Netherlands national football team records and statistics

This page details Netherlands men's national football team records; the most capped players, the players with the most goals, Netherlands' match record by opponent and decade.

Honours

Major tournaments

 

The bronze medalists of the 1912 Summer Olympics

• FIFA World Cup:
  • Runners-up (3): 1974, 1978, 2010
  • Third place (1): 2014
  • Fourth place (1): 1998
• UEFA European Championship:
  • Winners (1): 1988
  • Third place (1): 1976
  • Semi-finals (3): 1992, 2000, 2004
• UEFA Nations League:
  • Runners-up (1): 2019
  • Fourth place (1): 2023
• Olympic football tournament:

• Bronze medal/Third place (3): 1908, 1912, 1920
• Fourth place (1): 1924

Friendly tournaments

• Olympic Football Consolation Tournament
  • Winners: 1928
• Tournoi de Paris
  • Winners: 1978
• 75th Anniversary FIFA Cup
  • Runners-up: 1979
• World Champions' Gold Cup
  • Fourth Place: 1980
• Copa Confraternidad
  • Runners-up: 2011

Individual records

Player records

  Still active players are highlighted

Most-capped players

Sherida Spitse is the most capped player in the history of Netherlands with 229 appearances.

 

Wesley Sneijder is the most capped player in the history of Netherlands with 134 appearances.

Rank	Player	National career	Matches	Goals	Minutes	Total career
1	Wesley Sneijder	2003–2018	134	31	9,811	2002–2019
2	Edwin van der Sar	1995–2008	130	0	11,463	1990–2011
3	Frank de Boer	1990–2004	112	13	9,271	1988–2005
4	Rafael van der Vaart	2001–2013	109	25	6,938	2000–2018
5	Daley Blind	2013–	106	3	8,944	2008–
6	Giovanni van Bronckhorst	1996–2010	106	6	8,215	1993–2010
7	Dirk Kuyt	2004–2014	104	24	6,875	1998–2017
8	Robin van Persie	2005–2017	102	50	7,317	2001–2019
9	Phillip Cocu	1996–2006	101	10	8,001	1988–2006
10	Arjen Robben	2003–2017	96	37	7,394	2000–2021

Last updated: 02 April 2024
Source:http://www.voetbalstats.nl/caps.php voetbalstats.nl] (in Dutch)

Past Most-capped record holders

Feyenoord legend Puck van Heel has held the record the longest for 42 years.

 

Puck van Heel (in front) has held the cap record for the longest time, 42 years.

Rank	Player	Period record held	Caps record established	Date record established	National career	Matches	Goals
1	Ben Stom	1907–1909	5	01-04-1907	1905–1908	9	0
2	Reinier Beeuwkes	1909–1911	13	12-04-1909	1905–1910	19	0
3	Bok de Korver	1911–1925	20	02-04-1911	1905–1913	31	2
4	Harry Dénis	1925–1937	32	25-10-1925	1919–1930	56	0
5	Puck van Heel	1937–1979	57	02-05-1937	1925–1938	64	0
6	Ruud Krol	1979–2000	65	22-05-1979	1969–1983	83	4
7	Aron Winter	2000–2000	84	29-06-2000	1987–2000	84	6
8	Frank de Boer	2000–2006	85	25-11-2000	1990–2004	112	13
9	Edwin van der Sar	2006–2017	113	25-06-2006	1995–2008	130	0
10	Wesley Sneijder	2017-	131	09-06-2017	2003–2018	134	31

Last updated: 1 April 2024
Source: [1] (in Dutch)

Top goalscorers

Vivianne Miedema is the top scorer in the history of Netherlands with 95 goals in 118 appearances

 

Striker Robin van Persie is the top scorer in the history of Netherlands with 50 goals.

Rank	Player	National career	Goals	Matches	Average	Minutes	Total career
1	Robin van Persie	2005–2017	50	102	0.49	7,317	2001–2019
2	Memphis Depay	2013–	44	90	0.49	6,729	2013–
3	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar	2006–2015	42	76	0.55	4,399	2002–2021
4	Patrick Kluivert	1994–2004	40	79	0.51	5,816	1994–2008
5	Dennis Bergkamp	1990–2000	37	79	0.47	6,339	1986–2006
	Arjen Robben	2003–2017		96	0.39	7,394	2000–2021
7	Faas Wilkes	1946–1961	35	38	0.92	3,450	1940–1964
	Ruud van Nistelrooy	1998–2011		70	0.50	4,543	1993–2012
9	Abe Lenstra	1940–1959	33	47	0.70	4,260	1935–1963
	Johan Cruyff	1966–1977		48	0.69	4,282	1964–1984

Last updated: 2 April 2024
Source: voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch)

Record holding top goalscorers

Eddy de Neve is the Netherlands first topscorer with 3 caps and 6 goals. To date he still holds the highest goal average, among top scorers.

 

Eddy de Neve (left) with his brother Gilles in 1909.

Rank	Player	Period record held	Goals record established	Date record established	National career	Goals	Matches	Average
1	Eddy de Neve	1905–1908	5	14-05-1905	1905–1906	6	3	2.00
2	Edu Snethlage	1909–1910	7	21-03-1909	1907-1909	10	11	0.91
3	Jan Thomée	1910–1912	11	16-10-1910	1907-1912	16	16	1.00
4	Mannes Francken	1913-1935	17	09-03-1913	1906-1914	17	22	0.77
5	Beb Bakhuys	1935-1958	18	03-11-1935	1928-1937	28	23	1.22
6	Abe Lenstra	1958-1959	29	23-04-1958	1940-1959	33	47	0.70
7	Faas Wilkes	1959-1998	34	04-11-1959	1946-1961	35	38	0.92
8	Dennis Bergkamp	1998-1999	36	04-07-1998	1990-2000	37	79	0.47
9	Patrick Kluivert	2003-2013	38	07-06-2003	1994-2004	40	79	0.51
10	Robin van Persie	2013-	41	11-10-2013	2005-2017	50	112	0.45

Last updated: 02 April 2024
Source: [2] (in Dutch)

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Netherlands national football team hat-tricks

Robin van Persie scored four goals for the Dutch national side during their 11–0 win over minnows San Marino on 2 September 2011. He scored three goals in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Hungary on 11 October 2013.

Rank	Player	National career	Matches	Hat-tricks	Total career
1	Mannes Francken	1906–1914	22	3	1906–1914
	Beb Bakhuys	1928–1937	23		1925–1939
	John Bosman	1986–1997	30		1983–2002
	Faas Wilkes	1946–1961	38		1945–1964
5	Noud van Melis	1950–1957	13	2	1950–1957
	Wim Lagendaal	1930–1935	15		1930–1935
	Tonny van der Linden	1957–1963	24		1957–1963
	Rob Rensenbrink	1968–1979	46		1965–1982
	Marco van Basten	1983–1992	58		1981–1995
	Patrick Kluivert	1994–2004	79		1994–2008
	Robin van Persie	2005–2017	102		2001–2019
12	24 players			1

Last updated: 19 November 2021
Source: voetbalstats.nl (in Dutch)

Age records

• Oldest player to make debut: Sander Boschker, aged 39 years and 256 days vs   Ghana, 1 June 2010
• Youngest player to make debut: Jan van Breda Kolff, aged 17 years and 74 days vs   Belgium, 2 April 1911 RSSSF
• Oldest player to score: Abe Lenstra, aged 38 years and 143 days [3] vs   Belgium, 19 April 1959
• Youngest player to score: Jan van Breda Kolff, aged 17 years and 74 days vs   Belgium, 2 April 1911

Progression of the Netherlands association football goalscoring record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international goals for the Netherlands national football team.

For the early decades, records of players appearances and goals were often considered unreliable. RSSSF and IFFHS have spent much effort trying to produce definitive lists of full international matches, and corresponding data on players' international caps and goals. Using this data, the following records can be retrospectively produced. Note that, at the time, these records may not have been recognised.

Player	Goals	Date	Opponent	Score	Notes
Eddy de Neve	4	30 April 1905	Belgium	4–1	De Neve scored four times in this game ^[1]
Eddy de Neve	5	15 May 1905	Belgium	4–0	^[2]
Edu Snethlage	6	25 October 1908	Sweden	5–3	Snethlage scored twice in this game ^[3]
Edu Snethlage	7	21 March 1909	Belgium	4–1	^[4]
Edu Snethlage	10	25 April 1909	Belgium	4–1	Snethlage scored three times in this game ^[5]
Mannes Francken	11	24 March 1912	Germany	5–5	Francken scored twice in this game ^[6]
Mannes Francken	14	28 April 1912	Belgium	4–3	Francken scored three times in this game ^[7]
Mannes Francken	16	17 November 1912	Germany	3–2	Francken scored twice in this game ^[8]
Mannes Francken	17	9 March 1913	Belgium	3–3	^[9]
Wim Tap	17	26 April 1931	Germany	1–1	^[10]
Beb Bakhuys	17	12 May 1935	Belgium	2–0	^[11]
Beb Bakhuys	18	3 November 1935	Denmark	3–0	^[12]
Beb Bakhuys	19	8 December 1935	Republic of Ireland	5–3	^[13]
Beb Bakhuys	22	12 January 1936	France	6–1	Bakhuys scored three times in this game^[14]
Beb Bakhuys	25	29 March 1936	Belgium	8–0	Bakhuys scored three times in this game^[15]
Beb Bakhuys	26	3 May 1936	Belgium	1–1	^[16]
Beb Bakhuys	27	1 November 1936	Norway	3–3	^[17]
Beb Bakhuys	28	7 March 1937	Switzerland	2–1	^[18]
Abe Lenstra	28	13 April 1958	Belgium	7–2	Lenstra scored twice in this game^[19]
Faas Wilkes	28	23 April 1958	Netherlands Antilles	8–1	Wilkes scored twice in this game^[20]
Abe Lenstra	30	23 April 1958	Netherlands Antilles	8–1	Lenstra scored twice in this game^[21]
Abe Lenstra	32	15 October 1958	Denmark	5–1	Lenstra scored twice in this game^[22]
Abe Lenstra	33	19 April 1959	Belgium	2–2	^[23]
Faas Wilkes	34	4 November 1959	Norway	7–1	Wilkes scored twice in this game^[24]
Faas Wilkes	35	19 April 1961	Mexico	1–2	^[25]
Dennis Bergkamp	35	29 June 1998	Yugoslavia	2–1
Dennis Bergkamp	36	4 July 1998	Argentina	2–1
Dennis Bergkamp	37	9 October 1999	Brazil	2–2
Patrick Kluivert	37	30 April 2003	Portugal	1–1
Patrick Kluivert	38	7 June 2003	Belarus	2–0
Patrick Kluivert	39	6 September 2003	Australia	3–1
Patrick Kluivert	40	11 October 2003	Moldova	5–0
Robin van Persie	41	11 October 2013	Hungary	8–1	Van Persie scored three times in this game
Robin van Persie	42	17 May 2014	Ecuador	1–1
Robin van Persie	43	31 May 2014	Ghana	1–0
Robin van Persie	45	13 June 2014	Spain	5–1	Van Persie scored twice in this game
Robin van Persie	46	18 June 2014	Australia	3–2
Robin van Persie	47	12 July 2014	Brazil	3–0
Robin van Persie	48	10 October 2014	Kazakhstan	3–1
Robin van Persie	49	16 November 2014	Latvia	6–0
Robin van Persie	50	13 October 2015	Czech Republic	2–3

Manager records

Main article: List of Netherlands national football team managers

Team records

Tournament records

See also: Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup and Netherlands at the UEFA European Championship

• The Netherlands used all 23 players during the 2014 World Cup, making it the first team in World Cup history to ever use all of its squad players.^[26]
• World Cup appearances: 11 (most recent in 2022)
• Most successful World Cup appearance: Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)
• European Championship appearances: 10 (most recent in 2020)
• Most successful European Championship appearance: Winners (1988)
• Summer Olympics appearances: 8 (most recent in 2008)
• Most successful Olympics appearance: Third place (1908, 1912, 1920)

Match records

Firsts

• First match: Belgium   1–4   Netherlands (Antwerp, Belgium; 30 April 1905)
• First World Cup finals match: Switzerland   3–2   Netherlands (Milan, Italy; 27 May 1934)
• First European Championship finals match: Netherlands   1–3   Czechoslovakia (Zagreb, Yugoslavia; 16 June 1976)

Record results

• Biggest win:
  • Netherlands   11–0   San Marino (Eindhoven, Netherlands; 2 September 2011)
• Biggest loss:
  • England AM.   12–2   Netherlands (Darlington, England; 21 December 1907)

Head-to-head records

As of 26 March 2024.^[27]

• Draws include penalty shoot-outs.

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	GD	%	Last Match
Albania	4	4	0	0	7	1	+6	100%	2007/09/12
Andorra	6	6	0	0	21	0	+21	100%	2013/09/10
Argentina	10	4	5	1	15	8	+7	40%	2022/12/09
Armenia	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2005/09/03
Australia	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	50%	2014/06/18
Austria	20	10	4	6	38	24	+14	60%	2021/06/17
Belarus	10	8	0	2	23	6	+17	80%	2019/10/13
Belgium	129	57	31	41	285	221	+64	56.20%	2022/09/25
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	75%	2020/11/15
Brazil	12	4	5	3	18	15	+3	54.17%	2014/07/12
Bulgaria	12	5	2	5	20	17	+3	50%	2017/09/03
Cameroon	3	2	1	0	3	1	+2	83.33%	2010/06/24
Canada	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	1994/06/12
Chile	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	75%	2014/06/23
China	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	100%	2013/06/11
Colombia	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	50%	2013/11/19
Costa Rica	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	50%	2014/07/05
Croatia	3	1	0	2	6	6	0	33.33%	2023/06/14
Curaçao^[a]	3	2	1	0	16	1	+15	83.33%	1958/04/23
Cyprus	9	9	0	0	34	1	+33	100%	2001/04/25
Czech Republic^[b]	22	6	4	12	30	36	−6	36.36%	2021/06/27
Denmark	32	13	10	9	63	45	+18	56.25%	2022/03/26
East Germany	9	6	1	2	17	10	+7	72.22%	1986/03/12
Ecuador	3	1	2	0	3	2	+1	33.33%	2022/11/25
Egypt	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	25%	1990/06/12
England^[c]	32	9	10	13	39	74	−35	43.75%	2019/06/06
Estonia	6	5	1	0	23	4	+19	91.67%	2019/11/19
Faroe Islands	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2004/06/01
Finland	14	11	2	1	43	14	29	85.71%	2011/09/06
France	30	11	4	15	57	53	+14	36.66%	2023/10/13
Georgia	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2021/06/06
Germany^[d]	46	12	17	17	77	87	−10	26.08%	2024/03/26
Ghana	3	2	1	0	5	1	+4	83.33%	2014/05/31
Gibraltar	4	4	0	0	22	0	+22	100%	2023/11/21
Great Britain	2	0	0	2	3	8	−5	0%	1948/07/31
Greece	11	9	1	1	24	3	+21	81.81%	2023/10/16
Hungary	17	10	2	5	51	29	+22	64.71%	2013/10/11
Indonesia	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2013/06/07
Iceland	12	9	1	2	33	7	+26	79.71%	2015/09/03
Iran	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	1978/06/03
Israel	4	4	0	0	6	1	+5	100%	1989/01/04
Ivory Coast	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6	100%	2017/06/04
Italy	24	3	10	11	24	33	−9	12.5%	2023/06/17
Japan	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	83.33%	2013/11/16
Kazakhstan	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3	100%	2015/10/10
Latvia	5	5	0	0	14	0	+14	100%	2021/10/08
Liechtenstein	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2004/09/03
Luxembourg	18	15	1	2	67	14	+53	86.11%	2017/06/09
North Macedonia	5	3	2	0	11	3	+8	80%	2021/06/21
Malta	6	6	0	0	28	0	+28	100%	1995/10/11
Mexico	9	4	1	4	15	16	-1	50%	2020/10/07
Moldova	4	4	0	0	9	1	+8	100%	2011/10/07
Montenegro	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	75%	2021/11/13
Morocco	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1	66.67%	2017/05/31
Nigeria	1	1	0	0	5	1	+4	100%	1998/06/05
Northern Ireland	8	4	3	1	17	5	+12	68.75%	2019/11/16
Norway	22	10	7	5	47	28	+19	61.36%	2021/11/16
Paraguay	2	1	1	0	5	1	+4	75%	2009/11/18
Peru	4	3	1	0	7	1	+6	87.50%	2018/09/06
Poland	19	9	7	3	28	19	+9	65.79%	2022/09/22
Portugal	14	2	4	8	10	16	−6	28.57%	2019/06/09
Republic of Ireland	24	13	4	7	43	30	+13	54.16%	2023/11/18
Romania	14	10	3	1	29	3	+26	82.14%	2017/11/14
Russia^[e]	10	4	3	3	14	9	+5	55%	2008/08/20
Saar	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	100%	1956/06/06
San Marino	6	6	0	0	39	0	+39	100%	2011/09/02
Saudi Arabia	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100%	1994/06/20
Scotland	20	10	5	5	32	15	+17	50%	2024/03/22
Senegal	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%	2022/11/21
Serbia and Montenegro^[f]	10	6	1	3	18	12	+6	65%	2006/06/11
Slovakia	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	83.33%	2018/05/31
Slovenia	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3	100%	2007/10/17
South Africa	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	100%	1997/06/04
South Korea	2	2	0	0	7	0	+7	100%	2007/06/02
Spain	13	6	2	5	19	18	+1	53.85%	2020/11/11
Suriname	1	1	0	0	4	3	+1	100%	1960/07/03
Sweden	25	11	6	8	47	48	−1	56%	2017/10/10
Switzerland	33	15	3	15	68	61	+7	50%	2011/11/11
Thailand	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2	100%	2007/06/06
Tunisia	3	1	2	0	7	3	+4	66.67%	2009/02/11
Turkey	14	6	4	4	21	14	+7	57.14%	2021/09/07
Ukraine	3	2	1	0	7	3	+4	83.33%	2021/06/13
Uruguay	6	2	1	3	7	9	−2	33.33%	2011/06/08
United States	6	5	0	1	13	6	+7	83.33%	2022/12/03
Qatar	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100%	2022/11/29
Wales	10	10	0	0	29	8	+21	100%	2022/06/14
Yugoslavia	9	5	1	3	17	12	+5	55.55%	2000/06/25
Total	862	442	186	235	1,776	1,097	+679	51.27%

1. Includes matches against the   Netherlands Antilles.
2. Includes matches against   Czechoslovakia.
3. Includes matches against England Amateurs.
4. Includes matches against   West Germany.
5. Includes matches against the   Soviet Union and the   CIS.
6. Includes matches against   Yugoslavia.

Rankings

FIFA

• Highest FIFA Rank: 1 (August 2011)
• Lowest FIFA Rank: 32 (April 2017)
• FIFA Team of the Year First place: 1

2000

• FIFA Team of the Year Third place: 3

2005, 2008, 2009

Elo

• Highest Elo ranking: 1
  (June 1978, June 1988 – June 1990, June–September 1992, June 2002, June–September 2003, October 2005, June 2008, July 2010, June 2014)
• Lowest Elo Ranking: 56 (October 1954)

References

1. International football MATCH report: 30 April 1905 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
2. International football MATCH report: 15 May 1905 Netherlands vs Belgium eu-football
3. International football MATCH report: 25 October 1908 Netherlands vs Sweden eu-football
4. International football MATCH report: 21 March 1909 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
5. International football MATCH report: 25 April 1909 Netherlands vs Belgium eu-football
6. International football MATCH report: 24 March 1912 Netherlands vs Germany eu-football
7. International football MATCH report: 28 April 1912 Netherlands vs Belgium eu-football
8. International football MATCH report: 17 November 1912 Germany vs Netherlands eu-football
9. International football MATCH report: 09.03.0913 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
10. International football MATCH report: 26 April 1931 Netherlands vs Germany eu-football
11. International football MATCH report: 12 May 1935 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
12. International football MATCH report: 3 November 1935 Netherlands vs Denmark eu-football
13. International football MATCH report: 8 December 1935 Irish Free State vs Netherlands eu-football
14. International football MATCH report: 12 January 1936 France vs Netherlands eu-football
15. International football MATCH report: 29 March 1936 Netherlands vs Belgium eu-football
16. International football MATCH report: 3 May 1936 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
17. International football MATCH report: 1 November 1936 Netherlands vs Norway eu-football
18. International football MATCH report: 07.03.0937 Netherlands vs Switzerland eu-football
19. International football MATCH report: 13 April 1958 Belgium vs Netherlands eu-football
20. International football MATCH report: 23 April 1958 Netherlands vs Netherlands Antilles eu-football
21. International football MATCH report: 23 April 1958 Netherlands vs Netherlands Antilles eu-football
22. International football MATCH report: 15 October 1958 Netherlands vs Denmark eu-football
23. International football MATCH report: 19 April 1959 Netherlands vs Belgium eu-football
24. International football MATCH report: 4 November 1959 Netherlands vs Norway eu-football
25. International football MATCH report: 19 April 1961 Netherlands vs Mexico eu-football
26. 3 Michel Vorm And Two Minutes Of Glory sbnation.com
27. "World Football Elo Ratings: Netherlands". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 19 August 2017.