Death, taxes, and the Netherlands cruising in a World Cup group stage. Those seem to be the only three guarantees in life as the Netherlands topped Group F by breezing past Tunisia 3-1 on Thursday afternoon.
The Oranje blitzed out to a cushy two-goal lead just seven minutes into the match, thanks to an Ellyes Skhiri own goal that was followed up by Brian Brobbey’s third goal of the tournament. While Hazem Mastouri gave already-eliminated Tunisia a consolation prize in the 54th minute, Jan Paul van Hecke’s header gave the Netherlands an insurmountable lead.
With the victory, the Netherlands, once again, qualified for the knockout round after going unbeaten in the World Cup group stage. Though they shockingly missed the World Cup in 2002 and 2018, the Dutch haven’t lost a single group-stage match since 1994. In fact, they haven’t lost a single World Cup match in regulation since the famous “Battle of Nuremberg” 1-0 defeat against Portugal in 2006, when both teams finished with nine men.
The Netherlands will have to put in some serious work if they’re going to continue on in the World Cup, as they have been dealt another top-10-ranked nation, Morocco, in the Round of 32.
As for Tunisia, their World Cup can be summed up in a single word: disastrous. Tunisia became the first nation to ever sack their manager after their first match, then they were eliminated, becoming the first team in 32 years (Greece, 1994) to lose consecutive matches by four or more goals. Finally, after today’s defeat, they became the first team in 16 years (North Korea, 2010) to allow 12 or more goals in a single group stage.
Tunisia has now reached seven World Cups without ever making the knockout stage. That dreadful mark is only “bested” by Scotland, who have an 88% chance of missing out on the knockout round for the ninth time.
Netherlands reaction
The Netherlands poured in the goals in Group F, running riot as they’ve now scored multiple goals in their last six World Cup matches, and eight of their last nine. However, they’ll be disappointed not to earn a clean sheet against a far inferior Tunisian side, who have only won three out of their 21 career World Cup matches.
“We’re really happy we can be top of the group,” said Netherlands defender Jan Paul Van Hecke. “Now it’s game on. Now the big games come.”
“The confidence is really high,” said goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I think we’ve shown this group stage how good we can be … and I still believe we’ve got more in us.
“We’ve got some more clean sheets in us. So the combination of what we’ve already shown and what we know that we are still capable of, that combination gives us a lot of faith, a lot of trust, and confidence. I’m excited.”
Despite finishing on top of the group, the Netherlands will immediately have to look towards the African champions Morocco, who finished in second in Group C on 7 points against Brazil, Haiti, and Scotland.
Few would argue that Netherlands-Morocco could have been a match played extremely deep in the tournament, yet the two top-10 sides will have to face off against one another in the Round of 32. Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman is wary of the challenge his side must immediately face.
“I’m not sure if we are the favourite in the match against Morocco,” Koeman told reporters. “We need to prepare for Morocco, because it’ll be a big game. It’s a good team with a lot of quality, and they can score easily.
“I don’t think we’re in a situation yet to think about that (matches beyond Morocco). We’re going towards our real test, and that’s what we’re going to prepare for.”
Despite their goal-scoring prowess, it’s now seven matches in a row where the Dutch have failed to record a clean sheet.
“We do pay attention to that,” he said. “One or two players are not in the right position, people aren’t getting blocked, and that’s the sort of thing we’ll discuss with the players.
“Getting a goal against is part of the game, and we have scored 10 goals in three games as well.
“The pace, the positions, to create more, to get more people in between the lines, and without the ball, we can be more compact sometimes,” he said. “We need to transition faster, or go back, or forwards, all of us together, so there’s room for improvement.
“You never stop learning in football. There are always moments in a game where, as a trainer, you think there’s room for improvement.”
Hervé Renard admits Tunisia are not at World Cup level
Tunisia interim manager Hervé Renard was quick to admit that the Tunisian side were not at the level they needed to be for the World Cup.
Some would argue that they had one of the toughest draws in the newly-expanded tournament, having to deal with the likes of the Netherlands and upstart sides Sweden and Japan.
Many fans have been extremely critical of the CAF qualification process, which has seen teams like Nigeria and Cameroon miss out, while Tunisia were grouped with Namibia, Liberia, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe – five teams that have never qualified for the World Cup, all ranked between 105th and 195th in the FIFA rankings.
“We were not at the level for this World Cup,” Renard said. “This is clear. There is no discussion.
“It’s a big tournament with very good teams, especially in this group. It was a very tough group. And now, the Federation of Tunisia needs to sit down and analyze everything.
“I already spoke to the players, I thanked them. It wasn’t easy. We have the feeling that football is easy when you’re a player.
“But when you’re in this type of psychological situation, it’s not easy to tackle the last months, especially when it’s against a very strong team in an amazing stadium, the crowd is packed with orange. So it was a difficult moment.”
It’s still unclear whether or not Renard will manage Tunisia beyond the World Cup. Despite being hailed as the “King of Africa” for winning the AFCON with Zambia and Ivory Coast, he has failed to progress Morocco, Saudi Arabia, or Tunisia into the knockout stage over the last three editions of the World Cup.
“The federation called me for a very short mission,” he said. “We agreed on that deal and rather than stay on my couch, watching this amazing event from very far away, I thought, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got nothing to lose’.”
Group F final table
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 |
| 2 | Japan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| 4 | Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | -10 | 0 |
What’s next for the Netherlands?
The eighth-ranked Netherlands are quite unlucky to go up against the seventh-ranked Moroccans in the Round of 32, but plenty of potential rewards await, should they be able to move on to the next round.
We already know that South Africa and Canada will play in the other Round of 32 match in their quadrant, leaving the Dutch with a (potentially) much easier match than they would expect in the Round of 16.
Should they advance to the quarterfinals, there’s a reasonable chance that the Oranje would go up against Germany, Norway, or France.
