Everything you need to know about Japan vs Sweden in the 2026 World Cup.
In the 1000th match in World Cup history, Hajime Moriyasu made history when he became the first Japanese coach to lead his team to three victories in the championship – after the 4-0 win over Tunisia in Monterrey.
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If his team reaches the last eight, Moriyasu hinted that he would prefer to return to the Mexican city by winning Group F. That requires Japan to avoid defeat to Sweden in Arlington on Friday – and at the same time do better than the Netherlands’ result against already eliminated Tunisia in the simultaneous final match of the group.
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“The stadium in Monterrey was absolutely fantastic,” Moriyasu said. “The Mexican people really supported us. It was a stadium and an atmosphere where we could play bravely and with a sense of joy. If we play in Monterrey again, only God knows. We just want to give it our all, accept the result, and then prepare for the knockout stages.
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Sweden must beat Japan to be sure of advancing. They crushed Tunisia 5-1 in their opening match, but then lost to the Netherlands by the same digits. The loss was Blågult’s heaviest in the World Cup since 1950, and it weakened their hopes of extending their streak of reaching the knockout rounds for the fourth World Cup in a row.
“We try to put things into perspective as best we can,” said head coach Graham Potter. “You see the match between the Netherlands and Japan – they are two really good teams. The players are honest and have always taken responsibility. This is not the time to speculate about where we might end up or who we might meet. We are not there.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | DG | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 |
| Japan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 |
| Sweden | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 9 | -8 |
World Cup 2026: Team news for Japan vs. Sweden
Winger Takefusa Kubo – known to some fans as “the Japanese Messi” – has not travelled with Japan after suffering a left knee injury during the opening match’s 2-2 draw with the Netherlands.
Leeds’ Ao Tanaka replaced Kubo against Tunisia, while Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada scored the opening goal and impressed after being moved to an anchor position in midfield.
Sweden could return to a back four after Potter made the change during the loss to the Netherlands. Lucas Bergvall, Anthony Elanga – who scored four minutes after coming on – and Besfort Zeneli replaced Alexander Bernhardsson, Benjamin Nygren and Jesper Karlstrøm ten minutes into the second half in Houston.
“We are so close, but obviously we were too far away against the Netherlands,” Potter admitted. “There are players who are pushing to play, who deserve to play based on how they have trained.
Japan vs Sweden: Predicted line-ups for the 2026 World Cup
Japan’s starting eleven (4-2-3-1): Zion Suzuki – Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito – Ritsu Doan, Kaishu Sano, Ao Tanaka, Keito Nakamura – Junya Ito, Ayase Ueda, Daichi Kamada
Sweden’s starting eleven (4-4-2): Kristoffer Nordfeldt – Gustaf Lagerbielke, Isak Hien, Victor Lindelöf – Anthony Elanga, Besfort Zeneli, Jesper Karlstrøm, Yasin Ayari – Gabriel Gudmundsson, Viktor Gyökeres, Alexander Isak
World Cup 2026: Japan vs Sweden statistics
- Japan is in its eighth straight World Cup since 1998 – the second-longest streak of consecutive participations by an Asian nation, behind South Korea’s current streak of 11th.
- They have never progressed beyond the last eight and hold the record for the most games played without reaching the quarterfinals (25).
- With 54 goals, Japan scored more than any other team in the Asian qualifiers, including a 3-0 walkover win against North Korea. Apart from the host nations, Japan was the first country to qualify.
- Three Japan players were involved in at least ten goals in the qualifiers: Kubo (4 goals, 8 assists), Junya Ito (1 goal, 10 assists) and Ayase Ueda (8 goals, 2 assists).
- Hajime Moriyasu is the only head coach to have led Japan in more than 100 games, having taken over in July 2018. He is also the first to lead Japan in two World Cup finals – in 2022 he led them to the last eight, where they were eliminated on penalties against Croatia.
- Sweden are in their 13th World Cup finals and their first since the 2018 edition, when they were knocked out by England in the quarter-finals. They have reached the knockout stages in each of their last four championships (1992, 2002, 2006 and 2018).
- They finished fourth in the qualifying group behind Switzerland, Kosovo and Slovenia (two draws, four losses), but qualified via the European play-off path thanks to their Nations League ranking.
- Viktor Gyökeres scored four of Sweden’s six goals in the play-offs – with a hat-trick against Ukraine in the semi-finals (3-1) and a winning goal in the 88th minute in the final against Poland (3-2), the team that beat Sweden in the 2022 World Cup play-off final.
- Potter is the first English head coach to lead Sweden in a World Cup since George Raynor in 1958. Raynor led Sweden to the final that year – the country’s best performance ever – before losing the final 5–2 to Brazil.
World Cup 2026: Prediction for Japan vs. Sweden
Japan 1-0 Sweden
A better Swedish effort may not be enough to avoid defeat against Japan, who have lost one of their last 15 matches, including friendlies. Along the way, Samurai Blue have won each of their three meetings with European teams 1-0 – before equalising twice against the Netherlands.
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