Despite being seventh in the FIFA world rankings, the Netherlands are not among the favourites to win the Euro 2024. In the qualification rounds, the Orange finished second in Group B after losing twice to the group leader France.

In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, their last major international tournament, the Netherlands unfortunately lost to Argentina in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals and three years ago, in the 2020 UEFA Euro Cup, they lost to the Czech Republic in the Round of 16.

In this upcoming summer championship, Ronald Koeman's team has been placed in Group D along with France, Poland and Austria. It would not be an easy task for the Dutch to win the group as the Les Blues will be there and also there will be tough competition from the other two participants.

UEFA Euro 2024, The Netherlands: What are the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Oranjes?

The main power of this Dutch squad is their elite defence line-up, consisting of star players like the Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City's Nathan Ake, Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich, Inter's Stefan de Vrij and Denzel Dumfries, who all have been brilliant in this season so far. They only conceded seven goals in the eight matches of the qualifying rounds with five clean sheets. Also, fierce competition for the starting roles will be there due to the presence of many talents like Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong, Jurien Timber from Arsenal, and Tottenham's Micky van de Ven.

In the midfield, Frenkie de Jong should be back in time after a long break due to an ACL injury. Marten de Roon and Teun Koopmeiners, the Atlanta duo should also cut the holding midfielders roles. The former Liverpool player Georginio Wijnaldum will join the squad and his inclusion will certainly provide more depth to Dutch midfield.

Unlike their powerful defence, the attacking lineup is not so impressive. Wout Weghorst will probably be the main striker, despite having a below-par season at Hoffenheim. Xavi Simons will be another player to watch out for, who had an excellent individual campaign at RB Leipzig. Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay, and Steven Bergwijn will be there, but they all need to step up their games to help Oranjes glide through the knockout stages of the tournaments.

UEFA Euro 2024, the Netherlands: Predictions, Fixtures, How Far the Dutch Could Go in the Euro 2024?

Netherlands are slotted in Group D along with Poland, Austria and France. We expect the Dutch to qualify from the group stages and advance to the knockouts.

Predictions For the Knockouts:

Scenario 1: If the Netherlands finishes top of Group D, they will be matched up with the runners-up of Group F. As Portugal is expected to win Group F, Turkey or Czechia should be the runners-up.

If the Oranje manage to progress into the quarter-finals they most probably face the champion of Group E and this is expected to be Belgium. This will be a hard fixture for the Netherlands and if they manage to win it, they will most probably face any one of Spain, Croatia and Italy from Group B.

Scenario 2: If the Dutch finish second in Group D, they will most probably face Ukraine as the runners-up of Group E. As they progress to the quarter-finals, they will most probably face Portugal as the winner of Match 41, who has ousted Oranjes from this championship in the past. This would be the expected end for the Netherlands and if they manage to continue, they will face Germany or Spain in the Semifinal.

Hence, it is very unlikely that the Netherlands will go past the quarter-finals in Euro 2024.

Despite having talented players in different positions, there were instances where players failed to reciprocate their club form for the national team. However, not being a favourite could be a blessing in disguise for them, as there will be fewer expectations and it will be the right situation for them to be the dark horse of this European Championship of 2024.