Have Netherlands qualified for World Cup 2026? Latest Oranje results, past record at FIFA soccer tournament originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Netherlands conclude their Group G campaign in UEFA’s World Cup qualifying section this month.
The Oranje were unbeaten through six matches, winning five and drawing at home to closest challengers Poland.
An aggregate of 12-0 in their two matches against Malta have given Ronald Koeman’s team a handsome goal difference advantage that should make automatic qualification straightforward for the three-time finalists.
The Sporting News examines the state of play of the Netherlands’ qualification hopes.
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As of matchday 10 of the UEFA qualifying section, the Netherlands have not yet secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup. But they are as good as there
They sit top of Group G, three points ahead of Poland following a 1-1 draw in Warsaw on November 14. However, a +13 goal-difference advantage over their nearest challengers and a concluding home game against bottom-of-the-table Lithuania means anything other than automatic qualification as group winners is all-but impossible.
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The Netherlands have one game left in Group G:
The Netherlands have finished as runners-up at the World Cup in 1974, 1978 and 2010. No team has ever lost so many finals without winning one. They were also beaten semifinalists in 1998 and 2014.
Overall, the Oranje have featured at 11 World Cups and reached the quarterfinals at Qatar 2022, having failed to qualify four years earlier.
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Should they qualify, the Netherlands’ schedule at the 2026 will not be known until the World Cup draw, when the six groups are decided and pathways to the final become clearer.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place in Washington, D.C. on Friday, December 5.
The ceremony is due to start at 12 p.m. local time (ET).