Netherlands advances to knockout stage of Euros for 1st time since 2008
The Netherlands reached the knockout round of the European Championship for the first time in 13 years after Thursday's comfortable 2-0 win over Austria.
The last time the Dutch advanced from the group stage of a Euro was in 2008, when they lost to Russia in the quarterfinals. The Netherlands went pointless in the group stage of Euro 2012 and failed to qualify for the tournament in 2016.
Memphis Depay converted an early penalty and full-back Denzel Dumfries scored his second goal of the tournament to ensure a first-place finish in Group C.
The result also eliminated North Macedonia - who lost 2-1 to Ukraine earlier Thursday - from knockout-round contention.
| MP | W | D | L | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Ukraine | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Austria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| North Macedonia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
Dumfries won a penalty inside the first 10 minutes when David Alaba clipped his foot on the edge of the 18-yard box. Depay made no mistake, hammering a shot into the bottom-left side of the net.
Austria struggled to create chances without suspended star Marko Arnautovic, recording just a single shot on target. Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt, making his first start in the tournament after recovering from an injury, contributed to the resistance with a last-ditch tackle in the first half.
The Netherlands exposed Austria's high line in the second half. Depay played Donyell Malen in behind the defense with a smart looping pass, and Malen set up Dumfries for the easy tap-in. Dumfries now leads all players in scoring at the Euros.