Dallas (Texas) [US], June 15 (ANI): Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako joined King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands within the stands as Daichi Kamada’s late equaliser secured Japan a dramatic 2-2 draw towards the Dutch of their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F opener on Sunday (Local Time).
The official X account of the Royal House of the Netherlands shared pictures of the 4 royals collectively and wrote, ‘Sport brings individuals collectively! King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako watch collectively because the Oranje Leeuwen and the Samurai Blue face off in Dallas for his or her first group stage match of the FIFA World Cup.’
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The high-profile attendance added to the event as Japan staged a late comeback to safe a beneficial level towards certainly one of Europe’s strongest sides.
After a tightly contested first half ended goalless, the Netherlands broke the impasse six minutes after the restart. A supply from Ryan Gravenberch discovered captain Virgil van Dijk, who completed clinically to place the Dutch forward within the 51st minute.
Japan responded swiftly. In the 57th minute, Takefusa Kubo picked out Shunsuke Nakamura, who fired previous goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen on the close to publish to revive parity and ignite the competition.
The Dutch regained management seven minutes later when Crysencio Summerville collected possession on the proper flank and unleashed a robust strike into the underside nook to make it 2-1. Summerville had earlier been booked however shortly turned from villain to hero along with his decisive contribution.
The Netherlands appeared set to say all three factors as they continued to get pleasure from the vast majority of possession, ending with almost 60 per cent of the ball and 6 photographs on the right track. However, Japan produced one closing twist.
With two minutes of regular time remaining, Koki Ogawa rose to satisfy a nook earlier than a deflection helped the ball fall kindly for Daichi Kamada, who steered it into the online to stage the scores at 2-2.
Despite six minutes of added time, neither aspect may discover a winner, leaving Japan and the Netherlands with one level every from their opening Group F fixture. (ANI)