A major highlight of the break came on Monday evening at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The Netherlands' 4-0 win over Lithuania was enough to seal qualification for the 2026 World Cup. Three days earlier, 'Oranje' had ended the match against Poland in a draw. Head coach Ronald Koeman called up Wout Weghorst, but unfortunately had to withdraw from the squad due to injury.
Ko Itakura and Japan had already secured their place at the World Cup, which will be hosted next year in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Japan played two friendlies during the break. On Friday, they beat Ghana 2-0 in front of their home crowd.
Itakura did not feature in that match. In Tuesday’s friendly against Bolivia, however, the defender started and played the full 90 minutes, helping the team secure a solid 3-0 win over the South Americans.
Croatia, another potential opponent for both the Netherlands and Japan in the summer of 2026, also confirmed their qualification on Friday with a 3-1 home victory over the Faroe Islands. Josip Šutalo came on after the interval. With the Ajax defender in the starting line-up on Monday, Croatia beat Montenegro 3-2 and secured top spot in their group with ease.
World Cup draw
The draw for the World Cup will take place on December 5, although not all participating nations will be known by then. Play-offs for the remaining spots are scheduled for March, and an additional mini-tournament in Mexico will determine the remaining two tickets.
Oranje U19 booked their place in the second qualifying round for the European Championship after navigating a group containing Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Ireland with a perfect record. In the final match against the Irish, the Netherlands overturned a 1-2 deficit. Thanks in part to a goal from Ajax’s Luca Messori, the match ended 4-2. Sean Steur also found the net from the penalty spot in Oranje U18’s 2–1 victory over Germany.
U17 World Cup
Jorthy Mokio was eliminated from the U17 World Cup in Qatar on Friday. Belgium were knocked out in the round of sixteen by Portugal. The Ajax midfielder had joined the Belgian U17 squad after the group stage.
Abdellah Ouazane continues in the tournament. The Ajax U23 player and Morocco U17 beat Mali, although Ouazane did not appear in that match. They face Brazil in Friday’s quarter-final. Earlier in the competition, Morocco recorded a remarkable 16-0 win over New Caledonia, the biggest victory in U17 World Cup history, with Ouazane scoring twice.
Results
Croatia: Josip Šutalo
Croatia - Faroe Islands 3-1
Montenegro - Croatia 2-3
Japan: Ko Itakura
Japan - Ghana 2-0
Japan - Bolivia 3-0
Israel: Oscar Gloukh
Lithuania - Israel 0-0
Israel - Moldova 4-1
Belgium U21: Rayane Bounida
Austria U21 - Belgium U21 1-0
Netherlands U19: Aaron Bouwman, Lucas Jetten, Jinairo Johnson, Mylo van der Lans, Luca Messori, Valentijn van der Velde
Cyprus U19 - Netherlands U19 0-7
Netherlands U19 - Kazakhstan U19 2-1
Netherlands U19 - Ireland U19 4-2
Netherlands U18: Sean Steur, Emre Ünüvar, Mark Engel, Thijmen Romers, Pharell Nash, Leroy Fränkel, Sesynijo Tilborg
Netherlands U18 - Germany U18 2-1
Netherlands U18 - Sweden U18 2-2
Belgium U17: Jorthy Mokio
Portugal U17 - Belgium U17 2-1
Morocco U17: Abdellah Ouazane
Japan U17 - Morocco U17 2-0
Portugal U17 - Morocco U17 6-0
Morocco U17 - New Caledonia U17 16-0
Morocco U17 - USA U17 1-1 *Morocco win on penalties
Morocco U17 - Mali U17 3-2
