In North Texas’ first World Cup match since 1994, Japan got a late equalizer to battle to a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

With half of the stadium decked out in highlighter-orange supporting the Dutch and the other half in royal blue supporting the Japanese, the chants and energy were felt from whistle to whistle from the 69,285 fans in attendance.

A first-half stalemate

It was a scoreless first half from AT&T Stadium, as the Dutch and Japanese backlines held firm through the first 45 minutes of action.

The Netherlands generated the most threats, putting three shots on goal from five total attempts. The Orange also dominated possession in the early goings, holding the ball for 69 percent of the first half and completing 307 passes versus Japan’s 130 passes.

Lead striker Donyell Malen paced the Dutch attack with three shots on goal. However, Japan still had its opportunities. Multiple possession swings gave the Japanese some threats in the box, but the Samurai Blue couldn’t find the back of the net, leading to a 0-0 score at the break.

Quick punches from both sides open second-half scoring

In the 51st minute, Ryan Gravenberch sent a beautiful ball into the box right onto the head of his Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk, who found the bottom corner of the net to open the scoring.

It was van Dijk’s 13th international goal for his country. A great start for the Dutch in the second half, Japan was in dire need of a quick response to avoid falling too far behind in the second half.

And a quick response, they got.

Less than eight minutes after falling behind, Keito Nakamura fired a strike into the net, bouncing off his teammate Daizen Maeda on the way in to tie things back up at one goal apiece. The strike had the narrowest room for error, and Nakamura wrapped it around and through the pesky Dutch backline for the first Japanese goal to send their supporters’ section into a frenzy.

Dutch find separating goal to regain control

With Japan in full control of momentum after the quick answer, the Netherlands parlayed a swing of possession into a winner in the 64th minute.

Crysencio Summerville took a pass from Gravenberch at the top corner of the box, dribbled ahead a few steps and fired a rocket past Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki to give the lead back to The Orange. It was Gravenberch’s second assist on as many goals.

Japan continued to threaten the Netherlands’ backline, though, chipping away into the box for multiple penetrating looks. The second half saw three shots on goal for the Japanese, including one that will be remembered in soccer lore around this venue for a long time.

Japan finds late score for electric draw

After multiple looks in the box, Japan ended up closing the match on a fluke corner kick that ricocheted off two Japanese players and into the back of the net in the 89th minute, with the last contact coming from star midfielder Daichi Kamada.

Right in front of the sea of blue behind net, Japan gave its traveling fans an unreal goal that tied the game at 2-2 and gave them a hard-earned one point in the group stage.

It looked like the Dutch would narrowly escape with three points, but Japan’s relentless attack in the game’s final 20 minutes gave it a tying goal that could certainly pave the way for a successful summer in the World Cup.

This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 5:26 PM.

Nick Harris

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Nick Harris is the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has experience working on the beat for DallasCowboys.com and previous work experience at Yahoo Sports/Rivals and 247Sports.