Netherlands v Qatar – what the stats say
The Netherlands have won all four of their Fifa World Cup matches against Asian sides, scoring 11 goals and conceding just once. This is their first ever meeting with Qatar in any competition.
This is the Netherlands’ fourth Fifa World Cup match against a host nation – they lost the 1974 and 1978 finals to Germany and Argentina respectively, before beating Brazil in the third place play-off in 2014.
Only in 1978 (2-3 v Scotland) have the Netherlands lost their final group stage match at the Fifa World Cup (excluding second group phases), winning four and drawing three.
Qatar have lost both of their 2022 World Cup matches; no single host nation has ever lost as many as three matches at an edition of the tournament.
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The Netherlands have scored with three of their four shots on target at the 2022 World Cup, although they only managed one in their 1-1 draw with Ecuador. Since 1966, their fewest total shots on target in a group stage at the World Cup is 10 in 1990.
The host country has won their final group stage match in five of the last six World Cup tournaments (including both Japan and Korea Republic as joint-hosts in 2002), with Russia losing 3-0 to Uruguay in 2018 in the other.
The Netherlands managed just two shots at goal in their 1-1 draw with Ecuador on MD2; that was the fewest efforts at goal by a European nation in a World Cup match on record (since 1966).
Qatar have now conceded five goals in the group stages – no host nation has ever conceded more in a single group stage, with South Africa also conceding five in 2010.
Cody Gakpo has been directly involved in at least one goal in his last five appearances for the Netherlands in all competitions (4 goals, 1 assist). For club and country in all competitions this season, Gakpo has been involved in 34 goals in 28 appearances, scoring 16 goals and assisting a further 18.
Cody Gakpo has put Netherlands 1-0 up in both of their World Cup matches in 2022. Only three players have ever scored in three consecutive World Cup appearances for the Dutch national side: Johan Neeskens (1974), Dennis Bergkamp (1994) and Wesley Sneijder (2010).