Netherlands womens national football team May 2014

The Netherlands women's national football team () represents the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in international women's football, and is directed by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues ( Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and w ...

(KNVB), which is a member of

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and

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. In 1971, the team played the first women's international football match recognized by

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. They played at the final tournament of the UEFA Women's Championship four times and were champions in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

as hosts. They qualified for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

three times, reaching the

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of the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

edition of the World Cup, losing 2–0 against the

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. The result of the 2019 World Cup meant that the Netherlands team qualified for

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

where they lost in the quarter-finals. The Netherlands was one of numerous countries where women's football was banned for a long time, and received scepticism afterwards. The team grew in popularity during and after their surprise victory on home soil at the 2017 Euro's. The nicknames for the team are ''Oranje'' (Orange) and ''Leeuwinnen'' (Lionesses). The Dutch women's team logo features a lioness making it different from the men's team logo, which sports a male lion. The team famously plays in bright orange, the historic national colour of the Netherlands. Andries Jonker has been head coach since the conclusion of the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...

History

On 17 April 1971, the Dutch team played the first women's international football match recognized by

against

. The match took place in

Hazebrouck Hazebrouck (, , , ) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France. It was a small market town in Flanders until it became an important railway junction in the 1860s. West Flemish was the usual language until 1880, when French was taught ...

and resulted in a 4–0 defeat for the Netherlands, Jocelyne Ratignier and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring. In 1980s and 1990s, the team failed to qualify for the final tournaments of UEFA's European Championship and later also for the FIFA's World Championship. The

began major investments into women's football in the 2000s, culminating in the establishment of the Women's Eredivisie in 2007 (which was merged with the Belgian league in 2012). This resulted in the team qualifying for a major tournament for the first time at the

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

. They finished in third place, together with

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, behind second placed

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and winners

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(first place). The team again qualified for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

, but did not advance after the group stage. The team qualified for the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

and reached thirteenth place, losing their first match in the knockout stage to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. In 2017, the Netherlands won their first major women's trophy, ending Germany's seemingly unbeatable reign over the UEFA Women's Championship and surprising friend and foe alike by winning the tournament on home soil, beating

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

4–2 in the final. The successful campaign in which oranje managed to win all of their matches highly contributed to the popularity of women's football in the Netherlands. In 2018, the Netherlands finished second in their UEFA Qualifying Group behind Norway. Therefore, they had to go through the UEFA play-off in order to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

were the other teams in the play-off. The Netherlands beat Denmark 4–1 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals and repeated that result against Switzerland over two legs in the play-off final to qualify. In the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

, the Netherlands had another strong performance, reaching the final before losing 2–0 to the

. They qualified for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

thanks to their position at the 2019 World Cup where they finished among the 3 best European teams. The Netherlands passed the 1st round at their first Olympic participation, finishing at the top of their group thanks to 2 large victories (10–3 against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and 8–2 against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) and a draw (3–3 against

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), displaying an attractive offensive game but a certain defensive frailty (8 goals conceded in the group stages). However, their journey ended in the quarter-finals against the

, an opponent who had already played the role of tormentor of the ''Oranje'' in the final of the French World Cup two years earlier, losing in penalty kicks (2–2, 2 pts to 4). The Dutch will have regrets, Lieke Martens having missed a decisive penalty in the 81st minute of the game when the score was tied 2–2. Coach Sarina Wiegman left the team after the Olympics and was replaced by Englishman Mark Parsons. The Netherlands reached

in England with a perfect record of ten victories in

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

. In England, the Netherlands passed the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

thanks to two victories over

and

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. A draw against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

however meant the team had to face

in the quarterfinals. Although they only lost in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, they were thoroughly outplayed and it was decided to part ways with Parsons. Andries Jonker took over coaching responsibilities and was immediately faced with a must-win game against

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to avoid the play-offs for the 2023 World Cup. In a tense game, Esmee Brugts scored the desperately needed goal only in stoppage time and the Netherlands qualified for their third World Cup. At the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

, Netherlands were in

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along with USA, Portugal and Vietnam. It started with a 1–0 win over Portugal, followed this with a 1–1 draw with USA and finished with a 7–0 victory over Vietnam to top the group. In April 2025, the KNVB announced that Arjan Veurink will succeed Jonker as coach after the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 tournament.

Team image

Nicknames

The Netherlands women's national football team is known or nicknamed as both the "''Leeuwinnen''" (Lionesses) and "''Oranje''" (Orange).

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of matches in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled. ;Legend

2024

2025

Players

Current squad

The following 27 players were called up for the UEFA Women's Nations League matches against

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 30 May and 3 June 2025. ''Caps and goals correct as of 3 June 2025, after the match against

.''

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad in the past 12 months. ^INJ ^INJ Withdrew due to injury
^PRE Preliminary squad
^RET Retired from the national team
^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Coaching staff

Technical staff

Head coaches

Coaches' records

: 1. Includes 70 matches main coach (period 2017–2021), 1 match against Belarus – 8:0 as Interim coach (17.09.2015), 15 matches assistant coach (29.11.2015 – first match and 29.11.2016 – last match). Onsoranje.nl includes 8 matches from 15, coached Sarina by main coach instead assistant, Therefore, it turns out 79 (70+1+8). Main coach – 70 matches + 1 match in 2015.

Records

:, after the match against

. :''Players in bold are still active with the Netherlands.''

Most caps

Most goals

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

On 27 November 2014, the Netherlands national football team qualified to the final tournament of the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

for the first time. In

, they reached the

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

and lost to the

team. :*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games

Since the inception of women's Olympic football, UEFA has designated the World Cup as its qualifying tournament for the succeeding Olympic tournament. Because the Netherlands failed to qualify to the World Cup until 2015, the Netherlands women automatically failed to qualify for the Olympics up to 2012. In 2015 Netherlands made it to their first World Cup. Their round of 16 exit was good enough for a post World Cup mini tournament to decide UEFA's last spot at the Olympics. Sweden won that tournament and the Netherlands were eliminated. In 2019 the Netherlands reached the World Cup final and qualified for the Olympics for the first time.

UEFA European Women's Championship

UEFA13 NL 11 Martens Lieke 130711 GER-NL 0-0 215127 3843

The Dutch failed to qualify for the final tournament of the UEFA Women's Championship from 1984 to 2005. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, the Netherlands women's team qualified and reached third place. In

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, they qualified again, but did not advance beyond the group stage. The Dutch women booked a major victory at the 2017 tournament: after a 4–2 victory over Denmark in the

they were the new European champion. Furthermore, Lieke Martens was named the best player of the tournament. In

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

they were knocked out in the quarter final. : * Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks. : ** Missing flag indicates no host country.

UEFA Women's Nations League

: * Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Competitive results

* ''All results list the Netherlands goal tally first.'' * ''Goal scorers are sorted alphabetically.'' * ''Colors gold, silver, and bronze indicate first-, second-, and third-place finishes.'' note:a=Scotland withdrew during the 1989 qualification, their played results were voided.

Head-to-head record

updated till end WC '23

Honours

Major competitions

** Runners-up (1):

* UEFA Women's Championship ** Champions (1):

FIFA world rankings

Notes

References

External links

*
FIFA profile
{{National sports teams of the Netherlands European women's national association football teams UEFA Women's Championship–winning countries