Netherlands vs Austria preview, team news, tickets & prediction

This month sees the play-offs for Euro 24 for the finals in Germany. And Wales are favourites to win Path A, hoping to beat Finland (21st March) and then the winner of Poland and Estonia in the final 26th March.

If Wales do win, they will enter a tough group D with the Netherlands, Austria and France. So today, we look at that final group fixture. Play-off winner A will face France, but I’m most interested in the clash between the Netherlands and Austria which will likely be the battle for progression and the final group standings.

The sides close out their respective 2024 UEFA European Championship group stage journeys by squaring off in the capital of Germany 25th June 2024 at 5pm GMT, both confident of qualifying thanks to the new format, but positions having a big impact on the next opponents.

• Group D runners up play against the runners up of Group E.
• The Third Place team will face the winners of Group E.
• The group D winner will place Group F runner up.

Group E is Belgium, Slovakia, Romania, and the winner of play-off path B.

Group F is Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic and winner of play-off path C.

So at a guess, coming 3rd means likely a game against Belgium, who although tend to fall flat in big tournaments, are in a very easy group. Snatching second spot could be vital.

There is no doubt that a tough Group D is the group of death, and the Netherlands will hope to end their third game with a win against a resilient Austria side. The Dutch are sixth in the World Rankings while their counterparts are 24th, but Austria would aim to close that gap considerably by causing an upset.

And history is on their side, as the Netherlands have won all of their last six meetings by at least two goals, with their most recent fixture also coming at the last Euros when the Oranje beat Austria thanks to goals from Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries.

The 1988 winners of the European Championship were knocked out by the Czech Republic in a 2-0 defeat at the Round of 16 stage of Euro 2020 and they will want to go further this year.

Netherlands results in qualifying for Euro 24

Their first match since the 2022 FIFA World Cup was a devastating 4-0 defeat to France who went three goals ahead after only 21 minutes. However, Depay and Nathan Ake got on the scoresheet in a 3-0 defeat of Gibraltar a few days later to get their first points on the board.

The UEFA Nations League finals ended in two defeats for the Dutch in June but they resumed the Euros qualifiers with successive wins over Greece and the Republic of Ireland.

France got the better of Netherlands once again in Amsterdam, yet Koeman’s men clinched their ticket to Germany thanks to Virgil van Dijk’s stoppage-time penalty in the next game against Greece.

Another lone goal for the already-qualified Dutchmen was enough to beat Ireland in the return leg while they ended the series in style with a 6-0 thumping of group minnows Gibraltar.

Calvin Stengs scored a hat-trick and was joined by Mats Wieffer, Teun Koopmeiners and Cody Gakpo on the scoresheet as the Netherlands closed for the calendar year on a high.

They will start their Euro 2024 adventure against the play-off winner, and then face France before the encounter with Austria.

Holland can call upon an excellent previous record against The Boys, but they must have done enough to earn the right for a knockout spot by Matchday 3. Hence, they must be at their best to achieve their primary target for the competition.

Key Dutch players

Captain of Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk is not only one of the best centre backs in the world, but he has had a tumultuous recent few weeks. Not content with scoring the winner in the Carabao Cup final to lift the trophy with departing boss Klopp, he’s been a rock at the back and really should have seen his side claim 3 points against Manchester City yesterday to wrestle control of the 3-horse race for the title.

In goal, they could look to Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen or Brentford’s Mark Flekken between the sticks, and in defence there is Matthijs de Ligt, Daley Blind, Denzel Dumfries and Nathan Aké to utilise for a solid base.

It’s in attack where you have to take note, with talents such as Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay, Wout Weghorst, Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen.

Anything less than the quarter-finals (likely against Portugal) will be a poor showing for Koeman’s Clockwork Orange.

Are Austria dark horses?

I’m writing off an Austrian side far too easily, who no slouchs after a commendable qualification to reach their third consecutive European Championship with an impressive double over Sweden and draw in Belgium. With the new format, they will likely progress to the Quarter finals.

Last time round in Euro 2020 they recorded their first win in the competition with a opening 3–1 victory against North Macedonia. That also represented the first time they had scored more than one goal in a group stage game. And they recorded a 1-0 win against Ukraine in the final group game to advance as group runners-up.

Their first appearance in the knockout stages of a European Championship was the first time in any tournament since the 1982 World Cup. However, Austria were knocked out by eventual champions Italy after extra time at Wembley.

Their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign began with three wins and a draw from the first four games. They beat Sweden 3-1 but suffered their only defeat of the year in a 3-2 defeat at home to Belgium.

Three days later, Austria clinched qualification thanks to Marcel Sabitzer’s lone goal at Azerbaijan. They then closed the series with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Estonia before beating Germany by the same scoreline.

Austria will face France in their Euro 2024 opener while the Dutch are their final opponents in the group. They will surely give a good account of themselves regardless of the quality of their rivals, making them one of the teams to keep an eye on as potential Dark Horses.

Austria results in qualifying for Euro 24

Key Austrian players

There are few household names here in the Unsere Burschen side unless you know European football in depth. Alexander Schlager is the usual goalkeeper with captain David Alaba, Maximilian Wöber, Stefan Posch and Philipp Lienhart in defence.

The goals come from midfield with Marcel Sabitzer, Nicolas Seiwald, Christoph Baumgartner, Michael Gregoritsch. Up front is usually Michael Gregoritsch and veteran Marko Arnautović.

Match tickets

The Olympiastadion in Berlin is the venue for this match on Tuesday 25th June 2024, with kick-off set for 5 PM UK time. Fans can purchase match tickets on the UEFA website through a public application window with applications for over 20 million copies.

The remarkable 70,000-capacity arena is a fitting setting for this continental clash of teams with varying hopes for Euro 2024. The game should be a sell-out, given that host country Germany borders both countries, so each set of players should have a fair representation at all of the different match venues and stadiums for the matches.

Therefore, the search for match tickets is set to be hectic as official channels respond to ticket applications. Supporters who want to attend the game can check resale sites for Netherlands vs Austria tickets.

Team news

Jurrien Timber, Tyrell Malacia, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt are all injured but are expected to be fit enough to make the Euro 2024 squad.

Austria’s David Alaba will be a big miss at the Euros after his season was confirmed over due to an ACL rupture. Patrick Wimmer could also join him as a long-term absentee

Philipp Leinhart’s is considered a minor injury, so he should be fit and available. Elsewhere, Stefan Lainer has made an emotional return to his club, Borussia Moenchengladbach after he was diagnosed with cancer. After featuring at the last edition, the defender could be involved in the Euro 2024 squad.

Line-ups

The Dutch have rebuilt their starting 11 in recent years to return to their glory days. While there is no clear star player save for captain Van Dijk, Xavi Simons is one to watch as he would be a key attacking weapon for the Oranje.

The Dutch are dangerous on the wings, with Inter’s marauding right-back Dumfries and either Blind or Hartman on the left a creative force.

Netherlands: Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Dijk, Aké, Hartman; De Roon, Veerman; Simons, Reijnders, Depay; Weghorst

Ralf Rangnick has done an excellent job of galvanizing this Austria team and there is no doubt that they are an effective unit under the German.

They are likely to be solid and compact against their attack-oriented opponents.

Austria: Schlager; Posch, Lienhart, Danso, Mwene; Laimer, Seiwald, Schlager, Sabitzer; Arnautovic, Gregoritsch

Netherlands vs Austria prediction

I’m writing this preview months in advance, much like the Germany vs Hungary opener, so form can’t be counted in any of these match predictions. But the Netherlands should see this one out with a victory, especially as they could need any crucial points here to advance to the next round with a favourably draw.

Austria cannot be entirely ruled out as they can upset the Dutch, but a win for Austria would be a shock. It should be an exciting clash, nonetheless, but I’m tipping the The Flying Dutchmen to cruise through this comfortably with their superior quality at both ends of the pitch.

Netherlands 3-1 Austria

Match details

When: 25th June 2024 18:00 local time, 17:00 GMT
Where: Olympiastadion, Berlin