Netherlands women's national football team

Netherlands
Nickname(s)	Oranje (Orange); Leeuwinnen (Lionesses)
Association	Royal Dutch Football Association; (Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Andries Jonker
Captain	Sherida Spitse
Most caps	Sherida Spitse (236)
Top scorer	Vivianne Miedema (96)
FIFA code	NED
First colours	Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	11 (16 August 2024)
Highest	3 (July – December 2019; April 2021)
Lowest	20 (June – September 2008)
First international
	(unofficial); West Germany 2–1 Netherlands ; (Essen, Germany; 23 September 1956); (FIFA recognised); France 4–0 Netherlands ; (Hazebrouck, France; 17 April 1971)
Biggest win
	Netherlands 15–0 Indonesia ; (Doetinchem, Netherlands; 25 October 2024)
Biggest defeat
	Sweden 7–0 Netherlands ; (Borås, Sweden; 26 September 1981)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2015)
Best result	Runners-up (2019)
Olympic Games
Appearances	1 (first in 2020)
Best result	Quarter-finals (2020)
European Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2009)
Best result	Champions (2017)
Nations League Finals
Appearances	1 (first in 2024)
Best result	Fourth place (2024)

The Netherlands women's national football team (Dutch: Nederlands vrouwenvoetbalelftal) represents the Netherlands in international women's football, and is directed by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which is a member of UEFA and FIFA.

In 1971, the team played the first women's international football match recognized by FIFA against France.^[6] They played at the final tournament of the UEFA Women's Championship four times and were champions in 2017 as hosts. They qualified for the World Cup three times, reaching the final of the 2019 edition of the World Cup, losing 2–0 against the United States. The result of the 2019 World Cup meant that the Netherlands team qualified for 2020 Olympics where they lost in the quarter-finals.

The Netherlands was one of numerous countries where women's football was banned for a long time, and received scepticism afterwards. The team grew in popularity during and after their surprise victory on home soil at the 2017 Euro's.

The nicknames for the team are Oranje (Orange) and Leeuwinnen (Lionesses).^[1] The Dutch women's team logo features a lioness making it different from the men's team logo, which sports a male lion. The team famously plays in bright orange, the historic national colour of the Netherlands. Andries Jonker has been head coach since the conclusion of the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

History

On 17 April 1971, the Dutch team played the first women's international football match recognized by FIFA against France.^[6] The match took place in Hazebrouck, France and resulted in a 4–0 defeat for the Netherlands, Jocelyne Ratignier and Marie-Claire Caron-Harant scoring.^[7]

In 1980s and 1990s, the team failed to qualify for the final tournaments of UEFA's European Championship and later also for the FIFA's World Championship.^[7] The Royal Dutch Football Association began major investments into women's football in the 2000s, culminating in the establishment of the Women's Eredivisie in 2007 (which was merged with the Belgian league in 2012).^[8]^[9] This resulted in the team qualifying for a major tournament for the first time at the UEFA Women's Euro 2009. They finished in third place, together with Norway, behind second placed England and winners Germany (first place).^[10] The team again qualified for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013, but did not advance after the group stage.^[11]

The team qualified for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup and reached thirteenth place, losing their first match in the knockout stage to Japan.^[12]

In 2017, the Netherlands won their first major women's trophy, ending Germany's seemingly unbeatable reign over the UEFA Women's Championship and surprising friend and foe alike by winning the tournament on home soil, beating Denmark 4–2 in the final.^[13] The successful campaign in which oranje managed to win all of their matches highly contributed to the popularity of women's football in the Netherlands.^[14]

In 2018, the Netherlands finished second in their UEFA Qualifying Group behind Norway. Therefore, they had to go through the UEFA play-off in order to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Switzerland, Belgium and Denmark were the other teams in the play-off.^[15] The Netherlands beat Denmark 4–1 on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals and repeated that result against Switzerland over two legs in the play-off final to qualify.^[16] In the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Netherlands had another strong performance, reaching the final before losing 2–0 to the United States.

They qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics thanks to their position at the 2019 World Cup where they finished among the 3 best European teams. The Netherlands passed the 1st round at their first Olympic participation, finishing at the top of their group thanks to 2 large victories (10–3 against Zambia and 8–2 against China) and a draw (3–3 against Brazil), displaying an attractive offensive game but a certain defensive frailty (8 goals conceded in the group stages). However, their journey ended in the quarter-finals against the United States, an opponent who had already played the role of tormentor of the Oranje in the final of the French World Cup two years earlier, losing in penalty kicks (2–2, 2 pts to 4). The Dutch will have regrets, Lieke Martens having missed a decisive penalty in the 81st minute of the game when the score was tied 2–2.

Coach Sarina Wiegman left the team after the Olympics and was replaced by Englishman Mark Parsons. The Netherlands reached UEFA Women's Euro 2022 in England with a perfect record of ten victories in qualification. In England, the Netherlands passed the group stage thanks to two victories over Switzerland and Portugal. A draw against Sweden however meant the team had to face France in the quarterfinals. Although they only lost in extra time, they were thoroughly outplayed and it was decided to part ways with Parsons.

Andries Jonker took over coaching responsibilities and was immediately faced with a must win game versus Iceland if the Netherlands wanted to avoid the play-offs for the 2023 World Cup. In a tense game Esmee Brugts scored the desperately needed goal only in stoppage time and the Netherlands qualified for their third World Cup.

At the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Netherlands were in Group E along with USA, Portugal and Vietnam.^[17] It started with a 1-0 win over Portugal, followed this with a 1-1 draw with USA and finished with a 7-0 victory over Vietnam to top the group.

Team image

Nicknames

The Netherlands women's national football team is known or nicknamed as both the "Leeuwinnen" (Lionesses) and "Oranje" (Orange).

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of matches in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.^[18]

Legend

Win Draw Lose Void or Postponed Fixture

2023

27 October 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A	Netherlands	4–0	Scotland	Nijmegen
	Van de Donk 12' Brugts 32' Beerensteyn 52', 71'	Report		Stadium: Goffertstadion Referee: Ivana Projkovska (North Macedonia)

31 October 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A	Scotland	0–1	Netherlands	Glasgow
20:45 (19:45 GMT)		Report	Brugts 60'	Stadium: Hampden Park Attendance: 5,186 Referee: Jana Adámková (Czech Republic)

1 December 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A	England	3–2	Netherlands	London
20:45 (19:45 GMT)	Stanway 59' Hemp 61' Toone 90+1'	Report	Beerensteyn 12', 35'	Stadium: Wembley Stadium Attendance: 71.632 Referee: Tess Olofsson (Sweden)

5 December 2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League A	Netherlands	4–0	Belgium	Tilburg
	Beerensteyn 34', 54' Egurrola 90+1', 90+5'

2024

23 February 2023–24 UEFA Nations League SF	Spain	3–0	Netherlands	Seville, Spain
	Hermoso 41' Bonmatí 45' Batlle 77'	Report		Stadium: Estadio de La Cartuja Attendance: 21,856 Referee: Rebecca Welch (England)

28 February 2023–24 UEFA Nations League 3rd	Netherlands	0–2	Germany	Heerenveen
			Bühl 66' Schüller 78'	Stadium: Abe Lenstra Stadion Attendance: 21,128 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

5 April Euro 2025 qualifying	Italy	2–0	Netherlands	Cosenza
18:15	Giacinti 4' Bonfantini 59'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Vito-Gigi Marulla Attendance: 4,300 Referee: Ivana Martinčić (Croatia)

9 April Euro 2025 qualifying	Netherlands	1–0	Norway	Breda
20:45	Beerensteyn 6'	Report		Stadium: Rat Verlegh Stadion Attendance: 9,486 Referee: Cheryl Foster (Wales)

31 May Euro 2025 qualifying	Netherlands	1–0	Finland	Rotterdam
20:45	Beerensteyn 65'	Report		Stadium: Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel Attendance: 9,089 Referee: Frida Klarlund (Denmark)

4 June Euro 2025 qualifying	Finland	1–1	Netherlands	Tampere
18:00	Rantala 77'	Report	Beerensteyn 17'	Stadium: Tammelan Stadion Attendance: 7,677 Referee: Sandra Bastos (Portugal)

4 July Unofficial friendly	England XI	1–1	Netherlands XI	Zeist
	Beever-Jones		Ripa	Stadium: KNVB Campus Attendance: 0
Note: Uncapped friendly with rolling substitutions.

12 July Euro 2025 qualifying	Netherlands	0–0	Italy	Sittard
TBC				Stadium: Fortuna Sittard Stadion

16 July Euro 2025 qualifying	Norway	1–1	Netherlands	Bergen
19:00				Stadium: Brann Stadion

25 October Friendly^[19]	Netherlands	15–0	Indonesia	Doetinchem
--:-- UTC+1	Leuchter 10', 31' Roord 21', 48' Spitse 28' (pen.) Hupatea 32' (o.g.) Keukelaar 41', 57' Egurrola 56' Nijstad 63', 73' Jansen 66', 74', 81' Snoeijs 75'			Stadium: De Vijverberg Referee: Caroline Lanssens (Belgium)

29 October Friendly	Denmark	1–2	Netherlands	Esbjerg
18:00 UTC+2	Kramer 87'		Brugts 26' van de Donk 27'	Stadium: Esbjerg Stadion Referee: Lotta Vuorio (Finland)

29 November Friendly	Netherlands	v	China	Rotterdam
20:45 UTC+1				Stadium: Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel

3 December Friendly	Netherlands	v	United States	The Hague
20:45				Stadium: ADO Den Haag Stadium

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players are called up for the friendly matches against China and United States on 29 November and 3 December 2024.^[20]

Caps and goals correct as of 29 October 2024, after the match against Denmark.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1GK	Daphne van Domselaar	(2000-03-06) 6 March 2000 (age 24)	28	0	Arsenal
1GK	Lize Kop	(1998-03-17) 17 March 1998 (age 26)	12	0	Leicester City
1GK	Femke Liefting	(2005-01-02) 2 January 2005 (age 19)	0	0	AZ

2DF	Dominique Janssen	(1995-01-17) 17 January 1995 (age 29)	116	6	Manchester United
2DF	Lynn Wilms	(2000-10-03) 3 October 2000 (age 24)	47	1	VfL Wolfsburg
2DF	Kerstin Casparij	(2000-08-19) 19 August 2000 (age 24)	38	0	Manchester City
2DF	Lisa Doorn	(2000-12-08) 8 December 2000 (age 23)	4	0	TSG Hoffenheim
2DF	Ilse van der Zanden	(1995-07-25) 25 July 1995 (age 29)	2	0	Utrecht
2DF	Veerle Buurman	(2006-04-21) 21 April 2006 (age 18)	1	0	PSV

3MF	Sherida Spitse (captain)	(1990-05-29) 29 May 1990 (age 34)	236	45	Ajax
3MF	Daniëlle van de Donk	(1991-08-05) 5 August 1991 (age 33)	160	37	Lyon
3MF	Jackie Groenen	(1994-12-17) 17 December 1994 (age 29)	116	9	Paris Saint-Germain
3MF	Jill Roord	(1997-04-22) 22 April 1997 (age 27)	100	28	Manchester City
3MF	Damaris Egurrola	(1999-08-26) 26 August 1999 (age 25)	36	6	Lyon
3MF	Wieke Kaptein	(2005-08-29) 29 August 2005 (age 19)	12	0	Chelsea
3MF	Kayleigh van Dooren	(1999-07-31) 31 July 1999 (age 25)	4	0	Twente
3MF	Nina Nijstad	(2003-03-05) 5 March 2003 (age 21)	1	2	PSV
3MF	Danique Noordman	(2004-02-21) 21 February 2004 (age 20)	0	0	Ajax
3MF	Ella Peddemors	(2002-08-06) 6 August 2002 (age 22)	0	0	Twente
3MF	Chimera Ripa	(2001-12-16) 16 December 2001 (age 22)	0	0	PSV

4FW	Lineth Beerensteyn	(1996-10-11) 11 October 1996 (age 28)	108	35	VfL Wolfsburg
4FW	Renate Jansen	(1990-12-07) 7 December 1990 (age 33)	67	8	PSV
4FW	Esmee Brugts	(2003-07-28) 28 July 2003 (age 21)	37	9	Barcelona
4FW	Romée Leuchter	(2001-01-12) 12 January 2001 (age 23)	18	5	Paris Saint-Germain
4FW	Chasity Grant	(2001-04-19) 19 April 2001 (age 23)	8	0	Aston Villa
4FW	Lotte Keukelaar	(2005-09-25) 25 September 2005 (age 19)	2	2	Ajax

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Daniëlle de Jong	(2002-10-11) 11 October 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Twente	v. Norway, 16 July 2024
GK	Jacintha Weimar	(1998-06-11) 11 June 1998 (age 26)	1	0	Feyenoord	v. Norway, 16 July 2024
GK	Barbara Lorsheyd	(1991-03-26) 26 March 1991 (age 33)	1	0	ADO Den Haag	v. Finland, 4 June 2024

DF	Gwyneth Hendriks	(2001-03-04) 4 March 2001 (age 23)	2	0	PSV	v. Denmark, 29 October 2024
DF	Merel van Dongen	(1993-02-11) 11 February 1993 (age 31)	63	2	Monterrey	v. Norway, 16 July 2024
DF	Marisa Olislagers	(2000-09-09) 9 September 2000 (age 24)	12	0	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Finland, 4 June 2024
DF	Marit Auée	(2000-01-11) 11 January 2000 (age 24)	0	0	Brighton & Hove Albion	v. Finland, 4 June 2024
DF	Caitlin Dijkstra	(1999-01-30) 30 January 1999 (age 25)	23	1	VfL Wolfsburg	v. Finland, 4 June 2024 ^INJ

MF	Jill Baijings	(2001-02-23) 23 February 2001 (age 23)	8	0	Aston Villa	v. Norway, 16 July 2024
MF	Victoria Pelova	(1999-06-03) 3 June 1999 (age 25)	55	4	Arsenal	v. Finland, 4 June 2024

FW	Katja Snoeijs	(1996-08-31) 31 August 1996 (age 28)	34	12	Everton	v. Denmark, 29 October 2024
FW	Fenna Kalma	(1999-12-21) 21 December 1999 (age 24)	8	2	VfL Wolfsburg	v. Denmark, 29 October 2024
FW	Vivianne Miedema	(1996-07-15) 15 July 1996 (age 28)	120	96	Manchester City	v. Denmark, 29 October 2024 ^INJ
FW	Chanté Dompig	(2001-02-12) 12 February 2001 (age 23)	0	0	AC Milan	v. Denmark, 29 October 2024 ^INJ
FW	Lieke Martens	(1992-12-16) 16 December 1992 (age 31)	160	62	Paris Saint-Germain	v. Finland, 4 June 2024 ^RET
FW	Shanice van de Sanden	(1992-10-02) 2 October 1992 (age 32)	97	21	Pachuca	2024 UWNL Finals
^INJ Withdrew due to injury ^PRE Preliminary squad ^RET Retired from the national team ^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

Coaching staff

Technical staff

As of 4 November 2023.^[21]

Position	Name
Head coach	Andries Jonker
Assistant coach	Arvid Smit Janneke Bijl
Goalkeeper coach	Erskine Schoenmakers
Fitness coach	René Wormhoudt

Head coaches

Period	Coach	Notes	Ref(s)
1972–1973	Siem Plooyer		^[22]
1973–1974	Bert Wouterse		^[22]
1974–1975	Ger Blok		^[22]
1975–1977	Ron Groenewoud		^[22]
1977–1978	Ruud de Groot		^[22]
1979–1987	Bert van Lingen		^[22]
1987	Nick Labohm	1 match (3–1 defeat to West Germany on 1 April 1987)	^[22]
1987	Dick Advocaat	1 match (0–0 against Norway on 23 May 1987)	^[22]
1987–1989	Piet Buter		^[22]
1989–1992	Bert van Lingen	second spell as coach (first spell from 1979 to 1987)	^[22]^[23]
1992–1995	Jan Derks		^[22]^[23]
1995–2001	Ruud Dokter		^[22]^[23]
2001	Andries Jonker	interim coach	^[22]^[23]
2001–2004	Frans de Kat		^[22]^[23]
2004	Remy Reynierse	interim coach	^[22]^[23]
2004–2010	Vera Pauw		^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]
2010	Ed Engelkes	interim coach	^[22]^[23]
2010–2015	Roger Reijners		^[22]^[23]^[26]^[25]
2015	Sarina Wiegman	interim coach	^[27]
2015–2016	Arjan van der Laan		^[27]
2016–2017	Sarina Wiegman	second spell as interim coach (first spell in 2015)	^[28]
2017–2021	Sarina Wiegman	permanent coach	^[28]
2021–2022	Mark Parsons		^[29]
2022–	Andries Jonker	second spell as coach (first spell as interim in 2001)	^[30]

Coaches' records

#	Name	Period	Matches
1	Sarina Wiegman¹	2015–2021	86
2	Vera Pauw	2004–2010	73
3	Roger Reijners	2010–2015	71
4	Ruud Dokter	1995–2000	64
5	Bert van Lingen	1979–1986, 1989–1991	46
6	Frans de Kat	2001–2004	27
7	Andries Jonker	2001, 2022−	23
8	Jan Derks	1991–1994	19
9	Mark Parsons	2021–2022	18
10	Arjan van der Laan	2015–2016	16
11	Piet Buter	1987–1989	15
12	Ruud de Groot	1977–1978	8

As of 13 August 2023

1.^ Includes 70 matches main coach (period 2017-2021), 1 match against Belarus - 8:0 as Interim coach (17.09.2015), 15 matches assistant coach (29.11.2015 - first match and 29.11.2016 - last match). Onsoranje.nl includes 8 matches from 15, coached Sarina by main coach instead assistant, Therefore, it turns out 79 (70+1+8). Main coach - 70 matches + 1 match in 2015.

Records

As of 12 August 2023, after the match against Spain.

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

Most caps

#	Name	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Sherida Spitse	2006–present	221	44
2	Lieke Martens	2011–present	160	62
3	Annemieke Kiesel-Griffioen	1995–2011	156	19
4	Dyanne Bito	2000–2015	146	6
5	Danielle van de Donk	2010–present	144	35
6	Marleen Wissink	1989–2006	141	0
7	Daphne Koster	1997–2013	139	7
8	Manon Melis	2005–2016	136	59
9	Loes Geurts	2005–present	125	0
10	Vivianne Miedema	2013–present	115	95

Most goals

#	Player	Career	Goals	Caps	Average
1	Vivianne Miedema	2013–present	95	115	0.83
2	Lieke Martens	2011–2024	62	160	0.4
3	Manon Melis	2005–2016	59	136	0.43
4	Sherida Spitse	2006–present	44	221	0.2
5	Danielle van de Donk	2010–present	35	144	0.24
6	Sylvia Smit	2004–2013	30	106	0.28
7	Marjoke de Bakker	1979–1991	29	61	0.48
8	Lineth Beerensteyn	2015–present	26	94	0.28
9	Jill Roord	2016–present	25	92	0.27
10	Shanice van de Sanden	2008–present	21	95	0.22

Competitive record

FIFA Women's World Cup

On 27 November 2014, the Netherlands national football team qualified to the final tournament of the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time.^[31] In 2019, they reached the Final and lost to the United States team.^[32]

Host nation and year	Result	Pos	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
FIFA Women's World Cup record										Qualification record
1991	Did not qualify									UEFA Euro 1991
1995										UEFA Euro 1995
1999										6	2	1	3	5	10
2003										6	1	1	4	6	16
2007										8	5	0	3	15	7
2011										8	5	2	1	30	7
2015	Round of 16	13th	4	1	1	2	3	4	14	11	2	1	50	9
2019	Runners-up	2nd	7	6	0	1	11	5	12	9	2	1	30	4
2023	Quarter-finals	7th	5	3	1	1	12	3	8	6	2	0	30	3
2027	To be determined									To be determined
Total	3/10		16	10	2	4	26	12	62	39	10	13	166	56

Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games

Since the inception of women's Olympic football, UEFA has designated the World Cup as its qualifying tournament for the succeeding Olympic tournament. Because the Netherlands failed to qualify to the World Cup until 2015, the Netherlands women automatically failed to qualify for the Olympics up to 2012. In 2015 Netherlands made it to their first World Cup. Their round of 16 exit was good enough for a post World Cup mini tournament to decide UEFA's last spot at the Olympics. Sweden won that tournament and the Netherlands were eliminated. In 2019 the Netherlands reached the World Cup final and qualified for the Olympics for the first time.

Summer Olympics record
Host nation and year	Round	Pos	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1996	Did not qualify
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	2	0	23	10
2024	Did not qualify
2028	To be determined
2032	To be determined
Total	1/8		4	2	2	0	23	10

UEFA European Women's Championship

The Dutch failed to qualify for the final tournament of the UEFA Women's Championship from 1984 to 2005. In 2009, the Netherlands women's team qualified and reached third place.^[33] In 2013, they qualified again, but did not advance beyond the group stage.^[34] The Dutch women booked a major victory at the 2017 tournament: after a 4–2 victory over Denmark in the final they were the new European champion. Furthermore, Lieke Martens was named the best player of the tournament.^[35] In 2022 they were knocked out in the quarter final.

Host nation(s) and year	Result	Pos	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
UEFA European Women's Championship record									Qualifying record
1984**	Did not qualify								6	2	2	2	12	9
1987									6	5	0	1	14	6
1989									6	3	1	2	5	5
1991									6	3	2	1	17	1
1993									6	2	2	2	6	7
1995									4	2	0	2	7	3
1997									8	3	2	3	7	9
2001									8	2	3	3	10	10
2005									8	2	1	5	7	13
2009	Semi-finals	3rd	5	2	1	2	6	5	10	5	3	2	16	12
2013	Group stage	12th	3	0	1	2	0	2	8	6	1	1	20	2
2017	Champions	1st	6	6	0	0	13	3	Qualified as Host
2022	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	8	5	10	10	0	0	48	3
2025	qualified								To be determined
Total	4/13	7th	18	10	3	5	27	15	86	45	17	24	169	80

* Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

** Missing flag indicates no host country.

Nations League

UEFA Nations League record
League phase									Finals
Season	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	P/R	RK	Year	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2023–24	6	4	0	2	14	6		4th	2024	4th	2	0	0	2	0	5
Total	6	4	0	2	14	6			Total	0 Title	2	0	0	2	0	5