Romania vs Netherlands facts

Romania will seek to overturn the Netherlands' historic dominance in this fixture as the teams meet at the Munich Football Arena in the penultimate round of 16 tie at UEFA EURO 2024.

The Dutch have won ten of their 14 games against Romania, scoring 29 goals, but it is their opponents who come into this tie as section winners while the Oranje progressed as one of the best third-placed sides.

Romania finished top of Group E thanks mainly to a 3-0 win against Ukraine in Munich in their opening fixture. They subsequently lost 2-0 against Belgium but progressed in first place after a 1-1 draw against Slovakia as all four teams in the section finished with four points – a EURO first.

The Netherlands looked set to make smooth progress after a 2-1 comeback win against Poland on Matchday 1 in Group D; that was followed by a goalless draw against France before a 3-2 defeat by Austria allowed their conquerors to leap to the top of the table and pushed the Dutch down to third place behind Les Bleus.

The winners of this tie play Austria or Türkiye in the quarter-finals in Berlin on 6 July.

Previous meetings

Matches 14
Netherlands wins 10
Romania wins 1
Draws 3
Netherlands goals 29
Romania goals 3

This is the teams' 15th match and a first since the Netherlands won 3-0 in Bucharest in a friendly on 14 November 2017, second-half goals from Memphis Depay (47), Ryan Babel (56) and substitute Luuk de Jong (81) earning a comfortable victory for Dick Advocaat's Dutch visitors at the expense of a Romania side coached by Cosmin Contra.

Nathan Aké, Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt were also in the Netherlands' line-up; Nicolae Stanciu came on at half-time for Romania.

That made it four successive wins against Romania for the Oranje with 13 goals scored and only one conceded.

The winning run started at EURO 2008, Marco van Basten's Netherlands earning a 2-0 Group C win in Bern on Matchday 3 to progress to the quarter-finals with a perfect group stage record and eliminate their opponents. Second-half strikes from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (54) and Robin van Persie (87) proved decisive for the Dutch against Victor Piţurcă's Romania.

The Netherlands scored eight goals against Romania in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying competition, winning 4-1 in Bucharest – Rafael van der Vaart and Van Persie both among the scorers – and 4-0 in Amsterdam, Van Persie scoring twice and Van der Vaart once. Jeremain Lens also found the net in both matches.

Ciprian Marica's goal in the first of those games was only Romania's third against the Netherlands and their sole strike in the last four matches between the sides.

The sides were also paired in qualifying for EURO 2008, when Romania came out on top, holding the Netherlands to a 0-0 draw in Rotterdam in March 2007 before beating them 1-0 in Constanta in October 2007 through Dorin Goian's 71st-minute goal. Piţurcă's side duly took first place in Group G – three points clear of the Oranje.

That was the Netherlands' only loss to Romania, a team whom they have beaten in ten of their past 14 meetings.

They recorded 2-0 wins both at home and away against Romania in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. Phillip Cocu and debutant Ryan Babel struck in the victory in Bucharest in March 2005 while Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt were on the scoresheet when the Dutch prevailed again that June.

Romania failed to score in the first five fixtures between the teams and have found the net in just three of the 14 matches overall.

EURO facts

Romania

Romania are featuring in the finals for the sixth time and the second in three editions of the competition. Their best performance came in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to eventual runners-up Italy in the quarter-finals having progressed from a group including Portugal, England and Germany.

Their last two appearances in the tournament have ended in the group stage. At EURO 2016 a team coached by Anghel Iordănescu finished bottom of Group A behind France, Switzerland and Albania having picked up one point from their three games.

The Matchday 1 win against Ukraine at EURO 2024 is one of only two Romania have managed at a EURO tournament, the other a 3-2 victory against England on Matchday 3 of EURO 2000 – a result that took them into the quarter-finals. Their record otherwise is D6 L11.

Romania were fourth in their EURO 2020 qualifying section, behind Spain, Sweden and Norway, and lost 2-1 to Iceland in the play-off semi-finals.

This time round, under Anghel's son Edward Iordănescu – who has been in charge since January 2022 – Romania remained unbeaten (W6 D4) to finish five points clear at the top of Group I, sealing their place at EURO 2024 with a 2-1 defeat of Israel in Hungary in their penultimate fixture.

Romania have qualified from a EURO group stage for only the second time, at the sixth attempt; this is the first time they have won their section having finished second to Portugal at EURO 2000.

The 3-0 win against Ukraine on Matchday 3 is Romania's only victory in 2024; their record otherwise is D4 L2.

However, Edward Iordănescu's side were unbeaten in their ten matches in 2023, winning six.

The Matchday 1 win against Ukraine was Romania's first game at the Munich Football Arena – they also never played at the Olympiastadion in Munich.

Netherlands

This is the Netherlands' 11th EURO appearance, their most famous campaign coming in 1988 when goals from Ruud Gullit and Van Basten earned a team coached by Rinus Michels a 2-0 final win against the Soviet Union.

The Dutch are making their ninth appearance in the last ten editions of the tournament, missing out only in 2016.

At EURO 2020, under Frank de Boer, the Netherlands were first in Group C on nine points after wins against Ukraine (3-2), Austria (2-0) and North Macedonia (3-0), but then lost 2-0 to Czechia in the round of 16.

With Ronald Koeman – a European champion as a player in 1988 – returning for his second spell in charge from 1 January 2023, the Netherlands qualified for EURO 2024 as Group B runners-up. Beaten 4-0 away and 2-1 at home by section winners France, they triumphed in their other six games, a 1-0 victory against the Republic of Ireland in Amsterdam in their penultimate qualifier confirming a finals place.

The Oranje lost four of their ten games in 2023, winning the other six, but the Matchday 3 defeat by Austria was only their second in seven matches in 2024 (W4 D1). A 2-1 friendly loss to Germany in Frankfurt on 26 March is their only other reverse in their last ten outings, and one of only three they have not won.

The Netherlands have progressed from the group stage eight times out of ten, including on eight of their last nine appearances.

The Dutch made their first round of 16 appearance at EURO 2020, losing 2-0 to Czechia.

This is the Netherlands' first game at the Munich Football Arena. They played three times at the Olympiastadion, including the 2-0 win against the Soviet Union in the final of the 1988 European Championship, going some way towards easing memories of the 2-1 defeat by West Germany in the 1974 World Cup final at the same stadium. Their last game in the city was a 0-0 draw against West Germany in 1990 World Cup qualifying on 19 October 1988.

Links and trivia

Radu Drăgușin joined Micky van de Ven at Tottenham in January.

Romania goalkeeper Horațiu Moldovan has been an Atlético de Madrid team-mate of Netherlands forward Memphis Depay since January.

Romania's Răzvan Marin made 17 appearances for Ajax in 2019/20.

Marin's team-mates in Amsterdam included Daley Blind and Ryan Gravenberch.

Penalty shoot-outs

Romania have lost both competitive penalty shoot-outs:
4-5 v Republic of Ireland, 1990 World Cup round of 16
4-5 v Sweden, 1994 World Cup quarter-final

Romania have, however, won two on spot kicks at the friendly Cyprus International Tournament – against Georgia in 2000 (4-2) and Cyprus in 2011 (5-4).

The Netherlands' shoot-out record is W2 L6:
4-5 v Denmark, EURO '92 semi-final
4-5 v France, EURO '96 quarter-final
2-4 v Brazil, 1998 World Cup semi-final
1-3 v Italy, EURO 2000 semi-final
5-4 v Sweden, EURO 2004 quarter-final
4-3 v Costa Rica, 2014 World Cup quarter-final
2-4 v Argentina, 2014 World Cup semi-final
3-4 v Argentina, 2022 World Cup quarter-final