Netherlands’ coach Ronald Koeman reacts during a World Cup 2026 group G qualifying soccer match between Netherlands and Lithuania in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Can three-time World Cup runner-up the Netherlands finally win soccer’s greatest prize?
The Dutch are one of the tournament’s great nearly men, having lost back-to-back finals in 1974 and ’78 and then again in 2010.
The Netherlands has been drawn against Sweden , Japan and Tunisia in Group F.
They will be favorites to advance as group winners, but there are potential pitfalls — not least in the form of Japan, which stunned Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup.
The creators of so-called “total football” in the 1970s, the Netherlands has always been easy on the eye, but it has never been enough to get it over the line at a World Cup.
Coach Ronald Koeman — in his second spell in charge of the national team — is hoping to end his country’s wait.
Netherlands’ Virgil van Dijk passes the ball during the Euro 2020 group C qualifying soccer match between The Netherlands and Northern Ireland at De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
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