Netherlands, Japan and Sweden will see their future decided on Thursday in the last round of the group phase. The Dutch side started off with a draw against Japan, one of the biggest surprises of this part of the tournament before winning 5-1 against Sweden. The team coached by Graham Potter started off with a 5-1 win as well against Tunisia before losing to the Netherlands while Japan easily won 4-0 against Tunisia. The African side made history, but for another reason, as they decided to sack their coach Sabri Lamouchi after one game during the tournament and replace him with Herve Renard. Despite the change, they were eliminated after two defeats in two games.
Let's take a look at the current situation with the standings entering the last matchday. While the top two teams in each group automatically qualify for the next round, the eight highest-ranked third-placed teams across the tournament's 12 groups also progress to the knockout stage:
Group F
TeamMPWDLGFGAGDPTS1Netherlands211073+442Japan211162+443Sweden210166034Tunisia200219-80Schedule and scores
Sunday, June 14 Netherlands 2, Japan 2 Sweden 5, Tunisia 1
Saturday, June 20 Netherlands 5, Sweden 1 Tunisia 0, Japan 4
Thursday, June 25 Japan vs. Sweden, 7 p.m. Tunisia vs. Netherlands, 7 p.m.
World Cup group standings tiebreakers
- Most points obtained in group matches played between the tied teams
- Superior goal difference in the group matches played between the tied teams
- Most goals scored in the group matches played between the tied teams
- Superior goal difference in all group matches
- Most goals scored in all group matches
- Best team conduct score in all group matches (taking into account yellow cards and red cards)
- FIFA World Ranking
Netherlands scenarios
- Netherlands in first place: Win vs. Tunisia, Win at tiebreakers against Japan.
- Netherlands in first place: Draw vs. Tunisia, Japan draw or lose to Sweden.
- Netherlands in first place: Lose vs. Tunisia, Japan lose vs. Sweden, Win at tiebreakers against Sweden.
- Netherlands in second place: Win vs. Tunisia, Lose at tiebreakers against Japan.
- Netherlands in second place: Draw vs. Tunisia, Japan win vs. Sweden.
- Netherlands in second place: Lose vs. Tunisia, Japan lose or draw vs. Sweden, Win at tiebreakers vs. Sweden
- Netherlands in third place: Lose vs. Tunisia, Japan lose vs. Sweden, Lose at tiebreakers vs. Japan
Japan scenarios
- Japan in first place: Win vs. Sweden, Netherlands draw or lose vs. Tunisia or win at tiebreakers against Netherlands if they draw.
- Japan in first place: Draw vs. Sweden, Netherlands draw or lose vs. Tunisia, win at tiebreakers against Netherlands.
- Japan in second place: Win vs. Sweden, lose at tiebreakers against the Netherlands.
- Japan in second place: Draw vs. Sweden, Netherlands win vs. Tunisia.
- Japan in second place: Lose vs. Sweden, Netherlands lose or draw vs. Tunisia, win at tiebreakers against Sweden.
- Japan in third place: Lose vs. Sweden, Netherlands lose vs. Tunisia, lose at tiebreakers against Netherlands.
- Japan in third place: Lose vs. Sweden, Netherlands win vs. Tunisia.
Sweden scenarios
- Sweden in first place: Win vs. Japan, Netherlands draw or lose vs. Tunisia.
- Sweden in second place: Win vs. Japan, Netherlands win vs. Tunisia.
- Sweden in third place: Draw vs. Japan.
- Sweden in third place: Lose vs. Japan.
