The Netherlands national football team has appeared in eleven UEFA European Championship tournaments. The team did not enter the first tournament during Euro 1960 and failed to qualify for Euro 1964, Euro 1968 and Euro 1972.
The Netherlands' first appearance in the UEFA European Championship was at Euro 1976. During qualification they won their group ahead of Poland and Italy, and then defeated Belgium. During the four-team final tournament, they lost the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, and then defeated Yugoslavia in the third place play-off match. They qualified for Euro 1980 over Poland and East Germany. Despite an opening match win against Greece, a loss to West Germany and a draw with Czechoslovakia kept them from advancing past the group stage. They failed to reach Euro 1984 despite finishing level on points with Spain during qualification.
The Netherlands qualified for Euro 1988 with wins over Greece, Hungary and Poland. During the final tournament group stage, they lost to the Soviet Union, and then went on to defeat England and the Republic of Ireland. In the semi-finals, they defeated hosts Germany 2âÂÂ1, and then beat the Soviet Union 2âÂÂ0 in the final to become 1988 champions. In the build-up for Euro 1992, the Netherlands qualified ahead of Portugal and Greece. In the group stage, they defeated Scotland and Germany, and drew with the CIS. They then lost to eventual champions Denmark in the semi-finals after a 2âÂÂ2 draw, which was decided by a penalty shoot-out. The Netherlands finished behind the Czech Republic, and qualified for Euro 1996 via a play-off against the Republic of Ireland. In the tournament, they drew with Scotland, beat Switzerland and then lost 4âÂÂ1 to England; they went on to lose in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals to France after a 0âÂÂ0 draw in regulation.
As co-hosts with Belgium, the Netherlands automatically qualified for Euro 2000. They won all of their group stage matches, against the Czech Republic, Denmark and France. In the quarter-finals, they defeated Yugoslavia 6âÂÂ1, only to lose in the semi-finals after a 0âÂÂ0 draw in a penalty shoot-out against Italy. The Netherlands finished behind the Czech Republic, and qualified for Euro 2004 via a play-off against Scotland. They opened their tournament match with a draw against Germany, then a loss to the Czech Republic and a win over Latvia. In the quarter-finals, they won in a penalty shoot-out against Sweden before losing the semi-finals to hosts Portugal 2âÂÂ1. They finished second after Romania to qualify for Euro 2008; the Netherlands opened with three wins: 3âÂÂ0 against Italy, 4âÂÂ1 over France and 2âÂÂ0 against Romania. In the quarter-finals, they lost 3âÂÂ1 after extra time to Russia. Qualifying ahead of Sweden for Euro 2012, the Netherlands lost all three group stage matches: to Denmark, Germany and Portugal. The Netherlands failed to reach Euro 2016 after losses in qualifying to the Czech Republic, Turkey and Iceland.
Euro 2020 saw the Netherlands qualify behind Germany; they won all group stage matches against Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia. In the round of 16, they lost 2âÂÂ0 to the Czech Republic. The Netherlands finished behind France to qualify for Euro 2024; they opened with a win over Poland, followed by a draw against France and a loss to Austria. In the round of 16 they defeated Romania 3âÂÂ0, followed by a 2âÂÂ1 quarter-final win against Turkey. In the semi-finals, they lost to England 2âÂÂ1.