How did the Netherlands get here?
By plane, probably.
In the end, the Netherlands made light work of their group, beating Senegal 2-0 in their opener after two late goals from Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen gave Louis van Gaal’s side all three points.
Cody Gakpo, the scorer of the opening goal, quickly became the player on everyone’s lips and has continued to do so with fantastic offensive performances that have him as a top transfer target for many teams in Europe.
A 1-1 draw against Ecuador followed, and Gustavo Alfaro’s side kept their hopes of progressing alive with a strong defensive performance that saw the Netherlands dig in and come away with a point . Hosts Qatar became the first team to exit the tournament at this point, losing to Senegal.
The last match was against already eliminated Qatar and the European side played without pressure and swept the Asians with ease. 7 points was more than enough to finish the group stage on top and with a lot of confidence in what LVG wanted to do with their team.
The Round of 16 match against the United States was a completely different display of skill from the team, who continued to adapt to defeat their opponents. Gregg Berhalter’s side had impressed in Group B and finished the first round unbeaten against England, Wales and Iran. The Netherlands, however, ignored them and outplayed the Americans with their superior attacking talent. It wasn’t Cody Gakpo who led them to a 3.1 win, but right back Denzel Dumfries.
Now, Argentina awaits the Oranje.