The Netherlands team suffered a bitter night on June 29 by falling in the penalty shootout against Morocco by 3-2, with which said goodbye to the 2026 World Cup in the round of 32.
The team led by Ronald Koeman He was one of the favorites of the competitionbut he came across a Morocco that has shown be the revelation of the tournament and a serious rival since his outstanding participation in the 2022 World Cup.
Despite taking the lead on the scoreboard with a goal from Cody Gakpo in the 72nd minute, the glory went away from the “clockwork orange”, and the Moroccan Isaa Diop forced the game to go to extra time.
After several failures in the penalty shootout, Morocco took the victory. Besides, A curious constant that has haunted the Netherlands since the 2014 World Cup was repeated.
Several international media have noticed this constant in the Netherlands’ eliminations in the world championships: it is their third consecutive elimination in World Cups without having lost either in regulation time (90 minutes) or in extra time (30 minutes).
This shows that the penalty shootout is still an obstacle that the Netherlands has not been able to overcome, since the team has been undefeated in more than 20 World Cup games in regulation and added time.
The last time the Netherlands was defeated in regulation time was, precisely, in the final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when they lost 1-0 against Spain.
Since then, all his eliminations have occurred from the penalty spot. For example, in 2014, the Netherlands lost in the semifinals against Argentina.
Although the match ended goalless and extra time did not break the tie, the decision reached the much-feared penalty shootout for the Netherlands. where errors by Ron Vlaar and Wesley Sneijder allowed the albiceleste to advance to the final.
In 2018, the Netherlands team failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia. since they finished in third place in Group A, surpassed by France and Sweden.
But in 2022, the “clockwork orange” returned to the competition and was again eliminated by Argentina in the quarterfinals, again on penalties.
History repeated itself in 2026 against Morocco, which, despite making several mistakes, emerged victorious thanks also to the outstanding performance of their goalkeeper Bono.