Two months ago, the Netherlands survived a thrilling five-goal battle in Lithuania, overcoming heavy pressure to claim victory. But in Amsterdam, Ronald Koeman’s men showed complete control. The Dutch officially sealed their place in the World Cup yesterday (Monday) with a commanding 4-0 win over Lithuania.
Despite needing just a draw to qualify, the Netherlands stepped onto the pitch with a winning mindset. In the 16th minute, Frenkie de Jong delivered a superb cross into the danger area, which Tijani Reijnders calmly finished to open the scoring.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔—𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒏,” 𝒂 𝑫𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Manchester City’s midfield talent nearly doubled the lead after 30 minutes, but his powerful strike rattled the post.
Netherlands Three Quickfire Goals Seal the Victory
The floodgates opened shortly after halftime, with the Netherlands netting three goals in just four minutes. In the 58th minute, Cody Gakpo converted from the penalty spot after a handball inside the Lithuanian box, extending the lead to 2-0.
Two minutes later, Xavi Simons made it 3-0 with a fierce shot following a clever pass from Gakpo. Almost immediately after, Donyell Malen added the fourth goal, bursting from midfield and finishing a swift counterattack.
“𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉—𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆,” 𝑲𝒐𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒕.
Meanwhile, in the group’s other match, Poland edged Malta 3-2 to confirm their place in the playoffs. The Netherlands top the table with 20 points from eight games, followed by Poland with 17. Finland (10), Malta (5), and Lithuania (3) have all been eliminated from contention.
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