"The intellectualisation
of football has
always foundered
on a simple problem-
-the players. Doing
all your most
rewarding thinking
with your feet seems
to dull the philo-
sophical impulse.
Unless, of course,
you are Dutch.
According to legend,
Europeans played
a moronic, muscular
version of the world's
game, until Holland
proclaimed its vision
of total football in the
1974 World Cup,
and enlightenment
dawned."

From:
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football

The Netherlands at European Championships

1960 France	1964 Spain	1968 Italy	1972 Belgium
1976 Yugoslavia	1980 Italy	1984 France	1988 West Germany
1992 Sweden	1996 England	2000 Belgium & Netherlands	2004 Portugal
2008 Austria & Switzerland	2012 Poland

The Netherlands' record at European Championships

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Goals +	Goals -	Points
32	17	8	7	55	32	59

The Netherlands are ranked second in the all time table of the European Championships. They have won it once, in 1988.

1960 - France

The Netherlands did not enter the qualifications

1964 - Spain

Qualifications
11-11-1962	Netherlands	-	Switzerland	1-3
31-03-1963	Switzerland	-	Netherlands	1-1

11-09-1963	Luxemburg	-	Netherlands	1-1
30-10-1963	Netherlands	-	Luxemburg	1-2
Not qualified

1968 - Italy

Qualifications
07-09-1966	Netherlands	-	Hungary	2 - 2
21-09-1966	Hungary	-	Denmark	6 - 0
30-11-1966	Netherlands	-	Denmark	2 - 0
05-04-1967	East-Germany	-	Netherlands	4 - 3
10-05-1967	Hungary	-	Netherlands	2 - 1
24-05-1967	Denmark	-	Hungary	0 - 2
04-06-1967	Denmark	-	East-Germany	1 - 1
13-09-1967	Netherlands	-	East-Germany	1 - 0
27-09-1967	Hungary	-	East-Germany	3 - 1
04-10-1967	Denmark	-	Netherlands	3 - 2
11-10-1967	East-Germany	-	Denmark	3 - 2
29-10-1967	East-Germany	-	Hungary	1 - 0

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Hungary	6	4	1	1	15	5	9
2	East-Germany	6	3	1	2	10	10	7
3	Netherlands	6	2	1	3	11	11	5
4	Denmark	6	1	1	4	6	16	3
Not qualified

1972 - Belgium

Qualifications
11-10-1970	Netherlands	-	Yugoslavia	1 - 1
14-10-1970	Luxemburg	-	Yugoslavia	0 - 2
11-11-1970	East-Germany	-	Netherlands	1 - 0
15-11-1970	Luxemburg	-	East-Germany	0 - 5
24-02-1971	Netherlands	-	Luxemburg	6 - 0
04-04-1971	Yugoslavia	-	Netherlands	2 - 0
24-04-1971	East-Germany	-	Luxemburg	2 - 1
09-05-1971	East-Germany	-	Yugoslavia	1 - 2
10-10-1971	Netherlands	-	East-Germany	3 - 2
16-10-1971	Yugoslavia	-	East-Germany	0 - 0
27-10-1971	Yugoslavia	-	Luxemburg	0 - 0
17-11-1971	Luxemburg	-	Netherlands	0 - 8

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Yugoslavia	6	3	3	0	7	2	9
2	Netherlands	6	3	1	2	18	6	7
3	East-Germany	6	3	1	2	11	6	7
4	Luxemburg	6	0	1	5	1	23	1
Not qualified

1976 - Yugoslavia

Qualifications
01-09-1974	Finland	-	Poland	1 - 2
25-09-1974	Finland	-	Netherlands	1 - 3
09-10-1974	Poland	-	Finland	3 - 0
20-11-1974	Netherlands	-	Italy	3 - 1
19-04-1975	Italy	-	Poland	0 - 0
05-06-1975	Finland	-	Italy	0 - 1
03-09-1975	Netherlands	-	Finland	4 - 1
10-09-1975	Poland	-	Netherlands	4 - 1
27-09-1975	Italy	-	Finland	0 - 0
15-10-1975	Netherlands	-	Poland	3 - 0
26-10-1975	Poland	-	Italy	0 - 0
22-11-1975	Italy	-	Netherlands	1 - 0

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	6	4	0	2	14	8	8
2	Poland	6	3	2	1	9	5	8
3	Italy	6	2	3	1	3	3	7
4	Finland	6	0	1	5	3	13	1

Round 2
25-04-1976	Netherlands	-	Belgium	5-0	1-0 Rijsbergen (17') 2-0 Rensenbrink (28') 3-0 Rensenbrink (58') 4-0 Neeskens (80'-p) 5-0 Rensenbrink (86')
22-05-1976	Belgium	-	Netherlands	1-2	1-0 van Gool (28') 1-1 Rep (64') 1-2 Cruyff (79')
Qualified

Finals
SF
16-06-1976	Netherlands	-	Czechoslovakia	1-3	1-0 Ondrus (20') 1-1 Ondrus (og) (77 2-1 Nehoda (114') 3-1 Vesely (119')
LF
19-06-1976	Netherlands	-	Yugoslavia	3-2	1-0 Geels (27') 2-0 van de Kerkhof (39') 2-1 Katalinski (43') 2-2 Džajic (82') 3-2 Geels (107')
The Netherlands finish 3rd, behind Czechoslovakia and West-Germany

1980 - Italy

Qualifications
06-09-1978	Iceland	-	Poland	0 - 2
20-09-1978	Netherlands	-	Iceland	3 - 0
04-10-1978	East-Germany	-	Iceland	3 - 1
11-10-1978	Switzerland	-	Netherlands	1 - 3
15-11-1978	Netherlands	-	East-Germany	3 - 0
15-11-1978	Poland	-	Switzerland	2 - 0
28-03-1979	Netherlands	-	Switzerland	3 - 0
18-04-1979	East-Germany	-	Poland	2 - 1
02-05-1979	Poland	-	Netherlands	2 - 0
05-05-1979	Switzerland	-	East-Germany	0 - 2
22-05-1979	Switzerland	-	Iceland	2 - 0
09-06-1979	Iceland	-	Switzerland	1 - 2
05-09-1979	Iceland	-	Netherlands	0 - 4
12-09-1979	Iceland	-	East-Germany	0 - 3
12-09-1979	Switzerland	-	Poland	0 - 2
26-09-1979	Poland	-	East-Germany	1 - 1
10-10-1979	Poland	-	Iceland	2 - 0
13-10-1979	East-Germany	-	Switzerland	5 - 2
17-10-1979	Netherlands	-	Poland	1 - 1
21-11-1979	East-Germany	-	Netherlands	2 - 3

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	8	6	1	1	20	6	13
2	Poland	8	5	2	1	13	4	12
3	East-Germany	8	5	1	2	18	11	11
4	Switzerland	8	2	0	6	7	18	4
5	Iceland	8	0	0	8	2	21	0
Qualified

Finals
11-06-1980	Netherlands	-	Greece	1 - 0	1-0 Kist 65' (pen.)
14-06-1980	Netherlands	-	West Germany	2 - 3	1-0 Allofs 20' 2-0 Allofs 60' 3-0 Allofs 65' 3-1 Rep 79' (pen.) 3-2 Van de Kerkhof 85'
17-06-1980	Netherlands	-	Chechoslovakia	1 - 1	1-0 Nehoda 16' 1-1 Kist 59'

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	West Germany	3	2	1	0	4	2	5
2	Czechoslovakia	3	1	1	1	4	3	3
3	Netherlands	3	1	1	1	4	4	3
4	Greece	3	0	1	2	1	4	1
The Netherlands are out

1984 - France

Qualifications
05-06-1982	Malta	-	Iceland	2 - 1
01-09-1982	Iceland	-	Netherlands	1 - 1
22-09-1982	Netherlands	-	Ireland	2 - 1
13-10-1982	Ireland	-	Iceland	2 - 0
27-10-1982	Spain	-	Iceland	1 - 0
17-11-1982	Ireland	-	Spain	3 - 3
19-12-1982	Malta	-	Netherlands	0 - 6
16-02-1983	Spain	-	Netherlands	1 - 0
30-03-1983	Malta	-	Ireland	0 - 1
27-04-1983	Spain	-	Ireland	2 - 0
15-05-1983	Malta	-	Spain	2 - 3
29-05-1983	Iceland	-	Spain	0 - 1
05-06-1983	Iceland	-	Malta	1 - 0
07-09-1983	Netherlands	-	Iceland	3 - 0
21-09-1983	Iceland	-	Ireland	0 - 3
12-10-1983	Ireland	-	Netherlands	2 - 3
16-11-1983	Netherlands	-	Spain	2 - 1
16-11-1983	Ireland	-	Malta	8 - 0
17-12-1983	Netherlands	-	Malta	5 - 0
21-12-1983	Spain	-	Malta	12 - 1

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Spain	8	6	1	1	24	8	13
2	Netherlands	8	6	1	1	22	6	13
3	Ireland	8	4	1	3	20	10	9
4	Iceland	8	1	1	6	3	13	3
5	Malta	8	1	0	7	5	37	2
Not qualified

1988 - West-Germany

Qualifications
15-10-1986	Hungary	-	Netherlands	0 - 1
15-10-1986	Poland	-	Greece	2 - 1
12-11-1986	Greece	-	Hungary	2 - 1
19-11-1986	Netherlands	-	Poland	0 - 0
03-12-1986	Cyprus	-	Greece	2 - 4
21-12-1986	Cyprus	-	Netherlands	0 - 2
14-01-1987	Greece	-	Cyprus	3 - 1
08-02-1987	Cyprus	-	Hungary	0 - 1
25-03-1987	Netherlands	-	Greece	1 - 1
12-04-1987	Poland	-	Cyprus	0 - 0
29-04-1987	Greece	-	Poland	1 - 0
29-04-1987	Netherlands	-	Hungary	2 - 0
17-05-1987	Hungary	-	Poland	5 - 3
23-09-1987	Poland	-	Hungary	3 - 2
14-10-1987	Hungary	-	Greece	3 - 0
14-10-1987	Poland	-	Netherlands	0 - 2
11-11-1987	Cyprus	-	Poland	0 - 1
02-12-1987	Hungary	-	Cyprus	1 - 0
09-12-1987	Netherlands	-	Cyprus	4 - 0
16-12-1987	Greece	-	Netherlands	0 - 3

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	8	6	2	0	15	1	14
2	Greece	8	4	1	3	12	13	9
3	Hungary	8	4	0	4	13	11	8
4	Poland	8	3	2	3	9	11	8
5	Cyprus	8	0	1	7	3	16	1
Qualified

Finals
12-06-1988	Sowiet Union	-	Netherlands	1-0	1-0 Rats 52'
15-06-1988	Netherlands	-	England	3-1	1-0 Van Basten 44' 1-1 Robson 53' 2-1 Van Basten 71' 3-1 Van Basten 75'
18-06-1988	Netherlands	-	Ireland	1-0	1-0 Kieft 82'

Group Standings		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	USSR	3	2	1	0	5	2	5
2	Netherlands	3	2	0	1	4	2	4
3	Republic of Ireland	3	1	1	1	2	2	3
4	England	3	0	0	3	2	7	0
The Netherlands progress to the semi-finals

SF
21-06-1988	Netherlands	-	West-Germany	2-1	1-0 Matthäus 55' (pen) 1-1 R. Koeman 74' (pen) 2-1 Van Basten 88'
Final
18-06-1988	Netherlands	-	Sowiet Union	2-0	1-0 Gullit 32' 2-0 Van Basten 54'
The Netherlands are European Champions!

1992 - Sweden

Qualifications
12-09-1990	Finland	-	Portugal	0 - 0
17-10-1990	Portugal	-	Netherlands	1 - 0
31-10-1990	Greece	-	Malta	4 - 0
21-11-1990	Netherlands	-	Greece	2 - 0
25-11-1990	Malta	-	Finland	1 - 1
19-12-1990	Malta	-	Netherlands	0 - 8
23-01-1991	Greece	-	Portugal	3 - 2
09-02-1991	Malta	-	Portugal	0 - 1
20-02-1991	Portugal	-	Malta	5 - 0
13-03-1991	Netherlands	-	Malta	1 - 0
17-04-1991	Netherlands	-	Finland	2 - 0
16-05-1991	Finland	-	Malta	2 - 0
05-06-1991	Finland	-	Netherlands	1 - 1
11-09-1991	Portugal	-	Finland	1 - 0
09-10-1991	Finland	-	Greece	1 - 1
16-10-1991	Netherlands	-	Portugal	1 - 0
30-10-1991	Greece	-	Finland	2 - 0
21-11-1991	Portugal	-	Greece	1 - 0
04-12-1991	Greece	-	Netherlands	0 - 2
22-12-1991	Malta	-	Greece	1 - 1

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	8	6	1	1	17	2	13
2	Portugal	8	5	1	2	11	4	11
3	Greece	8	3	2	3	11	9	8
4	Finland	8	1	4	3	5	8	6
5	Malta	8	0	2	6	2	23	2
Qualified

Finals
12-06-1992	Netherlands	-	Scotland	1-0	1-0 Bergkamp 75'
15-06-1992	CIS	-	Netherlands	0-0
18-06-1992	Netherlands	-	Germany	3-1	1-0 Rijkaard 3' 2-0 Witschge 14' 2-1 Klinsmann 53' 3-1 Bergkamp 72'

Group standings		G	W	D	L	G+	G-	P
1	Netherlands	3	2	1	0	4	1	5
2	Germany	3	1	1	1	4	4	3
3	Scotland	3	1	0	2	3	3	2
4	CIS	3	0	2	1	1	4	2

SF
22-06-1992	Denmark	-	Netherlands	2-2	1-0 Larsen 5' 1-1 Bergkamp 23' 2-1 Larsen 33' 2-2 Rijkaard 86'
Penalties	R. Koeman Van Basten Bergkamp Rijkaard R. Witschge		Larsen Povlsen Elstrup Vilfort Christofte	4-5	VIDEO
Denmark progressed to the final in which they beat Germany 2-0

1996 - England

Qualifications
06-09-1994	Czech Republic	-	Malta	6 - 1
07-09-1994	Luxemburg	-	Netherlands	0 - 4
07-09-1994	Norway	-	Belarus	1 - 0
12-10-1994	Belarus	-	Luxemburg	2 - 0
12-10-1994	Malta	-	Czech Republic	0 - 0
12-10-1994	Norway	-	Netherlands	1 - 1
16-11-1994	Belarus	-	Norway	0 - 4
16-11-1994	Netherlands	-	Czech Republic	0 - 0
14-12-1994	Netherlands	-	Luxemburg	5 - 0
14-12-1994	Malta	-	Norway	0 - 1
22-02-1995	Malta	-	Luxemburg	0 - 1
29-03-1995	Czech Republic	-	Belarus	4 - 2
29-03-1995	Netherlands	-	Malta	4 - 0
29-03-1995	Luxemburg	-	Norway	0 - 2
26-04-1995	Belarus	-	Malta	1 - 1
26-04-1995	Czech Republic	-	Netherlands	3 - 1
26-04-1995	Norway	-	Luxemburg	5 - 0
07-06-1995	Belarus	-	Netherlands	1 - 0
07-06-1995	Luxemburg	-	Czech Republic	1 - 0
07-06-1995	Norway	-	Malta	2 - 0
16-08-1995	Norway	-	Czech Republic	1 - 1
06-09-1995	Czech Republic	-	Norway	2 - 0
06-09-1995	Netherlands	-	Belarus	1 - 0
06-09-1995	Luxemburg	-	Malta	1 - 0
07-10-1995	Belarus	-	Czech Republic	0 - 2
11-10-1995	Luxemburg	-	Belarus	0 - 0
11-10-1995	Malta	-	Netherlands	0 - 4
12-11-1995	Malta	-	Belarus	0 - 2
15-11-1995	Czech Republic	-	Luxemburg	3 - 0
15-11-1995	Netherlands	-	Norway	3 - 0

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Czech Republic	10	6	3	1	21	6	21
2	Netherlands	10	6	2	2	23	5	20
3	Norway	10	6	2	2	17	7	20
4	Belarus	10	3	2	5	8	13	11
5	Luxemburg	10	3	1	6	3	21	10
6	Malta	10	0	2	8	2	22	2
As The Netherlands came second they have to play a decider against Ireland

Play-off
13-12-1995	Netherlands	-	Ireland	2-0	Pl. in Liverpool, England
Qualified

Finals
10-06-1996	Netherlands	-	Scotland	0-0
13-06-1996	Netherlands	-	Switzerland	2-0	1-0 Cruyff 66' 2-0 Bergkamp 79'
18-06-1996	England	-	Netherlands	4-1	1-0 Shearer 23' (pen.) 2-0 Sheringham 51' 3-0 Shearer 57' 4-0 Sheringham 62' 4-1 Kluivert 78'

Group standings		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	England	3	2	1	0	7	2	7
2	Netherlands	3	1	1	1	3	4	4
3	Scotland	3	1	1	1	1	2	4
4	Switzerland	3	0	1	2	1	4	1

QF
22-06-1996	France	-	Netherlands	0-0
Penalties	Zidane Djorkaeff Lizarazu Guérin Blanc		De Kock R. de Boer Kluivert Seedorf Blind	5-4

2000 - Belgium & The Netherlands

Qualifications

As Holland are organizers of the tournament they were automatically qualified

Finals
11-06-2000	Netherlands	-	Czech Republic	1-0	1-0 F. de Boer 89' (pen)
16-06-2000	Netherlands	-	Denmark	3-0	1-0 Kluivert 57' 1-0 R. de Boer 66' 1-0 Zenden 77'
21-06-2000	Netherlands	-	France	3-2	0-1 Dugarry 8' 1-1 Kluivert 14' 1-2 Trezeguet 31' 2-2 F. de Boer 51' 3-2 Zenden 59'

Group standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	7	2	9
2	France	3	2	0	1	7	4	6
3	Czech Republic	3	1	0	2	3	3	3
4	Denmark	3	0	0	3	2	8	0

QF
25-06-2000	Netherlands	-	Yugoslavia	6-1	1-0 Kluivert 24' 2-0 Kluivert 38' 3-0 Govedarica 51' (o.g.) 4 -0 Kluivert 54' 5-0 Overmars 78' 6-0 Overmars 90' 6-1 Miloševic 90+1'
SF
29-06-2000	Italy	-	Netherlands	0-0
Penalties	Di Biagio Pessotto Totti Maldini		F. de Boer Stam Kluivert Bosvelt	3-1

2004 - Portugal

Qualifications
07-09-2002	Austria	-	Moldova	2 - 0
07-09-2002	Netherlands	-	Belarus	3 - 0
12-10-2002	Belarus	-	Austria	0 - 2
12-10-2002	Moldova	-	Czech Republic	0 - 2
16-10-2002	Austria	-	Netherlands	0 - 3
16-10-2002	Czech Republic	-	Belarus	2 - 0
29-03-2003	Belarus	-	Moldova	2 - 1
29-03-2003	Netherlands	-	Czech Republic	1 - 1
02-04-2003	Czech Republic	-	Austria	4 - 0
02-04-2003	Moldova	-	Netherlands	1 - 2
07-06-2003	Belarus	-	Netherlands	0 - 2
07-06-2003	Moldova	-	Austria	1 - 0
11-06-2003	Austria	-	Belarus	5 - 0
11-06-2003	Czech Republic	-	Moldova	5 - 0
06-09-2003	Belarus	-	Czech Republic	1 - 3
06-09-2003	Netherlands	-	Austria	3 - 1
10-09-2003	Czech Republic	-	Netherlands	3 - 1
10-09-2003	Moldova	-	Belarus	2 - 1
11-10-2003	Austria	-	Czech Republic	2 - 3
11-10-2003	Netherlands	-	Moldova	5 - 0

Final standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Czech Republic	8	7	1	0	23	5	22
2	Netherlands	8	6	1	1	20	6	19
3	Austria	8	3	0	5	12	14	9
4	Moldova	8	2	0	6	5	19	6
5	Belarus	8	1	0	7	4	20	3

Finals
Group stages
15-06-2004	Netherlands	-	Germany	1-1	0-1 Frings 30' 1-1 Van Nistelrooij 81'
19-06-2004	Czech Republic	-	Netherlands	3 - 2	0-1 Bouma 4' 0-2 Van Nistelrooij 19' 1-2 Koller 23' 2-2 Baroš 71' 3-2 Šmicer 88'
23-06-2004	Netherlands	-	Latvia	3-0	1-0 Van Nistelrooij 27' 2-0 Van Nistelrooij 35' (pen.) 3-0 Makaay 84'

Group standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-A	Pts
1	Czech Republic	3	3	0	0	7	4	9
2	Netherlands	3	1	1	1	6	4	4
3	Germany	3	0	2	1	2	3	2
4	Latvia	3	0	1	2	1	5	1

QF
26-06-2004	Netherlands	-	Sweden	0-0
Penalties	Källström Larsson Ibrahimovic Ljungberg Wilhelmsson Mellberg		Van Nistelrooy Heitinga Reiziger Cocu Makaay Robben	4 – 5

SF
30-06-2004	Portugal	-	Netherlands	2-1	1-0 Ronaldo 26' 2-0 Maniche 58' 2-1 Andrade 63' (og)
Portugal lost the final 1-0 to Greece (goal Charisteas)

2008 - Austria/Switzerland

Group stages
09-06-2008	Netherlands	-	Italy	3-0	1-0 Van Nistelrooy 26' 2-0 Sneijder 31' 3-0 Van Bronckhorst 79'
13-06-2008	Netherlands	-	France	4-1	1-0 Dirk kuyt 9' 2-0 Robin van Persie 59' 2-1 Thierry Henry 71' 3-1 Arjen Robben 72' 4-1 Wesley Sneijder 90'+2
17-06-2008	Netherlands	-	Romania	2-0	1-0 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 54' 2-0 Robin van Persie 87'

Group standings		Pl.	W	D	L	G+	G-	Pts
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	9	1	9
2	Italy	3	1	1	1	3	4	4
3	Romania	3	0	2	1	1	3	2
4	France	3	0	1	2	1	6	1

QF
21-06-2008	Netherlands	-	Russia	1-3 (e.t.)	1-0 Pavluchenko, 56' 1-1 Ruud van Nistelrooy, 86' 2-1 Torbinsky, e.t. 22' 3-1 Arshavin, e.t. 26'
Russia went out in the quarterfinals, losing 3-0 to Spain, who went on to win the tournament beating Germany in the final: 1-0