Dallas, United States: Japan, the Netherlands and Australia booked their places in the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 on Friday after successfully navigating the final round of Group F and Group D fixtures, while Sweden also progressed as one of the tournament’s best third-placed teams.
The latest results completed another dramatic day at the expanded 48-team World Cup, with several nations sealing qualification ahead of the knockout phase.
Japan secured automatic qualification as Group F runners-up after earning a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Sweden at Dallas Stadium.
The Samurai Blue entered the match knowing that a point would be enough to secure their place in the knockout rounds and controlled much of the first half despite failing to find a breakthrough.
Daizen Maeda, Yukinari Sugawara, and Keito Nakamura all came close to opening the scoring, but Sweden goalkeeper Jacob Zetterström produced a series of impressive saves to keep the match level before halftime.
Japan eventually broke the deadlock 10 minutes after the restart when Maeda finished clinically after being played through by Ritsu Doan.
However, Sweden responded almost immediately as Anthony Elanga unleashed a powerful long-range strike to level the scores.
The Swedes pressed for a winner that would have secured automatic qualification, but Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki made crucial saves to deny both Alexander Isak and Elanga in the closing stages.
The draw saw Japan finish second in Group F with seven points, while Sweden ended third on four points before later qualifying among the tournament’s eight best third-placed teams.
Netherlands Complete Perfect Campaign
The Netherlands finished the group stage with a flawless record after defeating Tunisia 3-1 to make it three victories from three matches.
The Dutch took the lead inside three minutes when Tunisia captain Ellyes Skhiri inadvertently diverted Denzel Dumfries’ cross into his own net.
Brian Brobbey doubled the advantage shortly afterwards, heading home after Virgil van Dijk had flicked on a free-kick.
Tunisia briefly threatened a comeback when Hazem Mastouri headed in from Hannibal Mejbri’s corner kick.
But Jan Paul van Hecke restored the Netherlands’ two-goal cushion to ensure Ronald Koeman’s side completed a perfect group campaign.
The Dutch finished top of Group F with the maximum nine points and will now face Morocco in the Round of 32.
Japan, meanwhile, face five-time world champions Brazil in one of the standout knockout fixtures.
Australia Edge Through
Australia secured second place in Group D after battling to a goalless draw against Paraguay.
The Socceroos produced the better attacking display and created several opportunities through Jackson Irvine, Jordan Bos and Cristian Volpato but were unable to find the breakthrough.
Despite failing to score, the point proved enough to send Australia into the knockout rounds, where they will face the runners-up from Group G.
Paraguay finished third with four points and must wait to discover whether they qualify among the best third-placed teams.
Türkiye End Campaign with Victory
Already-qualified USA suffered their first defeat of the tournament after losing 3-2 to Türkiye.
The Americans, who had already secured top spot in Group D, rotated several players and made a flying start when defender Auston Trusty scored inside three minutes.
Türkiye responded brilliantly.
Arda Güler equalised to become his country’s youngest-ever FIFA World Cup goalscorer before Barış Yılmaz put the Turks ahead before halftime.
Sebastian Berhalter restored parity early in the second half, but Kaan Ayhan struck deep into stoppage time to hand Türkiye a memorable victory.
Despite the win, Türkiye finished bottom of the group and were eliminated after collecting three points.
Group Standings
Group F
- Netherlands – 9 points
- Japan – 7 points
- Sweden – 4 points*
- Tunisia – 0 points
*Qualified among the best third-placed teams.
Group D
- USA – 6 points
- Australia – 4 points
- Paraguay – 4 points
- Türkiye – 3 points
Today’s Fixtures
Focus now shifts to another crucial day of World Cup action, with one of the standout fixtures seeing Norway face France in a battle for top spot in Group I.
Much of the attention will centre on star forwards Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé, who have each scored four goals and remain among the favourites for the Golden Boot award.
France require only a draw to finish first, while Norway must win to leapfrog Les Bleus in top spot.
In the same group, Senegal take on Iraq in a must-win encounter after both nations lost their opening two matches.
Saturday morning’s fixtures will also determine the outcome of Group H, where Cape Verde are bidding to make history by reaching the World Cup knockout stage for the first time.
The island nation faces Saudi Arabia while Spain take on Uruguay in another decisive clash.
Group G concludes with Egypt meeting Iran and Belgium facing New Zealand.
Egypt need only a draw to secure qualification, while Iran require victory to guarantee progress.
Belgium must defeat New Zealand to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Round of 32, while the All Whites also require all three points to continue their remarkable World Cup journey.
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