The Netherlands national football team represents the Netherlands in international football. It is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), the governing body for football in the Netherlands.
The team is colloquially referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal (The Dutch Eleven) and Oranje, after the House of Orange-Nassau. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes (also colloquially) referred to as Holland.
The Dutch hold the record for playing the most World Cup finals without ever winning the tournament. They finished second in the 1974, 1978 and 2010 World Cups, losing to West Germany, Argentina and Spain respectively. They won the UEFA European Championship in 1988.
Netherlands' long-time football rivals are Germany. The rivalry is one of the few long-standing football rivalries at a national level. Beginning in 1974, when the Dutch lost the 1974 FIFA World Cup to West Germany in the final (though deeply rooted in Dutch anti-German sentiment due to the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany during World War II), the rivalry between the two nations has become one of the best-known international football rivalries in the world.
To a minor extent, the Netherlands maintains a rivalry with their other neighbours, Belgium; a Belgian-Dutch (football) duel is referred to as a Low Countries derby. More recently, the Netherlands have also developed a rivalry with Spain.
The team is colloquially referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal (The Dutch Eleven) and Oranje, after the House of Orange-Nassau. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes (also colloquially) referred to as Holland.
The Dutch hold the record for playing the most World Cup finals without ever winning the tournament. They finished second in the 1974, 1978 and 2010 World Cups, losing to West Germany, Argentina and Spain respectively. They won the UEFA European Championship in 1988.
→ Oranje
Netherlands National Football Team
→ Holland
→ Clockwork Orange
→ The Flying Dutchmen
Netherlands' long-time football rivals are Germany. The rivalry is one of the few long-standing football rivalries at a national level. Beginning in 1974, when the Dutch lost the 1974 FIFA World Cup to West Germany in the final (though deeply rooted in Dutch anti-German sentiment due to the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany during World War II), the rivalry between the two nations has become one of the best-known international football rivalries in the world.
To a minor extent, the Netherlands maintains a rivalry with their other neighbours, Belgium; a Belgian-Dutch (football) duel is referred to as a Low Countries derby. More recently, the Netherlands have also developed a rivalry with Spain.