The Netherlands qualified for Knock Out Stage with a win over Qatar
Netherlands booked place in round of 16 of the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Qatar at the Al Bayt Stadium.
The three finalists went into the game knowing that a win over the hosts would guarantee them a place in the round of 16, regardless of the result between Ecuador and Senegal.
But after Senegal beat Ecuador to knock them out, goals from Cody Gakpo and Frenkie de Jong saw the Netherlands finish top of Group A, setting up Saturday’s Group B match.
The Netherlands quickly started to put pressure on the opposition and Daley Blind was the first player to save from Meshaal Barsham from an acute angle.
Oran continued their form in the final third of the pitch, their rapid substitutions confusing the hosts and Memphis Depay was next to fire over the bar after latching on to a rebound.
While the Netherlands dominated, Qatar still had their moments, with several successive corners leading to Abdelkarim Hassan firing over the bar.
This revived the Netherlands though and Gakpo made it a third successive goal with another fantastic strike, the PSV Eindhoven striker collecting a short pass from Davy Klaassen, scoring and firing low into the bottom corner from 16 yards.
Qatar tried to respond immediately, Ismaeel Mohammad escaping Andries Noppert’s low shot, but the rest of the opening period lacked intensity in front of goal.
While Senegal beat Ecuador in the second game, the Netherlands progressed as group winners but kept their focus and quickly doubled their lead after the break.
After Depay’s close-range volley was brilliantly saved by Barsham, De Jong reacted quicker and returned the ball just a yard.
In complete control of the game, Louis van Gaal replaced Klaassn and Depay on the hour mark, with their replacements – Steven Berguis and Vincent Janssen – expected to combine to extend Holland’s lead.
Despite Janssen releasing Berghuis for a light touch, Gakpo’s handball in the build-up led to the correct VAR intervention.
While there was drama in the second leg, it ended with an inevitable finish, much to the delight of the Netherlands as they tried to keep the energy level high.
Berghuis’ chance was wasted six minutes into stoppage time when the player saw a fine shot from the edge of the box hit the post and Barsham was well beaten.
However, it was only a minor disappointment in the grand scheme of things as his country faced England, Iran, USA or Wales in the first round of the last 16 at the weekend.
Lineups:
Netherlands Replacements: Pasveer, de Ligt, de Vrij, Bergwijn, Luuk de Jong, Berghuis, Lang, Bijlow, Malacia, Janssen, Weghorst, Koopmeiners, Taylor, Simons, Frimpong.
Qatar Replacements: Al-Sheeb, Waad, Salman, Alaaeldin, Assadalla, Muntari, Boudiaf, Khoder, Al-Rawi, Muneer, Al-Hajri, Yousef Hassan, Al-Hadhrami, Gaber, Mashaal.
Scorers:
Scorers:
26′ Cody Gakpoicon
49′ Frenkie de Jong
Yellow Cards:
Nathan Ake
