Top News

SURABAYA – The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to take place from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Although Indonesia will not participate in the 2026 World Cup, local football enthusiasts are still swept up in the excitement of the world’s biggest football festival, held every four years.

This edition marks the largest World Cup in history.

For the first time ever, the tournament will be hosted in three countries and will feature 48 national teams.

The number of participants has increased from the previous edition, which had only 32 teams.

Balanced Competition in the Group Stage

The excitement of the 2026 World Cup is also felt by Madura United’s assistant coach, Rakhmat Basuki, who believes that this edition will be more thrilling than ever.

The Madura-born coach said that predicting the competition’s dynamics would be challenging.

“The group distribution seems quite balanced in this World Cup. I think the big teams won’t face major trouble advancing from the group stage,” Rakhmat Basuki told surya.co.id.

“Perhaps the most competitive group will be Group F. The Netherlands will have to work extremely hard to overcome challenges from Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia,” he added.

Major Challenge for Two European Teams in Group F

Group F of the 2026 FIFA World Cup consists of the Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia.

The Netherlands, despite consistently fielding star-studded squads in every edition, have never won the World Cup in their history of participation.

The Dutch national team has finished as runners-up three times: in 1974, 1978, and 2010, and once secured third place at the 2014 World Cup.

Similarly, Sweden have also never lifted the World Cup trophy in their history.

Sweden were runners-up in the 1958 edition, finished third twice (in 1950 and 1994), and placed fourth in the 1938 World Cup.

These two major European teams will face emerging football nations in their group.

Japan, in particular, pose a serious threat. Although the team known as the “Land of the Rising Sun” has yet to achieve a major milestone at the World Cup, they continue to make strong progress. The same can be said for Tunisia.

“The last three countries I mentioned have been developing their football rapidly, especially Japan and Tunisia,” Rakhmat concluded.

The Group F competition will kick off with the opening match between the Netherlands and Japan at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

The following day, Monday, June 15, 2026, Sweden will face Tunisia at the BBVA Stadium in Monterrey.