The Oranje have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by topping their group (G) in UEFA World Cup Qualifiers. They are the runners-up in 3 World Cup editions, and they would like to change their fate going into this World Cup to finally get crowned as the best team in the world, a feat that they probably deserve after one of the longest times in their history.
The Netherlands are probably not “the favourites” going into this edition of the World Cup, but they are surely a capable force that can put up a hard fight against any team participating in the World Cup, under their manager, Ronald Koeman. So, let’s take a look back at their journey to qualify for this World Cup (12th in their history) and how they secured their ticket to the USA, Mexico, and Canada.
The Qualification Scenario
Netherlands had gone through the UEFA European qualification process, which is distinctly divided into two rounds, and let’s discuss each of them one by one:
Round 1: Group Stage (Direct Qualification)
- Number of Groups:12 total groups (Groups A-L).
- Group Size: Groups consisted of either four or five teams. The Netherlands was placed in a 5-team group (Group G).
- Format: Traditional round-robin format, with each team playing every other team in their group twice (once at home and once away).
- Dates: Matches took place between March and November 2025.
- Qualification Rule: The 12 group winners automatically qualified directly for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Round 2: Play-offs (Remaining Slots)
- Teams Involved:16 teams participated in the play-offs:
- The 12 group runners-upfrom the Group Stage.
- The 4 best-ranked UEFA Nations League group winnersthat did not finish in the top two of their World Cup qualifying group.
- Format:The 16 teams were drawn into four play-off paths (Path A, B, C, and D). Each path consisted of two rounds of single-leg knockout matches (semi-finals and a final).
- Qualification Rule:The 4 winners of the play-off finals secured the remaining four European slots for the World Cup.
The Netherlands directly qualified for the World Cup as they topped their Group in the first Round of the Qualifiers, and they don’t have to go through the gruelling second round as that would have meant a sudden death for them even if they had lost 1 match.
The Netherlands’ Route
The Netherlands was drawn into Group G, a 5-team group against Poland, Finland, Malta, and Lithuania. Considering the previous record and the calibre of each team in the group, Poland could have posed a serious threat to their qualification scenarios, as the Netherlands have drawn both of their fixtures against Poland. Other than Poland, it was pretty much a cake walk for a team consisting of so much abundance of talent, alongside boasting a huge potential within them.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Netherlands | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 4 | +23 | 20 | Qualified Directly |
| 2 | Poland | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 7 | +7 | 17 | Advance to Play-offs |
| 3 | Finland | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 10 | Eliminated |
| 4 | Malta | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 19 | -15 | 5 | Eliminated |
| 5 | Lithuania | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 3 | Eliminated |
The results of their fixtures in this group would show a clearer picture:
- Finland: Won 2–0 (Away) & Won 4–0 (Home)
- Malta: Won 4–0 (Away) & Won 8–0 (Home)
Highlight: The 8-0 The victory in Groningen was the largest margin of victory in the group. - Lithuania: Won 3–2 (Away) & Won 4–0 (Home)
Highlight: The 4-0 win in Amsterdam on November 17, 2025, officially sealed the top spot. - Poland: Drew 1–1 (Home) & Drew 1–1 (Away)
Note: These tight affairs were the only matches where the Dutch defence was significantly tested.
Their results show that they have displayed a potent attack and a solid defence whenever required to do so on the field under Ronald Koeman.
Key Performers and Stats
Here are the Top Performers for the team in this qualifying campaign, and let’s have an overview of them:
- Top Scorer:Memphis Depay (8 Goals)
- Continued to be the talisman for Oranje, scoring braces against Malta and Lithuania, and a crucial goal against Poland.
- Key Attackers:
- Cody Gakpo(4 Goals): consistently dangerous from the wing.
- Donyell Malen(4 Goals): Provided speed and finishing, particularly in the rout against Malta.
- Midfield General:Tijjani Reijnders and Xavi Simons were instrumental in chance creation, with Simons adding 2 goals.
- Defensive Leaders:Virgil van Dijk (Captain) and Denzel Dumfries (2 Goals) anchored a defence that conceded only 4 goals in 8 games.
Outlook on the Netherlands and Predictions
Following the conclusion of the qualifiers, the Final Draw for the World Cup took place earlier this month check out this article.
They are placed in Group F, and they’ll face Japan, Tunisia and the winner of UEFA Play-off Path B. For detailed info on the Netherlands’ opposition, check Step 1 of this article.
Predictions: Considering the opposition the Netherlands are set to face in the Group Stage of the 2026 World Cup, they should be able to top their group and move on to the next stage at the Round of 32 of the World Cup, where they could probably face one of Brazil/ Morocco/Scotland/Haiti (runners-up of Group C), considering if they face Brazil and seeing both the squads and their recent performances we can see Brazil getting defeated and subsequently, considering Morocco and their recent performances they’ll definitely pose a tough challenge to Netherlands but considering the Netherlands’ squad being far superior they might get defeated and if they face any other teams from Group C they should ease past them and so we predict Netherlands in the Round of 16. The Netherlands, if they qualify for the Round of 16, they’ll most likely face Germany (who’ll face the Best 3rd placed team from Group A, B, C, D, or F), and here we believe the Netherlands will beat the German team, as seeing their squad we believe they don’t have enough fire power to get past the Dutch defense easily and consdering the leaky defensive structure of German, Netherlands would definitely look up to exploit these spaces and eventually win this fixture to advance to Quarter Finals. Considering the World Cup match-ups, the Netherlands are likely to face Spain in the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup, a rematch of the 2010 final. Where we feel the Netherlands’ World Cup journey could come to an end, considering the immense quality the current Spain Team possesses immense quality and it would be too much for the Netherlands to contain. So, we predict the Netherlands to go up to the Quarter Finals of this World Cup, where they’ll most likely face Spain and their journey to be over at that stage of the World Cup.
