In July 2017, the Dutch women used home advantage to surprise everybody and win the UEFA Women's Euro's. In the World Cup qualification starting in September 2017 they were one of the group favorites, as they were Norway's supposedly strongest opponents. They won the first qualifier against the Norwegians 1–0. After a 5–0 win in Slovakia, they then gave away their advantage with a goalless home game against Ireland. Despite victories in the other games, a 1–2 defeat in Norway on the final day ensured they only finished second in the group and the Norwegians qualified as group winners directly for the World Cup. As the best runner-up however, the European champions qualified for the playoffs of the four best runners-up. In the semifinal against Denmark the Dutch women were victorious with two wins (2-0 and 2–1). In the playoff final, they met Switzerland. In the first leg, they laid the foundation for the World Cup qualifiers with a 3–0 victory after a scoreless first half. In the second leg, they lost Anouk Dekker in the seventh minute after a red card. Miedema brought the Dutch women in the 52nd in the lead, the Swiss then needed five goals overcome the Dutch. But they managed only one goal and the Dutch qualified for the second time for a World Cup finals.