Scotland make the trip to the Johan Cruyff Arena this Friday to take on the Netherlands in an international friendly. Both sides will be looking for some big wins in this international break to prepare them for the European Championships this summer.
Date: 22/03/2024
Kick-off time: 19:45
Location: Johan Cruyff Arena
Both the Netherlands and Scotland are looking forward to a big summer in the European Championships and will be aiming for a win to set themselves up for the tournament.
The Netherlands secured their qualification for the European Championships by finishing second in their group. Group B saw them take on World Cup Finalists France, Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar. In eight games, The Oranje picked up six wins and two losses which left them on 18 points, enough for qualification but three points from France.
The last tournament action for the Netherlands was at the 2022 World Cup. With two wins and a draw, The Oranje finished top of their group and faced the US in the Round of 16. The 3 - 1 win saw them take on Argentina next, but a penalty loss to eventual winners saw the Netherlands crash out at the Quarter-finals.
Scotland also finished second in their European Qualifiers group. Group A housed Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus and in eight games, The Scots picked up five wins, two draws and one loss, leaving them on 17 points, six points within qualification and four points from Spain.
The Scots, however, failed to even qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Scotland found themselves in Group F for the European Qualifiers. In ten games, Scotland had ten seven wins, two draws and one loss, but their 23 points only left them in the Play-offs. However, a 3 - 1 loss to Ukraine saw Scotland miss out on the World Cup.
The Netherlands and Scotland have met 20 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming in the Holland Unofficial back in 1929. The Oranje have the better record in the fixture with nine wins in comparison to Scotland’s six wins, with the other five games ending in a draw.
The last five games in this fixture have seen four wins for the Netherlands and one draw. In fact, Scotland have not beaten the Netherlands since 2003 at the Euros and before that hadn’t beaten The Oranje since 1982.