Confident, but without shine: Led by young star Cody Gakpo, the Netherlands qualified for the knockout phase with their second success at the World Cup in Qatar as winners of Group A.
Bonds coach Louis van Gaal’s team beat hosts Qatar 2-0 (1-0), who were once again overwhelmed, at the end of the preliminary round, but revealed weaknesses again.
In order to finally celebrate the first World Cup triumph declared by van Gaal as a goal, Oranje has to step up a lot. “We can certainly play better, but we’re also getting better and better,” said Oranje goalkeeper Andries Noppert.
Gakpo (26th) with his third World Cup goal and Frenkie De Jong (49th) shot the Elftal to victory, now it is in the round of 16 on Saturday (4 p.m. CET) in the Khalifa International Stadium against the runners-up in group B .
Qatar tried to make up for the big deficits in play, but coach Felix Sánchez’s team will go down as the worst hosts in World Cup history. Three defeats and just one goal is the bleak balance sheet at the end.
Gakpo continues to increase its market value
Despite Qatar’s elimination before the kick-off, FIFA President Gianni Infantino watched the hosts’ final appearance. In the VIP box, Infantino watched with a blissful smile as the clearly favored Dutchmen got off to a chaotic start.
But Gakpo, who has been very strong so far at the World Cup and has long been the focus of European top clubs, was once again reliable. After a one-two with former Bremen player Davy Klaassen, the 23-year-old finished coldly. He is the first Dutchman to score in each of his first three World Cup games.
Which TV station will broadcast the 2022 FIFA World Cup live?
- MagentaTV shows all 64 games live, 16 of them exclusively* (including two round of 16 and one quarter-final).
- ARD broadcasts 24 games live, including the final German group game against Costa Rica as well as finals and the final.
- The games of groups F, G and H are running on ZDF.
The favorites should have taken advantage of the growing uncertainty among the Qataris, instead they slowed down again and tried to control themselves. Nevertheless, they always managed to lose the ball slightly, which could become expensive against better teams in the further course of the tournament.
De Jong closes the sack after the break
Qatar, on the other hand, were unable to take advantage of the switching situations. Instead, the Netherlands struck again shortly after the break, De Jong only had to push the ball over the line after a rebound.
With the lead behind him, the three-time vice world champion managed the game quite confidently. Van Gaal took the opportunity to give some regulars a breather. A goal by Steven Berghuis (68′) didn’t count because of a previous handball by Gakpo.
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