Netherlands vs Norway

The Netherlands and Norway will lock horns in a crunch 2022 World Cup qualifying showdown at De Kuip.

The Netherlands were ten minutes away from sealing a place at next year’s tournament in Qatar, but Montenegro staged a late comeback to hold them to a 2-2 draw last time out. Louis van Gaal, who remains unbeaten in his six 2022 World Cup qualifying games in charge (W4, D2), needs to avoid defeat here to send the ‘Flying Dutchmen’ to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014. With just three points separating the top-three teams in Group G, everything is still very much open on the final matchday. Yet, the Netherlands will be confident of holding Norway winless here, having not lost any of their last international H2Hs, including friendlies (W4, D3). With six of those seven matches featuring under 2.5 total goals, a low-scoring affair could well be on the cards here.

As for Norway, a return of two draws from their last three World Cup qualifying games (W1) threatens to send them packing in spite of a seven-match unbeaten run in Group G (W4, D3). Seeking their first World Cup finals appearance since 1998, the ‘Lions’ have nothing in their hands, as even a win here won’t guarantee a top spot. Indeed, defying the odds in Rotterdam would still require Turkey to slip against Montenegro to hand the Norwegians automatic qualification for Qatar 2022. It’s not only the odds they go up against, Norway also have to defy history here, having never won a World Cup/Euro qualifier on Dutch soil (D1, L3), returning an underwhelming 0-14 aggregate scoreline from those meetings.