Ons oranje! Congratulations to the Dutch mens team for qualifying for the European Football Championship (EC) on Saturday. Despite not being able to find the back of the net during the match leading to an unfulfilling-draw, the Dutch have secured their place in the EC.
Even better? Some of the games will be played right here in the Netherlands! We’ve got everything we know so far about the European Championship and how you can get along to a match.
It’s the first EC or World Cup that the Dutch men will compete in since 2014, so the pressure will be on – particularly after the Dutch women’s team blasted all the way to grand final in the FIFA Women’s World Cup earlier this year.
(Did we mention that all-star goalkeeper Sari Van Veenendaal also won best goalie in the world after her Women’s World Cup performance? We’re more than a little proud).
Who will the Dutch face?
The good news: we know that they won’t be playing against football powerhouses like Italy, England, Spain and Germany in the group stage. That’s a relief!
However, we don’t know exactly who they’ll be coming up against until the draw on November 30th in Bucharest. We do know that they’ll be part of Group C.
When and where will the matches be?
The Euros will work a little differently this year because it’s the sixtieth anniversary of the tournament (the Euros are getting some grey hairs!) In honour of the anniversary, the organisers are making twelve countries hosts of matches, instead of just one or two. That’s what we call sharing the love.
Because of that, we know that the Dutch men will grace the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam three times in the group stage – that’s the perfect chance to experience a Dutch football match!
According to the group match schedule, the Netherlands will be playing in Amsterdam on June 14, 18 and 22. Mark those dates in your agenda.
Who else will be in the Euros?
NOS has kindly compiled a breakdown for the hosting countries during the group stage of the 2020 European Championship. Countries in bold have already qualified, the rest need to make it a tad further.
| A | Italy | Azerbaijan |
| B | Russia | Denmark |
| C | The Netherlands | Romania |
| D | England | Scotland |
| E | Spain | Ireland |
| F | Germany | Hungary |
There will be 24 countries competing in the competition, with four slots still to be decided after Saturday when the regular qualifying series is over. After that, the remaining countries will compete for four more remaining tickets in the play-offs.
The sixteen countries that can already start preparing after securing their tickets are the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, England, Finland, France, Italy, Croatia, Ukraine, Austria, Poland, Russia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Sweden.
Will you be watching the European Championships? Who will you be rooting for? Let us know in the comments below!