World Cup 2026 Group F: what Japan, Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden mean for crypto markets

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11 across the US, Mexico, and Canada, and Group F features Japan, the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden. FIFA announced Kraken as its Official Crypto Exchange Supporter on June 9, just days before the opening whistle. That deal, combined with a surging Chiliz token and Avalanche-powered digital collectibles, means the tournament is shaping up as the biggest collision of sports and blockchain to date.

Group F: the football side

The Netherlands enter as clear favorites, sitting at -130 odds. Japan, at +260, is the team nobody wants to draw. Sweden comes in at +450. Tunisia, listed at +1100, faces the steepest climb.

This is the first World Cup with 48 teams and 104 matches.

FIFA’s blockchain play: Kraken, Avalanche, and FIFA Collect

FIFA Collect, the tournament’s digital collectibles platform, runs on the FIFA Blockchain powered by Avalanche. FIFA built its own blockchain network using Avalanche’s technology to mint and distribute NFTs tied to World Cup moments.

The Chiliz token, CHZ, rallied 28% in a single week as the tournament approached. Chiliz has also committed 10% of fan token revenues to buybacks ahead of the expanded event.

Group F’s crypto blind spot

None of the four Group F teams have official Chiliz fan tokens or team-specific digital asset programs. No Dutch fan token. No Japan token. Nothing for Sweden or Tunisia.

Prediction markets have seen increased volume around Group F outcomes, and Solana-based meme tokens themed around the tournament are already circulating. These aren’t endorsed products. Without official fan tokens to absorb Group F enthusiasm, that energy flows into adjacent assets: CHZ itself, AVAX as the infrastructure play, and whatever meme token manages to capture attention on a given matchday.

What this means for investors

Chiliz spiked during the 2022 Qatar World Cup and subsequently gave back most of those gains. The buyback mechanism, with 10% of fan token revenues allocated, provides a floor of sorts, but it’s a thin one relative to the volumes that World Cup-driven speculation can generate.

The 2026 World Cup features 48 teams, 104 matches, and three host countries, running from June 11 to July 19.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.