The Netherlands opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with an entertaining draw with Japan and former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart might have landed himself in hot water with his comments
18:17, 15 Jun 2026Updated 18:17, 15 Jun 2026
Rafael van der Vaart
Former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart said that Japan’s players ‘look alike’ in a misguided joke on live TV.
The South Asian nation kicked off their 2026 World Cup campaign in entertaining fashion with a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands on Sunday.
Ex-Tottenham and Real Madrid star Van der Vaart was a pundit for Dutch TV channel NOS during the game. But the 43-year-old landed himself in hot water with a misguided joke about the appearance of the Japanese players.
“The perfect corner is really very difficult to defend,” he said while watching a replay of Daichi Kamada’s late goal. “This one came with the right speed, just over the five-yard line. With a bit of luck it would have gone in, but the corner was amazing.
“They [the Japanese players] do look alike, of course, maybe he [Van de Ven] thought that… That’s a joke, of course. I hardly dare say anything.”
It has not been confirmed yet whether Van der Vaart will face punishment for his comments. During his assessment of his nation’s draw with Japan, he also tore into defender Virgil van Dijk for his performance.
He said: “I have to be honest: I was quite shocked by Van Dijk,’ he said at the half-time break. With him, I thought: that doesn’t look good. Especially while turning.
“It is proving very difficult. A bit like a Boeing 747 turning. I hope he starts turning a bit faster during the tournament.”
The Netherlands will be aiming to secure their first win of the tournament at the weekend as they take on Sweden. The Scandinavian nation enjoyed a brilliant start to their World Cup, having thumped Tunisia 5-1.
Japan equalised late on against the Netherlands(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking about his side’s display, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman said: “It is our minimal standard, I should say. We need to grow during the tournament.
“We need to perform better. Of course, we would have preferred to win the first game and we were expecting it because we went ahead twice. It didn’t happen but it doesn’t mean that we now think that our performance was not good enough. I think there were quite a lot of positive moments during the game so the only way is up.”
He added: “I am disappointed that we didn’t win, but that’s because we were ahead twice. Many people underestimate Japan, but for the 100,000 time, if you underestimate them, that’s your problem.
“You think that Japan’s strength was overexaggerated before the match? Let’s wait until the end of the World Cup to see who’s right.”
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