World Cup 2026 – Netherlands in the team profile
The totally unfinished star ensemble
12/19/2025 – 4:04 p.mReading time: 5 minutes
Lots of goals, hardly any goals conceded: The Netherlands are coming out of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a strong squad and a lot of tailwind. The “Elftal” is dreaming a really big dream.
The Netherlands are traveling to the 2026 World Cup with a big heart. As confident group winners in the qualification, Ronald Koeman’s team is convincing both defensively and offensively: 27 deaths and four goals conceded in ten games speak for themselves. So what could possibly go wrong, you might think? The Dutch fans know everything: So far, every World Cup has ended in defeat for the “Elftal”. Especially since there are no walk-in customers waiting in the preliminary round, but that’s exactly how the Dutch’s standards are measured.
The Netherlands finished first in their group with eight wins and two draws. Striking: The team only conceded four goals across all eight games and scored 27 goals themselves. A real gate factory.
The only point losses were against Poland (twice 1:1). “Oranje” achieved its clearest victory in Groningen in June. In the 8-0 win against Malta, six different players scored twice, including Memphis Depay and Donyell Malen. The team also remained stable away from home: the Netherlands fell behind twice in Lithuania, but turned the game around – Depay scored twice again.
Depay was also the Dutch top scorer throughout the qualification with nine goals. Behind them are Cody Gakpo and Donyell Malen with four goals each.
Coach Ronald Koeman’s team is seeded as group leaders in the preliminary round of the 2026 World Cup. The Netherlands will face the following opponents in Group F:
All group games for the Dutch in Group F will be played in the USA. The “Oranje” are the clear favorites to win the group, but they don’t have any real “exotic footballers” as opponents in the preliminary round.
Ronald Koeman is the Netherlands’ bond coach for the second time. He was on the sidelines for his country between 2018 and 2020. As a player, Koeman played for all major Dutch clubs and also spent a long time at FC Barcelona. Koeman also got around as a coach: Amsterdam, Lisbon, Eindhoven, Valencia, Rotterdam, Southampton, Everton and Barcelona were his stops. His brother Erwin Koeman works at his side as an assistant, closely involved in training, preparation and analysis.