The Netherlands: Dangerous Outsiders with a Strong Squad

The Netherlands arrive as they so often do: feared, respected, and still somehow filed under “outsiders”. Not quite among the absolute favourites, but lurking in that dangerous band of dark horses nobody wants to meet once the stakes rise and the margins shrink.

This time, the path begins in a group that offers no comfort. Japan, Sweden, Tunisia. No soft landings there. Yet the Oranje still carry the weight of expectation, because when you can send out Virgil van Dijk to marshal the back line, Frenkie de Jong to dictate the middle, and Memphis Depay with Cody Gakpo to finish the job, you are expected to come through fire and still look composed.

The squad, though, is not untouched by setbacks. Xavi Simons, Jurrien Timber and Matthijs de Ligt have all been ruled out before a ball is kicked, major absentees in every sense. Jeremie Frimpong and highly rated midfielder Kees Smit did not make the final cut either, decisions that raised eyebrows in a country where selection debates are practically a national sport. Then came the warm-up games: a shock defeat to Algeria, followed by a laboured, narrow win over Uzbekistan. Those were not the kind of dress rehearsals that calm a restless football nation.

At the centre of it all stands Ronald Koeman, back for a second act that still divides opinion. He first took charge in 2018, steadying a drifting giant after Dick Advocaat’s departure. Under Koeman, the Netherlands surged to the 2019 UEFA Nations League final and booked their place at Euro 2020, only for Barcelona to call and tempt him away.

Two-and-a-half years later, in 2023, he returned to the Oranje bench, inheriting the side from Louis van Gaal. Since then, he has led the team to two more semi-finals – in the 2023 Nations League and at Euro 2024 – restoring a level of consistency on the big stage that had been missing. Yet the arguments continue. Koeman has been applauded for blooding a new generation, but criticised for a style that often feels more pragmatic than poetic, a step away from the attacking ideals of Rinus Michels and Johan Cruyff that still define the Dutch football identity.

Those ideals now rest on slightly different shoulders. Memphis Depay, no longer in Europe and likely heading into his final major tournament with the national team, remains the standout figure. He is already the all-time leading scorer in Dutch history, outstripping Robin van Persie, Dennis Bergkamp, Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy with 55 international goals. That list alone underlines the scale of his achievement.

Koeman needs him more than ever. Dutch football does not currently boast a traditional, world-class No. 9, so the burden falls again on Depay. The Corinthians forward drove the qualifying campaign and maintains a strike rate of almost a goal every two games for his country. The caveat is clear, though: only six of those goals have come at major tournaments. For all his numbers, the lingering question is whether he can turn volume into defining moments when the pressure is suffocating and the margins microscopic.

One man who could help change that narrative is Brian Brobbey. A product of Ajax’s famed academy, he left for RB Leipzig and quickly found himself tagged a flop in Germany, a harsh judgement on a young striker still learning his trade. That chapter felt like a dead end.

It wasn’t. Brobbey has rebuilt himself in England with Sunderland, where at 24 he has become a central figure in a side that has stunned the Premier League by qualifying for next season’s Europa League. Seven goals in 31 league appearances might not leap off the page, but context matters: his physical presence, relentless running and ability to occupy entire defences played a crucial role in Sunderland’s surge.

They call him ‘Brobbeast’ for a reason. He is powerful, yes, but there is more to him than brute force. He runs the channels, leads the line alone when needed, and has rediscovered that decisive edge in front of goal. Once lazily dubbed “the new Romelu Lukaku”, he has moved beyond the comparisons. Young players now look up to Brobbey as a reference point in his own right.

For Koeman and the Netherlands, that evolution could be timely. In a tournament where they are cast as dangerous outsiders, a resurgent Depay and an emerging Brobbey offer a blend of experience and raw threat that no defence will relish. If those two catch fire, the Oranje might not stay in the shadows for long.