Overview
The Dutch national team is entering the final stage of preparation for the 2026 World Cup with the goal of conquering the first world title in history.
After reaching the EURO 2024 semi-finals, the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals and going deep in the UEFA Nations League, Ronald Koeman's team is expected to continue to be one of the formidable candidates in the tournament in North America.
However, the preparation journey of the "Orange Hurricane" has just received an unwanted boost when they lost to Algeria in a friendly match on June 4. This is also the first defeat of the Netherlands after a 10-match unbeaten streak before that.
Anis Hadj Moussa's late goal made the farewell to home fans at De Kuip less complete. However, Ronald Koeman still considers this an opportunity to review his forces before entering the World Cup group stage, where the Netherlands will successively face Japan, Sweden and Tunisia in Group F.
After the match with Algeria, the whole team moved to the US to continue training. The clash with Uzbekistan at Icahn Stadium in New York will be the final general rehearsal before Oranje enters the opening match against Japan.
On the other side of the battle line, Uzbekistan is living in historic days. After many missed appointments, the Central Asian team finally won the right to participate in the World Cup for the first time.
The team ranked 50th in the world by FIFA will be in Group K with Portugal, Colombia and Congo. Despite being underestimated compared to their opponents, Uzbekistan still hopes to create a surprise in their first appearance in the biggest playground on the planet.
Fabio Cannavaro - who lifted the World Cup trophy with the Italian national team in 2006 - is currently the captain of the "White Wolfs". Under the Italian strategist, Uzbekistan has shown significant progress with only two defeats since the end of 2024.
One of them was the 0-2 defeat to Canada in the middle of the week. However, Uzbekistan still left many positive signs when creating many dangerous opportunities, especially from captain Eldor Shomurodov.
Before moving to Mexico City to prepare for the opening match at the World Cup, the confrontation with the Netherlands will be a quality test for Uzbekistan.
Personnel situation
The Dutch national team received positive signals when two pillars Memphis Depay and Jurrien Timber have both recovered from physical problems to participate in the gathering before the 2026 World Cup. However, the "Orange Hurricane" is still significantly affected by injuries.
Midfielder Jerdy Schouten is on a long-term leave due to a anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, while Matthijs de Ligt, Xavi Simons and veteran center-back Stefan de Vrij are all unable to participate. In addition, full-back Jeremie Frimpong is also not on the summoned list.
On the Uzbekistan side, Cannavaro is said to continue to use a five-defender system to strengthen his defense against a stronger opponent.
The most notable star of the Central Asian representative is center-back Abdukodir Khusanov, a player currently playing for Manchester City. In attack, captain Eldor Shomurodov - the greatest scorer in Uzbekistan national team history with 44 goals - is still the number one hope.
Expected lineup:
Netherlands: Verbruggen, Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Ake, De Jong, Gravenberch, Reijnders, Summerville, Depay, Gakpo.
Uzbekistan: Yusupov, Sayfiev, Abdullaev, Khusanov, Ashurmatov, Nasrullaev, Fayzullaev, Hamrobekov, Shukurov, Uronov, Shomurodov.
The match between the Netherlands and Uzbekistan takes place at 1:45 am on June 9 (Vietnam time).
