The Netherlands are one of the more curious teams in international football. For example, they never really convinced at Euro 2024, but after finishing third in their group went on to reach the semi-finals, where they lost narrowly to England.
Frustratingly, it remains difficult to know what to make of Ronald Koeman’s team. The numbers from their World Cup qualification campaign make for great reading: six wins, two draws, zero defeats, 27 goals scored, four conceded. However, they failed to beat second-placed Poland home or away, and looked disjointed in some of their recent friendlies, including a friendly loss to Algeria. Here’s what we can say about the Dutch, though: they’re dangerous on their day.
Virgil van Dijk leads a defence that also features Real Madrid-bound Denzel Dumfries, Koeman can call upon the likes of Frenkie de Jong and Ryan Gravenberch in midfield, and say what you will about Memphis Depay, but the man can score goals at international level. The loss of Xavi Simons, Jurrien Timber and Matthijs de Ligt to injury, on the other hand, is a blow, while a loss to Algeria and a last-gasp win over Uzbekistan haven’t bred much confidence during their warm-up games.
Still, should they get out of a tricky group that pits them against Japan, Tunisia and Sweden, the unpredictable Oranje will be a problem for whomever they face in the knockout stage.
