The list here includes all matches the Netherlands played against German teams: pre-war Germany, West Germany (FR Germany here, considered the successor of Germany as the football association (DFB) remained the same), East Germany (German DR here) and the unified Germany (officially after the 1990 World Cup).
Matches between the national sides of the Netherlands and (West)
Germany have never lacked in intensity (as indeed club matches,
or matches in other sports, most notably (grass) hockey), but
only got an additional bitter edge (mostly on the Dutch side)
after the 1974 World Cup final. Before, Dutch rivalry with
Belgium, almost fallen
into oblivion nowadays, was much stronger.
The Netherlands played both their first ever draw (5-5 in 1912,
still the highest scoring draw the Netherlands ever played, equalled
in 1999 against Belgium)
and their first ever goalless draw (in 1923) against Germany.
The Netherlands had the better of the early exchanges, and it
took Germany 7 matches before chalking up their first win. The
Netherlands kept the head-to-head advantage for nearly half a
century, including a surprise 2-1 win away against the ruling
world champions in 1956. A 7-0 trashing in 1959 got Germany
level on wins (but ahead in the goal count), and they have kept
their advantage in the head-to-head statistics ever since.
But of course, among all the 48 matches between (West) Germany and the Netherlands, one takes precedence over all others – the 1974 World Cup final in which the Netherlands took a second minute lead before a German player even touched the ball, and then fell to hybris (and a pretty decent West German team). In spite of the partial revenge in the 1988 European championship semi-final (the second half of which mirrored the first half of the 1974 final in a number of uncanny ways), Dutch football is still suffering from that trauma.
The 9 matches the Netherlands played against East Germany are also listed below. Some of these were quite spectacular, in particular two matches in Leipzig: the 4-3 win by the hosts (after the Netherlands had taken a 0-2 lead within 15 minutes) in 1967, with a hattrick by Henning Frenzel after a barrage of corners on the Dutch goal, and the 3-2 win by the visitors (after East Germany took a 2-0 lead after just over half an hour) in 1979, a result which clinched Dutch qualification to the 1980 European championship. There should have been a tenth match, but the return leg of the World Cup 1962 qualifiers, scheduled for October 1st, 1961, was never played: the Dutch authorities refused visa to the East German delegation, and as Hungary had already won the 3-team group by a mile, the match was cancelled. Dutch sports rivalry with East Germany concentrated on (women's) swimming and (women's) speed skating, but apart from Yvonne van Gennip in Calgary 1988 the Dutch athletes tended to be zweite Sieger in these contests, for reasons already well-known at the time. At least in football the overall record was clearly to Dutch advantage.
All matches listed are friendlies unless otherwise stated.
Game Date Venue Result Remark 1. 24- 4-1910 Arnhem Netherlands 4-2 Germany 2. 16-10-1910 Kleve Germany 1-2 Netherlands 3. 24- 3-1912 Zwolle Netherlands 5-5 Germany 4. 17-11-1912 Leipzig Germany 2-3 Netherlands 5. 5- 4-1914 Amsterdam Netherlands 4-4 Germany 6. 10- 5-1923 Hamburg Germany 0-0 Netherlands 7. 21- 4-1924 Amsterdam Netherlands 0-1 Germany 8. 29- 3-1925 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-1 Germany 9. 18- 4-1926 Düsseldorf Germany 4-2 Netherlands 10. 31-10-1926 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-3 Germany 11. 20-11-1927 Köln Germany 2-2 Netherlands 12. 26- 4-1931 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1 Germany 13. 4-12-1932 Düsseldorf Germany 0-2 Netherlands 14. 17- 2-1935 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-3 Germany 15. 31- 1-1937 Düsseldorf Germany 2-2 Netherlands 16. 14- 3-1956 Düsseldorf FR Germany 1-2 Netherlands 17. 3- 4-1957 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-2 FR Germany 18. 21-10-1959 Köln FR Germany 7-0 Netherlands E 1. 14- 5-1961 Leipzig German DR 1-1 Netherlands [World Cup Qualifier] E -. 1-10-1961 Amsterdam Netherlands n/p German DR [World Cup Qualifier] 19. 23- 3-1966 Rotterdam Netherlands 2-4 FR Germany E 2. 5- 4-1967 Leipzig German DR 4-3 Netherlands [European Champ Qual.] E 3. 13- 9-1967 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-0 German DR [European Champ Qual.] E 4. 11-11-1970 Dresden German DR 1-0 Netherlands [European Champ Qual.] E 5. 10-10-1971 Rotterdam Netherlands 3-2 German DR [European Champ Qual.] E 6. 30- 6-1974 Gelsenkirchen Netherlands 2-0 German DR [World Cup] 20. 7- 7-1974 München FR Germany 2-1 Netherlands [World Cup] 21. 7- 5-1975 Frankfurt FR Germany 1-1 Netherlands 22. 18- 6-1978 Córdoba Netherlands 2-2 FR Germany [World Cup] E 7. 15-11-1978 Rotterdam Netherlands 3-0 German DR [European Champ Qual.] 23. 20-12-1978 Düsseldorf FR Germany 3-1 Netherlands E 8. 21-11-1979 Leipzig German DR 2-3 Netherlands [European Champ Qual.] 24. 14- 6-1980 Napoli FR Germany 3-2 Netherlands [European Champ] 25. 11-10-1980 Eindhoven Netherlands 1-1 FR Germany E 9. 12- 3-1986 Leipzig German DR 0-1 Netherlands 26. 14- 5-1986 Dortmund FR Germany 3-1 Netherlands 27. 21- 6-1988 Hamburg FR Germany 1-2 Netherlands [European Champ] 28. 19-10-1988 München FR Germany 0-0 Netherlands [World Cup Qualifier] 29. 26- 4-1989 Rotterdam Netherlands 1-1 FR Germany [World Cup Qualifier] 30. 24- 6-1990 Milano FR Germany 2-1 Netherlands [World Cup] 31. 18- 6-1992 Göteborg Netherlands 3-1 Germany [European Champ] 32. 24- 4-1996 Rotterdam Netherlands 0-1 Germany 33. 18-11-1998 Gelsenkirchen Germany 1-1 Netherlands 34. 23- 2-2000 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-1 Germany 35. 20- 9-2002 Gelsenkirchen Germany 1-3 Netherlands 36. 15- 6-2004 Oporto Netherlands 1-1 Germany [European Champ] 37. 17- 8-2005 Rotterdam Netherlands 2-2 Germany 38. 15-11-2011 Hamburg Germany 3-0 Netherlands 39. 13- 6-2012 Kharkiv Germany 2-1 Netherlands [European Champ] 40. 14-11-2012 Amsterdam Netherlands 0-0 Germany 41. 13-10-2018 Amsterdam Netherlands 3-0 Germany [European Nations League] 42. 19-11-2018 Gelsenkirchen Germany 2-2 Netherlands [European Nations League] 43. 24- 3-2019 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-3 Germany [European Champ Qual.] 44. 6- 9-2019 Hamburg Germany 2-4 Netherlands [European Champ Qual.] 45. 29- 3-2022 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1 Germany 46. 26- 3-2024 Frankfurt Germany 2-1 Netherlands 47. 10- 9-2024 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-2 Germany [European Nations League] 48. 14-10-2024 München Germany 1-0 Netherlands [European Nations League]
Total record: Germany/FRG 48 18 18 12 90- 79 54 Netherlands 48 12 18 18 79- 90 42 German DR 9 2 1 6 10- 17 5 Netherlands 9 6 1 2 17- 10 13 Some more stats: Germany/FRG Pd G D N GG- NG In Germany: 22 8 7 7 41- 32 In the Netherlands: 20 7 9 4 38- 37 Elsewhere: 6 3 2 1 11- 10 German DR Pd G D N GG- NG In German DR: 5 2 1 2 8- 8 In the Netherlands: 3 0 0 3 2- 7 Elsewhere: 1 0 0 1 0- 2
East Germany - List of International Matches
(West) Germany - List of International Matches
Netherlands - List of International Matches
Thanks to Roberto Di Maggio
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
(karel.rsssf@gmail.com)
Last updated: 15 Oct 2024
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1996/2024
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