The Netherlands has reached the finals of the World Cup on three occasions but is yet to lift the trophy. Only four nations have made as many appearances in the final as they have, making them ostensibly one of the most successful teams to have competed. However, they failed each time: in 2010, in 1974, and in 1978. No other team that hasn’t won the World Cup has suffered as many losses. But the Netherlands hasn’t done well simply in the championships. They frequently never even make it to the competition. In reality, only 10 of the 21 World Cups that have ever been played have had participation from the Netherlands.
Strangely, the Netherlands had its first World Cup appearance since 1938 in 1974, when they were eliminated by West Germany at the last hurdle. Then, after following that up with a second appearance in the final in 1978, they were unable to advance to the following two competitions. This all-or-nothing mindset has persisted into the present. The Netherlands didn’t participate at all in 2002 after finishing fourth in 1998, and after being third in 2014, they were also disqualified from 2018’s competition.
However, Louis van Gaal’s return has contributed to the side’s need for stability. The Netherlands hired the former Manchester United manager for a third time in August 2021, believing he might repeat the success of his last tenure, which saw him lead them to the World Cup semifinals in 2014. The Netherlands will travel to Qatar with confidence as things have gone about as smoothly as anyone could have wished. In his 15 matches as manager, Van Gaal has not suffered a loss, and he guided his nation to the top rank in both their Nations League group and World Cup qualification group last year.
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