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