The Netherlands has participated in seven out of eleven FIFA World Cups, including Qatar 2022, since the introduction of the concept of penalty shootout at the quadrennial event at the 1982 edition in Spain.
It has played in 17 knockout matches, including two third-place playoffs, with the latest being the 3-1 Round of 16 win over USA on Saturday at Khalifa International Stadium in Ar-Rayyan.
Out of these 17 knockout matches, only three have gone as far as the penalty shootout.
Here are all the penalty shootouts Netherlands has been part of:
Netherlands vs Brazil - France, 1998: Brazil won 1-1 (4-2)
FILE PHOTO: Brazilian goalkeeper Taffarel celebrates after the penalty shoot-out of the 1998 FIFA World Cup semifinal match against the Netherlands. | Photo Credit: AFP
The Dutch team was stretched all the way to penalties for the first time in the semifinal of the 1998 edition in France. Facing the then four-time champion Brazil in the semifinal, the Netherlands fell behind only after a minute into the second half courtesy of a goal from Ronaldo Nazario.
However, three minutes from the end of regulation period, Patrick Kluivert found the equaliser for the men in orange with a brilliant header.
Neither team could be separated even after extra time and the match went to penalties in which spot kicks taken by Phillip Cocu and Frank de Boer’s twin brother Ronald were saved by Brazil goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel while Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar could not stop any of the four penalties taken by Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Emerson and Dunga.
Netherlands vs Costa Rica - Brazil, 2014:Netherlands won 0-0 (4-3)
FILE PHOTO: Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul saves a penalty kick by Michael Umana of Costa Rica during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal at Arena Fonte Nova on July 5, 2014 in Salvador, Brazil. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
The second time the Oranje participated in a penalty shootout of a World Cup knockout match was eight years ago in the quarterfinals in Brazil. While the Netherlands had reached the last-eight stage with a stoppage-time penalty winner from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar against Mexico, Costa Rica had beaten Greece 5-3 in penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
Netherlands dominated the match against Costa Rica, hitting the woodwork three times but when it could not find a goal, it made a change - goalkeeper Tim Krul replaced Jasper Cillessen - just before the full-time whistle.
As it turned out, Krul saved penalties from Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana while Keylor Navas, the goalkeeper of the North American and the hero of the Round of 16 clash against Greece, failed to save any of the four penalties taken by Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Dirk Kuyt.
Netherlands vs Argentina - Brazil, 2014: Argentina won 0-0 (4-2)
FILE PHOTO: Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen sits on the pitch as Argentina celebrates after winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup semifinal at Arena de Sao Paulo on July 9, 2014 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Netherlands’ last tryst with penalty shootout at a FIFA World Cup match was against Argentina, the team it will face in the quarterfinals of Qatar 2022.
After beating Costa Rica on penalties in the quarterfinals, the Dutch team was up against two-time champion Argentina in the 2014 semifinal. The match between Dutch team and Argentina turned out to be the first-ever goalless semifinal in the history of the quadrennial event.
This time, though, Dutch coach Louis van Gaal could not replace Cillessen with Krul before the penalty shootout as he had run out of substitutions. In the shootout, while Argentine goalkeeper Sergio Romero saved spot kicks from Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder, Cillessen could not keep out any of the four penalties taken by Lionel Messi, Ezequiel Garay, Sergio Aguero and Maxi Rodriguez.
For the Dutch team, this was its second loss in the penalty shootout of a World Cup semifinal.
Get all the results for the FIFA World Cup 2022 here: Full list of all matches, scores, results, goalscorers
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