Sunday will see eight more teams kick off their campaigns at the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup with a hungry German team with a lot to prove going against tiny debutants Cura\u00e7ao in the opener.<\/p>\n
\u00a0In the second game, the Netherlands takes on Japan in a contest between teams who impressed in World Cup qualifying. The Ivory Coast and Ecuador meet in the third game and this is a contest between two legitimate dark horse candidates as both teams were stellar defensively in their respective qualifying campaigns.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The day concludes as Sweden takes on Tunisia in a matchup between two very unpredictable teams. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Germany vs. Cura\u00e7ao: How To Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The opening game of Sunday\u2019s schedule begins at Houston Stadium where Germany will open its 21st World Cup campaign against tiny debutants Cura\u00e7ao in what is a true David vs. Goliath matchup in Group E.<\/p>\n Of course, the pressure is on Germany to reverse its downward trend at recent World Cups. After winning the final in 2014 against Argentina, Germany failed to advance out of the group stage in both 2018 and 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n But recently, Germany has shown signs of climbing back to its normal place among the world\u2019s elite under head coach Julian Nagelsmann, who was hired in 2023. At Euro 2024, Germany won its group and defeated Denmark in the round of 16 before eventually falling to eventual champions Spain 2-1 in extra time. Germany then won UEFA\u2019s World Cup qualifying Group A last year over Slovakia, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg. The team enters the tournament ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings. \u00a0<\/p>\n A win over Cura\u00e7ao should go a long way towards sending Germany back to the knockout stages.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Cura\u00e7ao will make its World Cup debut after taking advantage of a CONCACAF qualifying tournament that did not include the United States, Mexico, or Canada. In the third round of qualifying, Cura\u00e7ao won Group B over Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Bermuda in impressive fashion by going unbeaten over six games with three wins and three draws. That strong campaign moved Curacao to 82nd in the latest FIFA World Rankings.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tiny island nation is the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup in both population (roughly 158,000 people) and area (171 square miles). \u00a0Cura\u00e7ao is also a new nation by FIFA standards, only becoming a new nation in October 2010. Prior to 2010, players from Cura\u00e7ao competed for the Netherlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dutch influence is still very strong for Cura\u00e7ao as 25 of the team\u2019s 26 players on the World Cup team were born in the Netherlands. This includes captain Leandro Bacuna and his younger brother Juninho Bacuna, who have a combined 30 international goals. The other 24 players have scored a total of 42 goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only Cura\u00e7ao player who was born in the country is Sheffield United attacker Tahith Chong, who began his professional career with Manchester United in 2019. Chong progressed steadily through the youth national teams of the Netherlands before switching to Cura\u00e7ao in August 2025 to help the team in its final World Cup qualifiers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leading Cura\u00e7ao will be 78-year-old head coach Dick Advocaat who will become the oldest manager in World Cup history in this game. This will be his third World Cup he has managed after leading the Netherlands to the quarterfinals in 1994 and South Korea to a group stage exit in 2006. A renowned Dutch manager from The Hauge, Advocaat has won the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven, the Russian Premier League with Zenit St. Petersburg, and the Scottish Premiership with Rangers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Germany vs. Cura\u00e7ao: Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Midfielder \u00b7\u00a0Germany<\/p>\n The 23-year-old attacking midfielder from Pulheim enters this tournament on the heels of a strong year. Wirtz (ranked No. 22 in FOX Sports’ Top 100 Players) has three goals and four assists in his last five appearances for Germany. For Liverpool, Wirtz scored five goals and notched four assists in 33 Premier League appearances this season. Prior to joining Liverpool in 2025, Wirtz had tremendous success with Bayer Leverkusen where he was the Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2023-24 and German Footballer of the Year in 2025.<\/p>\n Wirtz will be making his World Cup debut in this game and is a big part of the country\u2019s hopes for its national team to return to being a contender to win the title. \u00a0<\/p>\n Netherlands vs. Japan: How To Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s second game keeps us in Texas where the Netherlands host Japan at Dallas Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Netherlands enter the tournament as the Group F favorites with the potential to make a deep run in the knockout stages. The Dutch impressed at Euro 2024 with a run to the semifinals followed by an unbeaten World Cup qualification campaign topping UEFA\u2019s Group G over Poland, Finland, Malta, and Lithuania with 27 goals scored and just four conceded.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coached by Ronald Koeman since 2023, the Netherlands has never won the tournament but have been runner-up three times (1974, 1978, 2010).<\/p>\n The Netherlands roster has a blend of youth and experience, but its older players remain extremely important to the team\u2019s plans at this World Cup. Memphis Depay, 33, was the team\u2019s leading scorer in World Cup qualifying. Virgil van Dijk, 34, remains the captain of both the Netherlands and Liverpool. Frenkie de Jong, 29, continues to drive the national team\u2019s midfielder, just as he does with Barcelona.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Netherlands arrive at this tournament ranked 8th in the FIFA World Rankings, 10 spots ahead of its Sunday opponents Japan who enters in 18th place.\u00a0<\/p>\n While the Netherlands is the favorite in this game, it will be far from an easy game as Japan is full of confidence these days after dominating AFC World Cup qualifying with a 13-2-1 record while outscoring its opponents 54-3. \u00a0<\/p>\n The Samurai Blue made its World Cup debut in 1998 and have qualified for every tournament since then. Despite having made the knockout stages four times Japan has never won a knockout game. In the last two tournaments, the Japanese have been close in the round of 16, losing to Belgium in stoppage time in 2018 and then to Croatia on penalties in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hajime Moriyasu will be coaching Japan for his second straight World Cup. The team has played well under him, but the biggest concern is injuries as Liverpool\u2019s Wataru Endo, Brighton\u2019s Kaoru Mitoma, and Monaco\u2019s Takumi Minamino will miss the tournament.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s efforts will be led by Ayase Ueda, who led the Eredivisie with 25 goals this season for Feyenoord, and Daizen Maeda, who had 16 goals and 10 assists for Scottish Premiership champions Cetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Netherlands vs. Japan: Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Goalkeeper \u00b7\u00a0Japan<\/p>\n Zion Suzuki:<\/strong> Japan\u2019s starting goalkeeper\u00a0<\/strong>was born in Newark, New Jersey to a Japanese mother and a Ghanaian father before he moved to Japan at a young age where he blossomed as a player. Suzuki started 10 World Cup qualifiers for Japan, keeping eight clean sheets.<\/p>\n Now with Parma in Serie A, he has done a great job since the club\u2019s promotion to Italy\u2019s top tier two years ago. In 2025\/26, Suzuki recorded five clean sheets and made 166 saves across 20 appearances for Parma.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Japan is going to challenge the Netherlands for a result on Sunday, it will require Suzuki to make many big saves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador: How To Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Both the Ivory Coast and Ecuador should feel very confident ahead of their respective Group E openers at Philadelphia Stadium on Sunday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ivory Coast has qualified for the World Cup three times, in 2006, 2010, and 2014 but never made it out of the group stage. After a 12-year absence from the tournament, the team looks dramatically improved.\u00a0<\/p>\n With an average age of 25.8 years, Les \u00c9l\u00e9phants\u00a0is the youngest team at this World Cup and have plenty of talent in key positions. In World Cup qualifying, the Ivory Coast did not concede a single goal, while also leading the CAF region with 25 goals scored en route to winning its group with an 8-2-0 record. \u00a0During the team\u2019s qualifying campaign, nine Ivorians scored at least two goals giving the team a balanced attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ivory Coast is led by veteran Nicolas P\u00e9p\u00e9, 31, who was named as one of the top five nominees for the La Liga Player of the Season for his year with Villarreal where he notched eight goals and eight assist.<\/p>\n On the younger side there is RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande, who has a remarkably interesting story. Born in the Ivory Coast, Diomande moved to the United States as a teenager and played for Yulee High School before eventually attracting the interest of Leganes in Spain. In 2025-26, he was named the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season and there are growing rumors he could be on the move to a top club this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ivory Coast is many people\u2019s pick to be a dark horse at this World Cup after its 2-1 win over France in a tune-up friendly on June 2 in Nantes. Despite being ranked only 34 in the FIFA World Rankings, recent results have shown that the team could be much better than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Ecuador comes into the tournament also likely feeling superior to its FIFA World Ranking of 23. Ecuador was the surprise of CONMEBOL qualifying, finishing second behind Argentina. It was the team\u2019s best-ever qualifying result.\u00a0<\/p>\n The strength of Ecuador is a well-organized team defense instilled by Argentine head coach Sebasti\u00e1n Beccacece. During the team\u2019s 18 World Cup qualifiers, the defense only conceded five goals and kept 13 clean sheets, tying the fewest goals ever conceded in a CONMEBOL qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n Unsurprisingly, the keys to Ecuador\u2019s defense are two players who feature for the Champions League finalists, with Paris Saint-Germain\u2019s Willian Pacho and Arsenal\u2019s Piero Hincapi\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n Goals should be hard to come by in this game as both teams had arguably the two best team defenses in World Cup qualifying across every region.<\/p>\n Ivory Coast vs. Ecuador: Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Midfielder \u00b7\u00a0Ecuador<\/p>\n Often considered one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, Caicedo (ranked No. 20 in FOX Sports’ Top 100 Players)makes life extremely difficult for his opponents. The Chelsea veteran covers tons of space, can break up plays, intercept passes, and transition the ball into the attack with precision. The 24-year-old Santo Domingo native will be tasked with neutralizing the Ivory Coast\u2019s energetic counterattack. Caicedo has the ability to keep his team in most games and he was the biggest reason for Ecuador\u2019s successful World Cup qualifying campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tunisia vs. Sweden: How To Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Ranked 38 in the FIFA World Rankings, Sweden is the most unpredictable European team at this World Cup and the last five years have been a wild ride. Sweden failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after a loss to Poland in the playoffs. Then the Swedes failed to qualify for Euro 2024 and had a dismal World Cup qualifying where the team finished winless and last in UEFA\u2019s Group B behind Switzerland, Kosovo, and Slovenia.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Sweden still made the World Cup qualifying playoffs as one of the four best Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two in their qualifying groups. In the playoffs, Sweden responded well to new manager Graham Potter with wins over Ukraine in the semifinal and then avenged the loss to Poland four years earlier with a win in the final to qualify for the World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite that dramatic turn of events, Sweden returned to uninspiring form in its two pre-World Cup friendlies. First a 3-1 loss to Norway and then a 2-2 draw with Greece.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Sunday night in Monterrey, Sweden will take on Tunisa, which is ranked 45 in the latest FIFA Rankings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tunisia qualified for the World Cup with a dominant campaign with a record of 9-1-0, scoring 22 goals along the way while conceding none. This will be the third straight World Cup for the Carthage Eagles and seventh overall. Tunisia has never made the knockout stages, but its best moment came in 2022 when the team defeated eventual champion Argentina in the group finale.\u00a0<\/p>\n Like other successful North African teams such as Morocco, Tunisia has benefitted from recruiting players of Tunisian descent who born and raised in Europe. On Tunisia\u2019s 26-player roster, only 11 players were born in Tunisia. The team\u2019s best player, Hannibal Mejbri, was born in France and made 15 starts in the midfield this past season for Burnley in the Premier League. It is a similar background shared by Tunisia\u2019s head coach Sabri Lamouchi who was born in Lyon to Tunisian parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tunisia vs. Sweden: Player to Watch<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Forward \u00b7\u00a0Sweden<\/p>\n The Arsenal forward was the stand-out performer during Sweden\u2019s playoff games. The Stockholm native (ranked No. 77 in FOX Sports’ Top 100 Players) tallied a hat trick against Ukraine and scoring the 88th-minute winner against Poland. He has 20 goals in 33 caps, and with his goal against Grece in the Sweden\u2019s final tune-up friendly, Gy\u00f6keres now has scored in his last three international games. \u00a0He is also coming off a great first season with Arsenal where he scored 14 games to help the club win the Premier League title.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gy\u00f6keres is an elite forward who should test Tunisia\u2019s effective defense that did not concede a goal in World Cup qualifying.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Sunday will see eight more teams kick off their campaigns at the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup with a hungry German team with a lot to prove going against tiny debutants Cura\u00e7ao in the opener. \u00a0In the second game, the Netherlands takes on Japan in a contest between teams who impressed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}