Netherlands 2-2 Japan: FIFA World Cup Match Report

Nothing for forty-five minutes, then four goals. Netherlands 2-2 Japan turned a goalless first half into the most open finish Group F produced, with both sides scoring twice after the break in a match that had given no indication before it that either would score at all.

A draw was the fair verdict on the ninety minutes and, as the group played out, on the two teams as well. The Netherlands went on to win 5-1 against Sweden and 3-1 against Tunisia; Japan beat Tunisia 4-0 and drew 1-1 with Sweden. Neither of them lost a match in Group F. This was the only occasion they faced each other, and neither could separate themselves.

For the Netherlands the two goals conceded mattered beyond the point dropped. They finished the group with ten scored and four conceded — the highest attacking return in the group by three goals, and also the loosest defensive record among the qualifiers. Half of everything they conceded across three matches came here, against the side that finished second. Japan spread their seven group goals across all three fixtures, but these were the only two they scored against a team that ended above them in the table, and the point they took for them was the one that eventually kept them clear of Sweden.

It cost the Netherlands two points they could afford and gave Japan one they badly needed. The final table read Netherlands seven, Japan five, Sweden four, Tunisia nil — a single point between second and third, and Japan's margin over Sweden came from this draw, since those two drew with each other in the final round.

The Netherlands still topped the group, taking six points from their remaining two matches. But a win here would have given them nine and a goal difference untouched by these two concessions. Japan, meanwhile, opened their tournament by taking a point off the group's strongest side and never dropped out of the qualifying places afterwards.

Our pre-match call was Netherlands to win at 1.70, and it lost — the only outright result we called in this group that went against us.

What we underestimated was Japan. The price implied a Netherlands side comfortably clear of an opponent expected to be scrapping for second place, and Japan's group record shows that reading was wrong: five points, seven goals scored, three conceded, unbeaten across the three matches. They were not a side the Netherlands were entitled to beat. The goalless first half was the warning and the two goals Japan scored after it were the confirmation. Backing the Netherlands to win the group would have been right. Backing them to win this particular match was not. Verdict: lost