From Johan Cruyff to Robin van Persie or Virgil van Dijk, the Dutch national team has produced some of world football's best talent for decades, and they're now back on the hunt for trophies.

The Dutch national football team, known affectionately as the Oranje, are widely regarded as the best country never to win a World Cup.

Immortalised in football history thanks to the achievements of Johan Cruyff and his generation of players in the 1970s, they were European champions in 1988 under Rinus Michels with a squad including the likes of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Ronald Koeman and Marco van Basten.

The Netherlands were runners-up at the 1974 and 1978 World Cups and then again in 2010.

The team is governed by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). They play their home matches at the Johan Cruyff Arena, the Philips Stadion and De Kuip.

 

Early history

The Dutch national team made their bow on the international stage against Belgium in a 1905 encounter in Antwerp, which the Netherlands won 4-1 after extra time.

Their first competitive tournament was the 1908 Olympics in London, where they were eliminated by Great Britain in the semi-finals, but managed to pick up the bronze medal. The Netherlands won further bronze medals at the 1912 and 1920 Olympics.

Having reached the semi-final for a fourth time, they were unsuccessful again after giving up a one-goal lead against Uruguay to lose 2-1, missing out on a medal after losing the subsequent third-place play-off to Sweden.

The Netherlands were eliminated from the round of 16 at the 1934 and 1938 World Cup tournaments. They did not have any significant success until the "total football" generation spearheaded by Johan Cruyff.

After the Second World War, they only qualified for two international tournaments before this period of success in the 70s, losing to the hosts, Great Britain in the 1948 Olympics and to Brazil in the 1952 tournament in Finland.

 

Breakthrough in the 1970s

Following the 1974 World Cup, the captain of the 1970 World Cup-winning Brazil side, Carlos Alberto, praised the Dutch for the free-flowing, expressive soccer masterminded by Johan Cruyff and head coach Rinus Michels.

Alberto said: "The only team I've seen that did things differently was Holland at the 1974 World Cup in Germany. Since then everything looks more or less the same to me."

In 1974, the Netherlands made the final of the World Cup in West Germany, where they took on the hosts.

Johan Neeskens put the Netherlands ahead from the penalty spot in the second minute, but West Germany equalised through a Paul Breitner penalty. In the 43rd minute, Gerd Muller scored what proved to be the winning goal for West Germany.

The Netherlands followed that up by qualifying for Euro 1976 in Yugoslavia, where they were eliminated in the semi-finals after a 3-1 extra-time defeat to Czechoslovakia. In the third-place play-off, Holland beat Yugoslavia 3-2.

The 1978 World Cup in Argentina was another near miss for the Netherlands. They finished second in Group 4 behind Peru, qualifying for the second group stage. There, they topped Group A above Italy, West Germany and Austria.

Netherlands thus qualified for the final against Argentina, where Mario Kempes opened the scoring for the hosts in the 38th minute. Dick Nanninga's 82nd-minute goal meant the match went to extra time, where Argentina triumphed thanks to another Kempes goal and one from Ricardo Bertoni.

The Netherlands were eliminated from the group stage at Euro 1980 and did not qualify for the 1982 or 1986 World Cups or Euro 1984.

 

1988 European Championship win

In 1988, Oranje were crowned European champions for the first time, after winning the tournament in Germany.

The tournament is renowned for being one of very few to have finished without seeing a sending off or a goalless draw.

The Netherlands advanced to the knockout stage of Euro 1988 by finishing second in their group behind the Soviet Union.

Despite a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Soviet Union, Oranje bounced back with a 3-1 victory over England in which Marco van Basten scored a hat-trick as well as 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland thanks to Wim Kieft.

They faced West Germany in the semi-finals in Hamburg, going behind to a Lothar Matthaus penalty before scoring a penalty of their own through Ronald Koeman. An 88th-minute winner from Marco van Basten ensured the Netherlands snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

In the final, the Netherlands took on the Soviet Union in Munich and goals from Gullit and Van Basten gave the Oranje a 2-0 win.

 

Netherlands and losing run in European Championship semi-finals

In their quest to replicate the glory of 1988, the Netherlands suffered several near misses. They finished third at the European Championships in 1992, 2000 and 2004. In 1996, they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.

In 1992, a late Frank Rijkaard goal brought their semi-final clash with Denmark level at 2-2. The game went to penalties, where a missed Van Basten spot-kick saw the Danes, who scored all five of their penalties, advance.

After an eight-year wait to reach another semi-final, the Dutch faced off against Italy on home turf in Amsterdam, in a year where they co-hosted the competition alongside rivals Belgium.

Sadly for the hosts, a goalless draw saw their match with the Italians go to penalties once more. Their opponents would be victorious yet again after the Dutch missed three of their first four penalties.

In the 2004 tournament, the Dutch held their nerve in a tense quarter-final encounter, to win on penalties against Sweden, setting up a semi-final clash with Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo.

A closely contested encounter resulted in heartbreak once more, however, as the Portuguese emerged 2-1 winners and booked their place in the final to play the hosts, Greece.

In terms of the World Cup, there was not much to cheer about during this era, although the Netherlands did manage to finish fourth at the 1998 World Cup in France under Guus Hiddink.

 

Back-to-back World Cup podiums

The Dutch were disappointing at the 2006 World Cup, crashing out in the round of 16.

In a chaotic match that saw four red cards, the Dutch fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Portugal.

A promising start to their Euro 2008 campaign under Marco van Basten featuring wins over Italy, Romania and France had ultimately proved a false dawn as the Netherlands were eliminated from that tournament in the quarter-finals by Guus Hiddink's Russia.

At the World Cup in 2010, the Netherlands once again got off to an impressive start, beating Japan, Denmark and Cameroon to top their group. A 2-1 round-of-16 win over Slovakia meant the Netherlands faced their first major test of the tournament in the quarter-finals against Brazil.

Here, Holland rallied back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 and followed that up with a 3-2 win over Uruguay in the semi-finals. That semi-final win in Cape Town is famous for Giovanni van Bronckhorst's stunning long-range strike.

In the final, the Netherlands faced Spain at Soccer City in Johannesburg, where they were beaten 1-0 due to an extra-time winner from Andres Iniesta. Midfielders Mark van Bommel and Wesley Sneijder made FIFA's All-Star team for the tournament.

The Netherlands made the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with a squad that was less star-studded. The impressive management of Louis van Gaal played a major role in them finishing third, beating Brazil in the play-off to claim that honour.

The Netherlands were knocked out of the tournament by Argentina in the semi-finals, but not before exacting revenge on Spain in the group stage with a 5-1 drubbing inspired by Robin van Persie's diving header.

 

Knockout losers

The Netherlands endured a dark patch after the 2014 World Cup and failed to qualify for the 2018 edition, but they regrouped after Ronald Koeman took over and made the final of the first ever UEFA Nations League. There, they were beaten by Portugal.

In November, 2019 they sealed qualification for their 10th European Championships, booking their place for the 2020 Euros with a victory over Northern Ireland.

 

After losing Koeman - who resigned to manage his old club Barcelona - the Dutch struggled to qualify for the 2021 Nations League following disappointing results in their group of Poland, Italy and Bosnia. Frank de Boer was the man who eventually replaced Koeman.

The current generation of Dutch national team players includes star names such as Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt and Quincy Promes.

The Dutch played all three of their Euro 2020 group matches in Amsterdam, securing three wins out of three against Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia.

However, they lost their last-16 clash in Budapest, being defeated by the Czech Republic 2-0. De Boer resigned as coach a couple of days later, and in August 2021 it was announced that Louis van Gaal would lead the Dutch side for the third time.

Van Gaal secured the Netherlands place at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but once again they exited the tournament in the knockout stages.

They reached the quarter-finals but were knocked out by Argentina on penalties in a game that featured several flashpoints and a plethora of bookings.

Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz issued 18 yellows cards in total at the Lusail Stadium, including two - and therefore a red - for the Netherlands' Denzel Dumfries and two for Argentinian coaching staff.

There were two major confrontations in the game, both coming late in the regulation 90 minutes as the Netherlands fought back from 2-0 down to force extra-time.

Van Gaal left his post at the end of the World Cup, and Koeman returned for a second spell as manager of the national team.

In June 2023, the Netherlands were beaten 3-2 by Italy in the third-place play-off of the Nations League. It was the third defeat in four games under Koeman.

The Netherlands qualified for Euro 2024 in Germany and finished squeaked into the last 16 after being one the best third-placed teams in the group stages.

They beat Romania 3-0 in the last 16, and then Turkey 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

Xavi Simons gave the Netherlands the ideal start in the semi-final with England when he capitalised on a rare Declan Rice error to slam the ball home past Jordan Pickford with just seven minutes on the clock.

England were level soon after, however, after referee Felix Zwayer pointed to the spot following a VAR check for a kick on Harry Kane by Denzel Dumfries.

The contentious call left the Dutch fuming as Kane dusted himself down to equalise, with Ollie Watkins then providing the moment to remember as he tucked away a fine, last-gasp finish to send England through to the final against Spain.

Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk called on referee Zwayer to explain his controversial decision.

He believed Zwayer knew he had made an error by the way he handled himself at the full-time whistle.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if I should say something about this, I think it says it all that the referee went in quite quickly after the game, I had no time to shake his hand,” he told beIN Sports.

“But listen, it is what it is. The game is done. We lost and it’s very tough to take certain moments. You know, it was obvious that it should have gone our way. It didn’t but whatever the outcome it is always tough.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s just difficult. It’s difficult to accept this, I’m pulling in the emotions.

“It has been a very, very, very long year, a tough year, and we had a big dream, we felt like we could have achieved that as well here as a team but unfortunately it didn’t happen.”

Pushed on Zwayer’s repose, the Liverpool defender added: “They keep changing certain things, small changes that could have big impacts but maybe it’s a good thing that they could be held accountable as well?

“Let them come here and speak to you guys and explain themselves in certain moments, like we have to explain ourselves when we do something wrong as well.

“I think that might be something but I shouldn’t speak about others, we have to look at ourselves, and unfortunately we are out.”

Koeman insisted “in England they would not give such a penalty” while he felt his team were looking the most likely to win the game in the closing stages.

“I’m disappointed about the result,” he added.

“The match started really well for us and we scored. After that we had problems in midfield, allowing dangerous players like (Jude) Bellingham and (Phil) Foden into the game.

“We made changes, got some control back, and in the last 20 minutes we felt we were going to go on. But then the goal – a really good goal – right at the end.”

Netherlands legends

Johan Cruyff was the player who immortalised 'Total Football', which has had an influence on not only Dutch domestic international soccer, but also the European game as a whole, inspiring the philosophies of a number of great modern coaches such as Pep Guardiola.

There were several other great players in his era, including Johan Neeskens who - like Cruyff - endured successful stints at both Ajax and Barcelona, and Ruud Krol, who spent 12 years at Ajax and coached the national team as an assistant.

Marco van Basten was the star of the show in the team which won Euro 1988, but since then, the Dutch national team has been blessed with legends such as goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, winger Arjen Robben and striker Robin van Persie.

Van Persie is the Netherlands all-time top scorer with 50 goals to his name, leading the table ahead of tough competition from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Patrick Kluivert and Memphis Depay.

Ex-Inter Milan and Real Madrid star, Wesley Sneijder has made the most appearances for the national side with 134, scoring 31 goals having also represented them at U-17, U-19 and U-21 level.

 

Biggest rivals

Germany have always been a fierce rival of the Netherlands, due in large part to numerous clashes at major tournaments. The occupation of the Netherlands by Germany during World War II has also not been forgotten.

A quarter of a million Dutch people lost their lives as a result of the German's actions in the war as well as the country being devastated physically, socially and financially - many of the early games between the two were played with a deep anger surrounding these issues.

The two teams have met over 40 times in competitive international games and the fixture has been evenly matched in terms of success with both teams winning a similar amount of matches.

There is also a rivalry with Belgium, who are neighbours of the Netherlands, in what is known as the Low Countries derby.

The two countries have a long-standing on-field rivalry having played over 125 official derbies with each other.

 

Fanbase

The Netherlands have a fan club known as "Het Oranje Legioen" (The Orange Legion). They are recognisable for the song "Hup Holland Hup" and even for occasionally dressing up as orange lions to show their support for the team.