It's almost time for the World Cup. Before the tournament, we'll be previewing each of the top 15 teams by FIFA rankings that made the tournament. Why the top 15? Because that's how many we needed to do in order for the USMNT to make the cut. You can read all of our previews here.
Ah, the Netherlands. Pain and misery comes for all but one team at the World Cup every four years, but that pain and misery has magnitudes. A team like Morocco in 2022, for example, will have felt the pain of coming so close to a miracle, but the first African team to make the semifinals left with their heads held up high. It is only for the contenders, the countries that have shaped soccer history over the last century, that the worst disappointments are reserved.
Of those perennial contenders, there is no one who has become as accustomed to the horrors of falling short at the World Cup as the Dutch. L'Oranje have earned the most painful of accolades as the best team to never win a World Cup, and it has been earned: Only Germany has finished second more times in the World Cup, and at least they have four titles to keep them warm at night. The Dutch, on the other hand, lost back-to-back finals in 1974 and 1978, plus one more in 2010 in extra time, and to date, the only trophy in the country's history is the 1988 Euro. Most recently, the Dutch fell in a spirited and nasty quarterfinal against eventual champion Argentina in 2022; a two-goal comeback wasn't enough and the Oranje went home on penalties.
Like all long-suffering fans of teams that always fall short, the Dutch will be asking themselves yet again, "Is this our year, finally?" As is true for any team in the field, the odds are against them. Even the most dominant of favorites can and often do fail against the crushing weight of the World Cup. But the Netherlands brings a strong team to North America, with a steady backline, a great midfield trio, and dynamic attackers, including one at the peak of his powers. There aren't any super-duperstars on the side, though that has broadly been the case since the turn of the millennium. The Dutch ethos of Total Football, in which players are interchangeable on the pitch and in positions for the good of the team, also applies to the roster heading to the tournament; many hands make light work, and the Dutch will hope the same is true for feet. There would likely be no bigger or more cathartic payoff at this tournament than the Netherlands finally lifting the trophy. Is this the side to do it? Well, that's complicated.
Who Is Their Main Guy?
The days of Virgil van Dijk, Best Center Back In The World, are long gone, but that doesn't make the Liverpool man any less important for the Netherlands' chances this summer. Even as the mistakes have piled up and the pace of both his legs and decision making have slowed down a touch, van Dijk is still an elite backline stalwart, capable both of doing his own defending and, perhaps more importantly, shepherding an entire defense. Watch a Liverpool game and focus on van Dijk, and you will see a true defensive quarterback, organizing and re-organizing his fellow defenders to minimize gaps. In an international tournament, where prep time is less consistent than at the club level, having someone this experienced and this talented goes a long way.
So, who cares that he gets dribbled past somewhat often now, when doing so used to be an impossible task? The big lad still can shut down pretty much any forward in the world on his day, and his offensive contributions via long, loooong passes gives the Dutch a way to bypass opponent pressure in the midfield in order to hit the dangerous attackers in stride. If the Netherlands is going to even come close to breaking its World Cup curse, it'll be in part because van Dijk had a vintage tournament.
Who Is Their Main Attacking Guy?
If I had been writing this blurb at the start of 2026, I would have had a hard time pinpointing one Dutch attacker to hype up. That's not to say that the Netherlands doesn't have a good attack; there just wasn't a standout. That's changed, though, thanks to the debut half-season Donyell Malen had in Italy with Roma. Technically on loan from Aston Villa (the move to Roma was made permanent last month), Malen came to the boot and immediately steamrolled Serie A defenses to the tune of 14 goals in 18 league matches, as Roma finished a respectable third with a return to Champions League soccer in the works for next season. His best match of the second half of the season came in a 3-0 demolition of Pisa, wherein he scored a hat trick in just 49 minutes:
He's added four goals in seven matches (only four starts) for the Netherlands in World Cup qualifying, and it's safe to say he will be, or at least should be, the starting center forward for the Oranje this summer. He also might be pushed out to the right wing, as he was in the final World Cup qualifier; this feels like a waste of his newly discovered goalscoring prowess, but would allow Memphis Depay to feature in the middle. Whether that should happen or not, I'll get to in a later section.
What makes Malen so good? He's quick but not particularly speedy, and he's a good dribbler, not a great one. Really, Malen is just an all-around attacker, lacking only really in height (he's generously listed at 5-foot-9), and his game rises and falls with his ability to put the ball in the back of the net. For most of his career, that ability has peaked at "pretty alright," with his highest goalscoring season before his move to Roma coming in the Eredivisie in 2020-21 (19 league goals with PSV Eindhoven). But Malen, at the age of 27, put all of his broad talents together and refined them into the most dangerous attacking weapon in Serie A, and now he's maybe the most in-form player in the damn world heading into the tournament. Not a bad spot to be in for a country with trophy dreams.
Who Is Most Likely To Break Out?
This would have been Xavi Simons, but the 23-year-old Tottenham winger tore his ACL in a late April match against Wolverhampton. Elsewhere, this is a seasoned Netherlands roster—the only players under the age of 24 are goalies Bart Verbruggen and Robin Roefs—and the most likely candidates for a breakout are either bang average (Sunderland's Brian Brobbey), have never played for the Netherlands before (West Ham's Crysencio Summerville), or have already arguably broken out (Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch). Let's go, then, with Manchester City's Tijjani Reijnders. "But Luis," you say. "How can someone who plays for Manchester City be considered a breakout prospect?" First of all, be quiet, but second of all, pickings are slim and circumstances make it so that this tournament could be a spotlight for the 24-year-old.
Reijnders is a typical Dutch midfielder, which is both a gift—he's fantastic on the ball and also looks to attack from deep—and a bit of a hindrance. His defense is poor, and he needs at least one of his fellow midfielders to provide cover. In Manchester City's system, he's not asked to do much of the defending, but the Dutch midfield for the World Cup has two other more established players who fit similar profiles. Gravenberch will likely draw the role of "defensive" midfielder, as he does at Liverpool, and Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong will be the transitional midfielder. That will leave Reijnders free to do what he does best and play a hybrid 8-10 role, in which he is meant to do a bit of everything in attack: Pass the ball, run with the ball, shoot the ball. These are all things he can do, and given the strength of the Dutch front three, Reijnders ability to support them will be a key part in manager Ronald Koeman's plans.
Who Is Most Likely To Eat Shit?
This era of Dutch international soccer has been much like Memphis Depay's career as a player. It's not quite as efficient and prolific as some of the previous generations, just as Depay is not Arjen Robben or Patrick Kluivert. But it's been, I'd say, broadly successful, even with the qualifying and tournament failures of 2016 through 2021 (the Netherlands missed the 2016 Euro and 2018 World Cup, and crashed out in the round of 16 at the 2021 Euro). Depay, too, has been broadly successful as the tip of the Dutch attacking spear: In 108 caps, he has scored 55 goals, the most in Dutch history. (His per-match ratio of 0.51 goals isn't quite top, but still good for a tie in fourth with Kluivert.) By all measures, Depay has been the best Dutch attacker of his era, and one of the best ever.
So why does it feel like relying on Depay over, say, Malen will be a mistake this summer? Part of that is age; at 32, Depay has lost a lot of what made him special earlier in his career. Part of that is injuries; after starting his career as a near-ironman, Depay has been plagued with various muscle injuries for over half a decade now. The biggest problem, though, is that Depay was never truly able to keep a consistent track record at the club level: Aside from a wildly successful stint in Lyon from 2017 to 2021, moves to Manchester United, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid all disappointed. He now plays in Brazil for Corinthians, and he hasn't exactly been lighting up there.
The one hope for the Dutch when it comes to Depay is that he always steps his game up when he wears that distinctive orange jersey. As long as he can remain healthy, he would be a fantastic super sub or short-duration starter. Unfortunately, he's coming into the tournament having missed two months with a hamstring injury, only deemed healed up in late May. All the more reason for Depay and for Koeman to accept that he is not the star to lead this team. The question is whether they will make the obvious choice.
How Can They Win It All?
The eternal question for the Netherlands is not "How can they win it all?" but instead "In what torturous way will things fall apart?" The comeback-turned-shootout-loss in 2022 is hard to beat, though that was only in the quarter-finals, so I guess there was more pain to extract, like losing to a missed corner kick call and a goal from Andrés Iniesta in the 2010 final. That's just what has always happened to the Netherlands, the best country to never win the World Cup. So, I guess to answer the initial question, the Netherlands can win it all by shedding decades of misery and close calls on the way to the trophy. The side is good enough to win, it has a budding star in Malen and a stout backline, two ingredients needed for a World Cup-winning side. Is it good enough to buck Dutch World Cup tradition? Well, that's why they play the games.
