When the United States celebrates its 250th birthday next summer, there will be plenty of red, white and blue– and a splash of orange. The Netherlands confirmed their place at the World Cup in North America with a 4-0 win over Lithuania on Monday night, a flurry of three goals in five second-half minutes providing the gloss for Ronald Koeman’s side.
The Dutch entered the game all but assured of qualification after Friday’s draw against Poland had left them three points clear of the Poles and with a far superior goal difference. That gave Koeman room to experiment, and he made four changes after the off-colour performance in Warsaw. Xavi Simons got the nod in attacking midfield despite his struggles for form at Tottenham, while Matthijs de Ligt made his first Oranje start of 2025. Pairing De Ligt at centre-back was the ever-present Virgil van Dijk, who by wearing the armband for the 72nd time broke the record for most appearances as Dutch captain.
The opening minutes were tepid, the Dutch dominating possession without carving out many clear opportunities. Lithuania– 146th in the FIFA rankings and without a competitive win since March 2024– were set up to foil Oranje’s creativity, sitting deep with five defenders and with a player, typically midfielder Modestas Vorobjovas, constantly shadowing Frenkie de Jong during the Dutch buildup. Bottom of Group G, the Lithuanians were nonetheless supported by a contingent of 150 or so fans who for much of the night were louder than the home crowd under the closed roof of the Johan Cruijff Arena.
The home supporters did raise their voices just past the quarter-hour mark when the Netherlands took the lead through Tijjani Reijnders. An underhit pass from Lithuanian defender Artemijus Tutyškinas was pounced on by De Jong, whose pass to Reijnders allowed the Manchester City midfielder to drive a shot past Edvinas Gertmonas into the far corner. Van Dijk nearly doubled the Dutch advantage moments later, creeping free from his marker and heading a corner towards goal which Gertmonas had to scramble to keep out.
The remainder of the first half proceeded with the hosts shuttling around in third gear, which was more than sufficient against their overmatched opponents. Only occasionally did the Oranje players care to remind the crowd that they almost all play for elite Premier League sides. Reijnders hit the outside of the post with a trivela after Memphis Depay had fed him with a backheel, while Jurrien Timber nearly scored after a dainty lofted ball from Cody Gakpo found him at the far post, Gertmonas again called into action. The exception to the half-speed approach was Simons, continuously moving into space and asking for the ball to be played to him so he could make something happen.
Lithuania had managed to stay in the game, only trailing by a goal, and had their first shot on target shortly after half-time, Tomas Kalinauskas prodding a volley into Bart Verbruggen’s hands. That preceded the game’s most concentrated spell of goalmouth action, the Dutch putting the game out of reach in a flash with three goals right around the hour mark. The first of those goals came from a VAR-awarded penalty after the unfortunate Tutyškinas had scraped the ball with his arm in the penalty area. Depay, the Netherlands’ all-time leading scorer and with eight goals in the qualifying campaign, surprisingly handed the ball off for Gakpo to take the spot kick, which the Liverpool winger rolled home after sending Gertmonas the wrong way.
The penalty had aroused the Amsterdam crowd from their slumber, and no sooner had play resumed than Gakpo turned provider, picking out his former PSV teammate Simons to lash home from inside the box. A wide grin emerged on Simons’ face, the midfielder savouring his first goal since August having failed to find the back of the net since his €65 million move from Leipzig to Tottenham. The smiles got even bigger two minutes later. Reijnders cleared a Lithuania corner up to the halfway line, where Malen sprinted onto the loose ball and nutmegged past the overwhelmed Justas Lasickas before scoring Oranje’s fourth. Malen’s goal was the Netherlands’ 27th in eight qualifying matches, ranking them second behind Norway for most prolific country during the qualifiers.
The qualifying campaign has achieved its goal. Oranje’s next competitive match will be in North America in mid-June of next year, with the opposition and exact date to be determined by next month’s draw in Washington, D.C. The real test awaits across the Atlantic.
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