DALLAS: If Netherlands defender Jan Paul van Hecke is to keep up family tradition, he will need to go all the way to the World Cup final.
His uncle Jan Poortvliet played in defense for the Dutch in the 1978 final, where they lost the deciding game to hosts Argentina in extra time. Van Hecke is expected to be in the lineup on Sunday in Dallas when they get their Group F campaign underway against Japan, partnering captain Virgil van Dijk in central defense.
“An enormous feeling of pride,” he told reporters. “It’s fantastic to be here.” Van Hecke gets his chance after Jurrien Timber was ruled out of the tournament by injury.
“It’s my dream, but it was also his dream,” Van Hecke said. “It’s a real shame that his dream has fallen apart.”
Ironically, Van Hecke’s uncle also broke into the Dutch team in 1978 in similar circumstances, having debuted for the Netherlands a fortnight before the World Cup kicked off and being picked for the squad as something of an outsider.
But when first-choice left-back Hugo Hovenkamp was injured, Poortvliet got to play.
“Hugo was in the form of his life, but that’s how things sometimes go,” Poortvliet told Dutch NOS television.
He went on to play six matches in Argentina, showing his versatility at left-back, right-back and as a defensive midfielder.
England team lose equipment
Meanwhile, England suffered a theft of training equipment ahead of their arrival in Kansas City, local police said, after a vehicle transporting the gear to their World Cup base was broken into.
The incident occurred while equipment was being transferred from England’s pre-tournament base in Florida to Swope Soccer Village, where it was due to be in place before the squad begin training after their arrival in Kansas City on Saturday.
“We are investigating a possible theft of equipment from a team vehicle that arrived in Kansas City with items missing this evening,” police said.
“The investigation is ongoing. Two subjects of interest were taken into custody pending further investigation.”
Balls and boots were among the items believed to have been stolen, according to British media reports.
Spanish team in for a surprise?
Elsewhere, Spain’s team arrived in Atlanta with the air of a team expecting a long World Cup summer, but on Monday they face opponents carrying an equally powerful feeling: the giddy disbelief of a nation seeing its name on the tournament board for the first time.
The European champions open their Group H campaign against Cape Verde, with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia also in the section, in a fixture that looks on paper like a meeting of different football planets.
Luis de la Fuente’s side have become close to immovable over the last four years, going 30 matches unbeaten since a 1-0 friendly loss to Colombia at Wembley in March 2024.
Since then Spain have recorded 23 wins and seven draws playing some of the most entertaining, attacking football seen in recent times.
The only wrinkle in that spotless-looking run was a 5-4 penalty defeat to Portugal in the 2025 Nations League final after a 2-2 draw following extra time, in a match where Spain twice led but failed to retain the title they had won in 2023.
Cape Verde, however, are not merely in North America to provide the romance. The Blue Sharks were one of the surprise qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and, with fewer than 600,000 inhabitants.
