2026 World Cup, Day 4: Germany vs. Curaçao; Netherlands vs. Japan; Côte d’Ivoire vs. Ecuador; Sweden vs. Tunisia
· Yahoo Sports
Day 3 was the first day with a full slate of games, four in total, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. For once, it paid to be on the West Coast, with the game starting at noon and then every three hours after that. Perfect timings.
But, by and large, all four were worth staying up late (or getting up early), headlined by the 1-1 draw between Morocco and Brazil — though both teams ran out of ideas in the second half — and capped off by a highly entertaining 2-0 win for Australia over Turkey in front of a raucous crowd in Vancouver, BC (and an energetic broadcast team on Telemundo). Group D bringing it!
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And there was history made, too, with Qatar picking up their first ever point at a World Cup thanks to a late equalizer against a disappointing Switzerland and Scotland recording their first win at the tournament since 1990, beating Haiti, 1-0. Scotland have never played a knockout round match at a World Cup; they just might finally get to do so at the ninth try.
Today, we’ll finally have some Chelsea involvement, too, so get those eyeballs ready!
GERMANY vs. CURAÇAO
Contrasts don’t get much greater than a four-time champion against a tiny island nation who have never been to the World Cup before, but the gap may not be as massive as it seems at first glance. Germany failed to make it out of the group stage in both 2018 and 2022, while Curaçao, who are part of the Kingdom of Netherlands, are managed by legendary Dutch manager Dick Advocaat, with much of their squad based the Netherlands as well.
There is still sizeable gap of course, but it’s not quite the size of the Grand Canyon.
Date / Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 1pm EDT; 6pm BST
Venue: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX, USA
Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); ITV 1 (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); ITVx (UK)
Chelsea interest: We’ve got a few ex-Chelsea friends on Die Mannschaft this year, including Antonio Rüdiger and Kai Havertz, both of whom love the big stage, as we know. Former Chelsea prospect Jamal Musiala is fully recovered from the nasty injury he suffered last summer at the Club World Cup and could be key to any deep run from Germany.
As alluded to above, Curaçao are not just a collection of unknowns, with most of their players based in the Netherlands or around Europe. Former Manchester United prospect Tahith Chong is one of a few with some Premier League experience under his belt, even.
NETHERLANDS vs. JAPAN
Speaking of the Netherlands, their actual team spring into action as well, taking on popular dark-horse candidates Japan. This one’s the headline matchup of the day.
Japan have made it to the knockout rounds in four of the past six World Cups — though they’ll have to do so without Kaoru Mitoma (hamstring surgery) this time around. The Netherlands have finished second, third, and fifth in the last three tournaments that they didn’t fail to qualify for like in 2018. and in fact, they lost just one game in those three tournament, the 2010 final to Spain, going out on penalties in both 2014 and 2022 (both times against Argentina).
Date / Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 7pm EDT; 12am BST
Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX, USA (a.ka. Jerry World)
Referee: Ismael Elfath (USA)
On TV: FOX, Telemundo (USA); ITV 1 (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); ITVx (UK)
Chelsea interest: Jorrel Hato is the youngest member of the Dutch squad, so he may not end up playing a lot of minutes. But hopefully he gets a few looks. Former Chelsea youngster Nathan Aké is still here as well of course.
There are no Chelsea players on Japan.
CÔTE d’IVOIRE vs. ECUADOR
Ecuador are another popular pick for a potential surprise semifinal run, with perhaps the best defensive unit in any national team on the planet, conceding just 5 goals in South American qualifying. Unfortunately, their attack is rather poor and still relies on Enner Valencia, now 36 years young, to score the goals.
Côte d’Ivoire are back for the first time since 2014, and though they are no longer the vintage Drogba-era outfit, they did win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Date / Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 4pm EDT; 9pm BST
Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Referee: François Letexier (France)
On TV: FOX Sports 1, Telemundo (USA); BBC One (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); BBC iPlayer (UK)
Chelsea interest: Veteran midfielders Franck Kessie and Jean-Michaël Seri used to be frequent subject of Chelsea transfer rumors, but these days the closest we can come to claiming someone is Guéla Doué, who plays right back for our BlueCo sister club, RC Strasbourg. (Yes, he’s the older brother of PSG’s Désire Doué, who represents France.)
La Tri meanwhile count two Chelsea players among their number, key midfielder Moisés Caicedo and young prospect Kendry Páez.
SWEDEN vs. TUNISIA
Sweden’s best ever World Cup was the last time the US hosted, back in 1994, when the likes of Thomas Ravelli, Martin Dahlin, Tomas Brolin, and a young Henrik Larsson got all the way to third place. Sweden hadn’t qualified for three of the last four World Cups, so they’ll be looking to make some noise now that they’re here.
This is Tunisia’s seventh World Cup; they’re still looking for their first knock-round game. Scotland set themselves up yesterday to break their own futility in the area, so perhaps that’ll serve as inspiration.
Date / Time: Sunday, June 14, 2026, 10pm EDT; 3am BST
Venue: Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico
Referee: Yael Falcón (Argentina)
On TV: FOX Sports 1, Telemundo (USA); ITV 1 (UK); elsewhere
Streaming online: FOX One, Peacock (USA); ITVx (UK)
Chelsea interest: There are no Chelsea players, current or former, on either of these two teams, though we do have a certain Graham Potter standing in the Swedish dugout. He took over there at the start of last season, on the heels of his disappointments at Chelsea and then at West Ham. But he’s a hero in this case just for getting the Swedes back into the biggest dance.