History of confrontation between Netherlands and France: The Roosters are at a disadvantage in EURO

France have met the Netherlands 30 times in the past. France have had the upper hand, winning 16, drawing 3 and losing 11 against the Netherlands. In recent times, they have been superior. In the past decade, France have won 7/8 times against the Netherlands. Les Bleus' only defeat against the Netherlands during that time was on November 16, 2018 in the Nations League.

If counting the last 5 encounters, France has won 4/5 matches against the Netherlands. They scored 12 goals and only conceded 4 goals, including two 4-0 and 2-1 wins in the EURO 2024 qualifiers. However, if counting the EURO finals, the Netherlands has superior statistics compared to France with 2 wins and 1 draw in 3 encounters.

EURO 1996 was the first time France faced the Netherlands at a European Championship. In the quarter-final match that day, the two teams drew 0-0 after 120 minutes of play. In the fateful penalty shootout, Seedorf was the only one to miss, causing the Netherlands to lose 4-5, while the one who took the decisive kick for France was Laurent Blanc. Four years later, they met again in the EURO group stage, and France lost 2-3 after a dramatic score chase. But then, France won the championship, while the Netherlands stopped in the semi-finals. In 2008, France was defeated 1-4 by the Netherlands. As a result, France finished bottom of the group stage, while the Netherlands reached the quarter-finals (losing 1-3 to Russia).

At EURO 2024, both France and the Netherlands started with only one-goal wins. While the Netherlands had to come from behind to beat Poland 2-1 thanks to a goal from hero Wout Weghorst, France only managed to win 1-0 against Austria thanks to an own goal from centre-back Wober. Despite the cross that led to that own goal, star Mbappe played poorly, missing several other chances, and at the end of the match, he broke his nose after a collision with an opponent.

Overall, history favors the French in this encounter, but the Netherlands are a strong enough team to make Les Bleus pay for any complacency. The winner of this match will not only have an early ticket to the next round but also have a good chance of finishing the group stage on top.