Can the Netherlands live up to expectations at the Qatar World Cup?
Can the Netherlands live up to expectations at the Qatar World Cup?
Another renewal of the FIFA World Cup in on the horizon and excitement is finally starting to grow for the Qatar-based tournament, which will be the first to be held in the Middle East and during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter months — kicking off with the hosts taking on Ecuador on November 20th and ending with the final on December 18th.
It will come as no surprise that five-time winners Brazil are the slight favourites in the football betting, just ahead of the likes of England, France, Spain, Germany and Argentina. However, one nation who are a bit further out in the outright market at around 12/1, but could still be feeling a bit of pressure going into the tournament is the Netherlands.
The Dutch have largely underperformed on the global stage in recent years, failing to qualify for successive major tournaments — missing out on both the 2016 European Championships in France and the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Even when they did end their qualification drought for the cross-continent Euro 2020, they fell below the bar of expectation — disappointingly crashing out to the Czech Republic in the Round of 16.
Therefore, there is a lot of pressure on the Oranje to perform out in the Middle East this winter. Ranked eighth in the world by FIFA and with top-class players like Virgil van Dijk, Matthijs de Ligt, Frankie de Jong and Memphis Depay, the Netherlands have no excuses for another early exit and serious questions will need to be asked of the side’s mettle.
Luckily, Louis van Gaal’s men have arguably been handed the easiest group out of all the top nations — with very winnable games against Senegal, Ecuador and Qatar in Group A. Those fixtures should result in the Dutch picking up nine straightforward points and the players will hopefully gain some belief and momentum heading into the round of 16.
It's hard to really tell for certain who their opponent will be in the first knockout round should they top Group A, with Wales, England and the United States facing off in Group B. But assuming the Three Lions top the table as expected, then you’d imagine the USMNT will bag second ahead of Rob Page’s Dragons and progress to face the Netherlands.
The USA are one of the most exciting sides in international football at the moment, with a squad boasting an average age of just 24 — the youngest going to the World Cup. But with this being many of their inexperienced player’s first World Cup together, you wonder if the experience of players like Van Dijk, De Jong and De Ligt will be too much for them to handle.
Should they get past their round of 16 opponent, it looks likely that they will face Argentina in the quarter-finals. Lionel Scaloni’s side are arguably the in-form nation going into the World Cup, going on an unbeaten run that has spanned over 30 games and has included trophy success in the Copa America and Finalissima.
La Albiceleste are another side who previously underperformed in international tournaments, but thanks to this current run that seems to be behind them now and with this likely being Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, there is an added incentive to send off the little magician with a World Cup winners’ medal added to his glittering career.
A quarter-final exit is perhaps a fair reflection of how far this team can go at the World Cup and perhaps aligns with their expectations heading into the tournament. It looks like they will be relatively unchallenged until then though, so we might not get a true look at how good this side really are — unless they do go on to reach the semi-finals and beyond.