Netherlands Secures 3-0 Victory Over Romania to Reach First Euros Quarterfinal in 16 Years

The Dutch team achieved its first European Championship quarterfinal berth in 16 years with a decisive 3-0 victory over Romania on Tuesday, marking their best performance yet at Euro 2024.

Cody Gakpo opened the scoring in the 20th minute, followed by two late goals from substitute Donyell Malen, propelling the Netherlands to its first quarterfinal appearance in the tournament since 2008.

“I think the whole performance today was outstanding and that's what we need to have a chance to continue in this tournament,” coach Ronald Koeman said. “This is the level. If you go down in that level, then we don't reach the final.”

Despite missing several earlier opportunities to extend their lead and captain Virgil van Dijk hitting the woodwork, the Netherlands showcased a significantly improved performance compared to their group stage, which concluded with a 3-2 loss to Austria.

Koeman's team could face Austria again in Berlin on Saturday if Austria wins the final round of 16 match against Turkey later on Tuesday.

“Sometimes it's difficult to explain why you play bad,” Koeman said. “Even today, the start was difficult. They were really aggressive. But finally we found our ball position.

“What we created was good football ... Maybe one critical point was that it took too long to score the second one. ... It's difficult to explain why one time you play badly and the next time you are really sharp from the beginning.”

Romania, making only its second appearance in the knockout stage of a European Championship, was backed by a large contingent of enthusiastic fans. The Romanian supporters created a vibrant atmosphere, continuing to cheer and applaud their team long after the final whistle.

“Today we ended a great story, which we started two years ago. We continued that story here in Germany along with the fans of the national team,” Romania coach Edward Iordănescu said. “The team gave a great effort, but there is some sadness.

“We wanted more, but we gave our all. Thank you to my lads, the supporters and Romanians everywhere in the world who supported us.”

Romania controlled possession until Gakpo's goal but failed to challenge Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. The breakthrough came when Xavi Simons advanced and found Gakpo on the left, who cut inside Andrei Rațiu and fired into the near bottom corner.

Gakpo's third goal of the tournament placed him as joint top scorer alongside Germany's Jamal Musiala, Georges Mikautadze of Georgia, and Ivan Schranz of Slovakia.

“We tried to surprise the Netherlands today and I think it worked well until the 20th minute,” Iordănescu said.

After the goal, the Dutch gained confidence, creating several chances to extend their lead. A large section of orange-clad fans thought they had scored again when Stefan De Vrij's free header from a corner went just wide of the right post, hitting the sidenetting.

Good goalkeeping from Florian Niță and errant finishing from the Dutch kept Romania in the game until seven minutes from time.

Van Dijk's header struck the right post in the second half, and Gakpo had a goal disallowed for offside. However, Gakpo turned provider when he kept the ball in play under pressure from Radu Drăgușin and set up Malen to score.

The Netherlands sealed their dominant performance in stoppage time when Simons set up Malen for a run from the halfway line, culminating in a finish past Niță.

Malen had to navigate around the Romanian defense and a shoe on the field, likely thrown by a Romanian fan. Niță had already kicked away the other shoe from the same pair as Malen approached the goal.