Netherlands vs England

Signal Iduna Park sets the stage for a mouth-watering Euro 2024 semi-final tie between familiar foes the Netherlands and England.

Though the Netherlands blew hot and cold in their Euro 2024 group (W1, D1, L1) to secure progression as one of the best third-placed sides, they’ve excelled in the knockout stages. Following a scintillating 3-0 romping of Romania in the Round of 16, the Dutch came from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 en route to their first Euros semi-final appearance since 2004. However, since lifting their only continental title in 1988, they’ve failed to navigate any of their three subsequent last-four ties, casting doubt on their hopes of upholding their superb H2H record against England in the 21st century. Except for a 1-0 friendly loss in 2018, Ronald Koeman’s charges have gone unbeaten in all eight remaining meetings with their fierce European rivals since the start of the millennium (W4, D4).

Despite their unenviable win ratio against the Dutch of only 27%, England can draw confidence from dispatching the Oranje 4-1 in their last encounter at the Euros. But it was in 1996, and their dire form in Germany suggests they can forget about another emphatic scoreline. Barring a narrow 1-0 win against Serbia in their tournament curtain-raiser, Gareth Southgate’s underperforming superstars haven’t won any of their remaining four Euro 2024 fixtures in regulation (D4), netting under 1.5 goals in each. On the bright side, England’s unbeaten march at the tournament has extended their supreme unbeaten streak in competitive action to 13 games straight (W9, D4) since a 2-1 loss to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.