World Cup: Penalties haunt Netherlands again as Dutch crash in R32
The ghosts of the past haunted the Netherlands again as they faltered in a penalty shoot-out at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The former champions lost to African heavyweights Morocco, the fourth time the Dutch have lost a World Cup match on penalties.
After a disastrous sequence of five kicks, they missed three times. Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all missed from the spot as Morocco cruised into the last 16 after almost a two-hour battle.
What was expected to be a smooth clash between two quality attacking teams instead turned into a frustrating and ill-tempered match. Defender Jan Paul van Hecke found himself in the spotlight after bringing down Morocco forward Ismael Saibari, sparking anger among the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists.
Morocco almost immediately took a dislike to van Hecke, with one challenge resulting in the defender bleeding from the forehead. The Netherlands barely got a sniff in the first half as Morocco’s defenders produced a series of big saves to keep them out.
Dutch forward Brian Brobbey was well lined up throughout the game and didn’t register a single shot. Most of the Netherlands’ attacking threats came through Summerville on the right, whose occasional spark of creativity brought life to the game.
MOROCCO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR CHANCES
Morocco created more chances before the break when goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen made a series of excellent saves to keep out Ayoub Bouaddi’s close-range header and Neil El Aynaoui’s powerful effort.
At the other end, Bounou was finally called into action to parry Micky van de Ven’s long-range attack.
Hakimi rattled the crossbar to force another save from Verbruggen as the Dutch struggled to limit the full-back’s runs from deep, before Ronald Koeman introduced Wout Weghorst to give his side a much-needed center of attack.
The Atlas Lions enjoyed loud support throughout, with many Mexican supporters embracing Morocco for the night and reviving chants of “No era penal” (“It wasn’t a penalty”), commemorating the controversial penalty that helped the Netherlands knock Mexico out of the 2014 World Cup.
CODY GAKPO’S EMOTIONAL MOMENT
The deadlock was broken in the 72nd minute after a frustrated Ronald Koeman reshuffled his attack. He introduced his trusted option, 33-year-old Wout Weghorst, in the hope that his physical presence would unsettle Morocco.
The substitute made an immediate impact as he won a quick tap-in to free up Summerville, whose persistence created the opportunity for Cody Gakpo to head past Bouna for the first time.
Gakpo looked up at the heavens after scoring and was overcome with emotion. The Dutch forward was playing days after he and his partner lost their unborn son while pregnant, and the Dutch striker broke down as team-mates rushed to hug him.
The Netherlands looked increasingly comfortable after taking the lead as captain Virgil van Dijk made several crucial saves to deny Morocco a bright start.
MOROCCO’S LAST EFFORTS
Morocco made late changes around the 80th minute in an attempt to bring some pace to their attack. The plan initially appeared ineffective as the Dutch defense continued to push Morocco out of dangerous areas.
But just as the Netherlands looked set to seal victory, substitute Chemsdine Talbi’s cross from the left was spot-on and found defender Isa Diop, who broke through on the break.
Van Dijk followed the flight of the ball but momentarily lost sight of Diop behind him. The defender rose highest to head it past Verbruggen to send the game into extra time.
“The game plan worked,” Van Dijk said. “Eventually, in stoppage time, you’re pushed back. Then it goes to penalties and then…unfortunately we’re out.”
“Obviously there are always things that could be better, but that’s not helping us right now.
The momentum spilled from one end to the other in extra-time, with the Netherlands threatening on the counter while Morocco drove the game, but neither side could mount the pressure.
Premier League defender Micky van de Ven – regarded as one of the fastest players in the league – produced several scorching saves to keep the Netherlands alive.
PENALTY SHOOTOUT
Just like at the beginning of the game, the penalty shootout changed almost immediately.
Netherlands won the toss and decided to take a penalty in front of their supporters and Teun Koopmeiners gave them the perfect start by burying his effort low to Yassin Bounou’s left. Morocco then immediately cracked under the pressure as Aynaoui sent a penalty over the bar to leave the Dutch 1-0 up.
But the advantage did not last.
Justin Kluivert had a chance to double the Netherlands’ lead but hit the crossbar with a low, powerful effort. Morocco were given a lifeline moments later in bizarre fashion – Soufiane Rahimi’s low penalty was initially saved by Verbruggen, only for the rebound to bounce back off the keeper and into the net.
Wout Weghorst responded by knocking his penalty high into the net to make it 2-1, but Talbi calmly equalized for Morocco again.
The drama only escalated from there.
Quinten Timber then slotted home a penalty for the Netherlands, but Morocco failed to capitalize when Achraf Hakimi hit the crossbar. At 2-2 after four penalties, Crysencio Summerville had another chance to get in front of the Dutch but saw his tame effort comfortably saved by Bouna.
That left Ismael Saibari with the last kick of the match.
The Morocco striker showed no nerves, burying the penalty low into the corner behind Verbruggen to spark wild celebrations and send Morocco through to the last 16.
It was the fourth time the Netherlands had been knocked out of the FIFA World Cup on penalties. They previously lost to Argentina in the 2022 quarter-finals and in the 2014 semi-finals and to Brazil 2-4 in the 1998 semi-finals.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
June 30, 2026 11:07 AM IST