The Netherlands national football team is the national football team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association. It won Euro 88 and reached two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978 but lost both finals to their respective host nations, West Germany and Argentina. At the peak of its success in the 1970s, the team was famous for its mastery of Total Football and was nicknamed "Clockwork Orange" for its precision passing.

In many countries the team is colloquially referred to as "Holland". It is currently ranked 2nd in the FIFA World Rankings and 2nd in the World Football Elo Ratings. The Netherlands played their first international match in Antwerp against Belgium on 30 April 1905.

The Dutch won the game 4–1, with all four of their goals coming from Eddy de Neve. De Neve would score six goals during his international career, which would span only three games. Technically, however, the Dutch had played four games prior to this under the guise of a squad selected by Cees van Hasselt, who would also be the coach for the game against Belgium and for the following three years.

These games were not sanctioned by the KNVB because of the absence of an organization to arrange them,[citation needed] which would not occur until the inception of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association in 1904. These first four unofficial games were played against an equally unofficial English side and were played annually from 1901 until 1904.

Similar to 0 things you like: