Out in the World Cup quarter-finals: Germany fall to the Netherlands | OneFootball

Germany versus the Netherlands: What is a tradition in large-field football is a premiere in small-field football. The Dutch are participating in a major tournament for the first time – and have impressed so far. In the group stage, they won against France and secured a draw against record world champions Kazakhstan.

Germany advanced the day before thanks to an outstanding Leevi Andress in the penalty shootout against Hungary and reached the quarterfinals despite two initial defeats. Now it was about advancing to the World Cup semifinals.

The Dutch presented themselves as technically strong, confident in combinations, and skilled in dribbling. Just before the break, they were rewarded: Biseswar received the ball with his back to the goal, maneuvered it past Cekic with his first touch, and finished through Betz's legs with his second – an outstanding action by the offensive player, who also played in the Kings League Germany.

With the score at 0-1 from Germany's perspective, they went into halftime.

Germany found their rhythm better after the restart and eventually rewarded themselves: Betz finished after a forward move, Cekic converted the rebound – 1:1, everything was open again.

It developed into a balanced game with chances on both sides. Both goalkeepers came into focus and kept their teams in the game. Betz showed strong actions multiple times and seemed to become the man of the evening.

But in the 37th minute, he made a costly mistake: A misplaced pass in the build-up was ruthlessly punished by the Dutch. Germany had to chase a deficit in the final minutes.

And it got even worse: Just a minute later, Oranje increased the lead to 1:3. Biseswar set up Bouzit, who finished from the second row, presenting Germany with an almost unsolvable task.

Despite good chances from Wurm and Fries, it remained 1:3 – the end in the quarterfinals.

📸 Julian Meusel

The Netherlands will now face European champions Poland in the semifinals. On the other side of the tournament bracket, hosts Mexico and record world champions Kazakhstan will face each other.

It wasn't enough for Germany. Despite a nominally thin Dutch squad, Oranje was more dangerous for long stretches and created clearer chances. Betz shone with strong saves, but his misplaced pass led to the decisive 1:2. "Perhaps the quality was lacking in the depth of the squad," was the analysis from small-field legend Kim Sippel.

In five games, Germany won only one in regular time – too little to advance in a World Cup.

In May 2026, the next big tournament, the Socca Euro Cup, awaits and offers a chance for redemption.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.