page_title: Netherlands national football team
section_title: Second Golden generations: 1996–2014
hierarchical_section_title: Netherlands national football team / History / Second Golden generations: 1996–2014
caption_attribution_description: English: Teams of the Netherlands and France enter the stadium before the Euro2008 match Holland - France on 13.06.2008 Nederlands: De teams van Nederland en Frankrijk lopen het veld op net voor het begin van de wedstrijd Holland - Frankrijk op 13.06.2008
context_page_description: The Netherlands national football team has represented the Netherlands in international football matches since 1905. It is widely considered one of the best national teams in world football. The national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association, which is a part of UEFA, and under the jurisdiction of FIFA the governing body for football in the Netherlands. Most of the Netherlands' home matches are played at the Johan Cruyff Arena and the Stadion Feijenoord. The team is colloquially referred to as Het Nederlands Elftal or Oranje, after the House of Orange-Nassau and its distinctive orange-based jersey. Like the country itself, the team is sometimes referred to as Holland. The fan club is known as "Het Oranje Legioen".
  The Netherlands has competed in ten FIFA World Cups, appearing in the finals three times. They have also appeared in nine UEFA European Championships, winning the 1988 tournament in West Germany. Additionally, the team won a bronze medal at the Olympic tournament in 1908, 1912 and 1920. The Netherlands has long-standing football rivalries with neighbors Belgium and Germany.
context_section_description: After finishing second in their Euro 1996 group, they played France in the quarter-finals. With the score nil all, the match went to penalties. Clarence Seedorf's shot in the fourth round was stopped by French goalkeeper Bernard Lama, but the goal by Laurent Blanc eliminated the Netherlands. After they finished top of the qualifying group, they were drawn in Group E of the 1998 World Cup. With the Dutch team featuring Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, Phillip Cocu, Edgar Davids, Frank de Boer, Ronald de Boer and Kluivert, they reached the semifinals where they again lost on penalties, this time to Brazil.  Falling behind early in the second half before an 87th-minute goal from Patrick Kluivert gave the Dutch fans hope,  they lost 4–2 on penalties, and then lost the third-place playoff to Croatia. Soon afterwards, manager Guus Hiddink resigned to be replaced by Frank Rijkaard. The Netherlands co-hosted Euro 2000 with Belgium and won all three games in the group stage and then defeated FR Yugoslavia 6–1 in the quarter-finals. In the semifinals, Italian goalkeeper Francesco Toldo made two penalty shootout saves to eliminate the Netherlands. The team failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup after crucial losses to Portugal and the Republic of Ireland, prompting manager Louis van Gaal to resign.
  Dick Advocaat became the national coach for the Netherlands for the second time in January 2002. His first match was a 1–1 draw against England in Rotterdam. The national team finished second place in their qualifying group for the 2004 Euros. Having to play in the playoffs after losing to the Czech Republic, they knocked off Scotland with a 6–0 win in the second leg to qualify for the 2004 tournament. The tournament saw the Dutch make it to the semifinals where they lost to the hosts in Portugal. Heavy criticism of his handling of the national team lead Advocaat to quit.
  The Netherlands qualified for the 2006 World Cup under new manager Marco van Basten. They were eliminated in the second round after losing 1–0 to Portugal. The match produced 16 yellow cards, matching the World Cup record for most cautions in one game set in 2002, and set a new World Cup record of four red cards, two per side; it was nicknamed "the Battle of Nuremberg" by the press. Despite criticism surrounding his selection policy and the lack of attacking football from his team, Van Basten was offered a two-year extension to his contract by the KNVB. This allowed him to serve as national coach during Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. The Netherlands qualified for Euro 2008, where they were drawn in the "Group of Death", together with France, Italy and Romania. They began with a 3–0 win over world champions Italy in Bern, their first victory over the Italians since 1978. They then beat France by 4–1 to qualify for the second round, and went on winning the group on nine points after beating Romania 2–0 with (mainly) their reserve players. However, they then lost in the quarter-finals to Guus Hiddink's Russia 3–1, with Ruud van Nistelrooy scoring an 86th-minute equaliser to force extra time, where the Russians scored twice. Following the tournament, Van Basten resigned having accepted the role at Ajax.
  Under new coach Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch went on to secure a 100% record in their World Cup 2010 qualification campaign to qualify for the World Cup. After they had comfortably qualified with maximum points in Group E and Slovakia in the round of 16, they took on Brazil in the quarter-finals. After trailing 1–0 at half-time, Wesley Sneijder scored two goals in the second half to advance the team to the semis where they defeated Uruguay 3–2. They advanced to their first World Cup final since 1978 but fell to Spain 1–0 after midfielder Andrés Iniesta scored in extra time. From August to September 2011, the team was ranked number one in the FIFA World Rankings, becoming the second national football team, after Spain, to top the rankings without previously winning a World Cup.
  For Euro 2012, the Netherlands were placed in Group B with Germany, Portugal and Denmark, dubbed
caption: Netherlands – France at Euro 2008
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