The ghosts of the past haunted the Netherlands once again as they faltered in a penalty shootout at the FIFA World Cup 2026. The former champions lost to African heavyweights Morocco, marking the fourth time that the Dutch have lost a World Cup match on penalties.
A disastrous sequence of five kicks saw them miss three times. Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber and Crysencio Summerville all failed from the spot as Morocco scraped through to the Round of 16 after battling for nearly two hours.
What had been expected to be a free-flowing clash between two quality attacking sides instead turned into a frustrating and ill-tempered contest. Defender Jan Paul van Hecke found himself at the centre of attention after pushing Morocco striker Ismael Saibari to the ground, sparking anger among the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists.
Morocco took a dislike to van Hecke almost immediately, with one challenge resulting in the defender bleeding from his forehead. Netherlands barely got a sniff in the first half as Morocco’s defenders put in a series of big tackles to keep them out of the box.
Dutch forward Brian Brobbey was well marshalled throughout the game and failed to register a single shot. Most of Netherlands’ attacking threat came through Summerville on the right, whose occasional spark of creativity brought life into the game.
MOROCCO ENJOY MAJORITY OF THE CHANCES
Morocco fashioned the better chances before the break, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen producing a series of outstanding saves to deny Ayoub Bouaddi’s close-range header and Neil El Aynaoui’s powerful effort.
At the other end, Bounou was finally called into action to parry Micky van de Ven’s long-range strike.
Hakimi rattled the crossbar and forced another save from Verbruggen as the Dutch struggled to contain the full-back’s runs from deep before Ronald Koeman’s introduction of Wout Weghorst gave his side a much-needed focal point in attack.
The Atlas Lions enjoyed vocal backing throughout, with many Mexican supporters adopting Morocco for the night and reviving chants of “No era penal” (“It wasn’t a penalty”), recalling the controversial penalty that helped the Netherlands eliminate Mexico at the 2014 World Cup.
CODY GAKPO’S EMOTIONAL MOMENT
The deadlock was broken in the 72nd minute after a frustrated Ronald Koeman reshuffled his attack. He introduced his trusted option, 33-year-old Wout Weghorst, hoping his physical presence would unsettle Morocco.
The substitute’s impact was immediate as he won a flick-on that released Summerville, whose persistence created the opening for Cody Gakpo to sweep a first-time finish beyond Bounou.
Gakpo looked to the heavens after scoring and was overcome with emotion. Playing days after he and his partner lost their unborn son during pregnancy, the Dutch forward broke down as teammates rushed to embrace him.
The Netherlands looked increasingly comfortable after taking the lead, with captain Virgil van Dijk producing several crucial interventions to deny Morocco a clear opening.
MOROCCO’S LAST-DITCH EFFORT
Morocco made late changes around the 80th minute in a bid to inject pace into their attack. The plan initially appeared ineffective as the Dutch defence continued to force Morocco away from dangerous areas.
But just as the Netherlands looked set to close out the victory, substitute Chemsdine Talbi delivered a pinpoint cross from the left and found defender Isa Diop, who had pushed forward in stoppage time.
Van Dijk tracked the flight of the ball but momentarily lost sight of Diop behind him. The defender rose highest and powered his header beyond Verbruggen to send the match into extra time.
“The game plan was working,” Van Dijk said. “In the end, in stoppage time, you get pushed back. Then it goes to penalties and then… unfortunately, we’re eliminated.
“Of course there are always things that could be better, but that doesn’t help us now.”
Momentum swung from end to end in extra time, with the Netherlands threatening on the counter as Morocco chased the game, but neither side could make the pressure count.
Premier League defender Micky van de Ven – regarded as one of the fastest players in the league – produced several searing interventions to keep Netherlands alive.
THE PENALTY SHOOTOUT
Just like the start of the game, the penalty shootout turned chaotic almost immediately.
Netherlands won the toss and chose to take the penalties in front of their supporters, and Teun Koopmeiners gave them the perfect start by burying his effort low to Yassine Bounou’s left. Morocco then cracked under pressure straight away as Aynaoui sent his penalty over the bar to leave the Dutch 1-0 ahead.
But the advantage did not last.
Justin Kluivert had the chance to double Netherlands’ lead but struck the crossbar with a low, powerful effort. Morocco were handed a lifeline moments later in bizarre fashion — Soufiane Rahimi’s low penalty was initially saved by Verbruggen, only for the rebound to bounce back off the goalkeeper and roll into the net.
Wout Weghorst responded by hammering his penalty high into the roof of the net to make it 2-1, only for Talbi to calmly bring Morocco level again.
The drama only intensified from there.
Quinten Timber then dragged his penalty wide for Netherlands, but Morocco failed to take advantage as Achraf Hakimi crashed his effort against the crossbar. With the score locked at 2-2 after four penalties each, Crysencio Summerville had another opportunity to edge the Dutch ahead but saw his tame attempt comfortably stopped by Bounou.
That left Ismael Saibari with the final kick of the contest.
The Moroccan striker showed no nerves, drilling his penalty low into the corner beyond Verbruggen to spark wild celebrations and send Morocco into the Round of 16.
This was the fourth time that Netherlands had been knocked out of a FIFA World Cup on penalties. Before this, they had lost to Argentina in both the 2022 quarter-final and 2014 semi-final, and to Brazil in the 1998 semi-final by a 2-4 scoreline.
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