Pre-World Cup 2026 friendlies: Netherlands-Uzbekistan, likely lineups

General tests for the Netherlands and Uzbekistan before the 2026 World Cup kicks off in Canada, the United States and Mexico. The Oranje take the field against the Asian selection in New York in the friendly scheduled at 8:45 p.m. Koeman’s team is fresh from last week’s defeat against Algeria, which interrupted a long run of positive results. The coach wants to take a good look at it to assess his choices ahead of the debut against Japan next June 14.

Entusiasm is sky-high for Uzbekistan, which is about to make its World Cup debut for the first time (it will do so against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal). On the bench is Fabio Cannavaro, who is considering the best players to field on debut.

Koeman will rely on the Summerville, Depay, Gakpo trident in attack, while Malen is expected to start from the bench. On the flanks are Dumfries and Ake, and in midfield the trio of De Jong, Gravenberch, Reijnders.

Cannavaro should go for the lone point Shomurodov in attack, while Fayzullaev and Uronov will act on the flanks. In midfield, the ball of the game is given to Hamrobekov, Shukurov.

Holland-Uzbekistan, the probable lineups
Netherlands (4-3-3): Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Ake; De Jong, Gravenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Depay, Gakpo.
Uzbekistan (5-4-1): Yusupov; Sayfiev, Abdullaev, Khusanov, Ashurmatov, Nasrullaev; Fayzullaev, Hamrobekov, Shukurov, Uronov; Shomurodov.