Sweden were the first 'eternal' opponents of the Netherlands at a major international tournament. At the first four official Olympic football tournaments, held between 1908 and 1924, the two sides met each other in five matches, three of them requiring extra time. In both 1908 and 1924 the encounters were to decide the bronze medalists, at Sweden's home Olympics in 1912 it was a first round match and in 1920 the match served as a quarter-final. Only in 1924 were Sweden victorious, after a replay, against a Dutch team which had given the eventual winners from Uruguay a real scare in the semi-finals, narrowly losing 1-2 after a highly controversial late penalty awarded to the South Americans; Uruguay won all its four other matches in Paris by a margin of three goals or more.
Since that bronze medal match replay, now more than a century ago, the two countries only met three more times at major final tournaments; the first two of those matches, in 1974 and 2004, both finished goalless, but the third saw Oranje equal their highest ever win over the Blågult, first achieved more than half a century earlier in Solna (the nine meetings hosted by the Scandinavians, three in Stockholm and six in Solna, averaged more than five goals a game, with both sides scored at least once in all nine matches!).
All matches listed are friendlies unless otherwise stated.
Game Date Venue Result Remark 1. 23-10-1908 London Netherlands 2-0 Sweden [Olympic Games (Consolation Tournament)] 2. 25-10-1908 Den Haag Netherlands 5-3 Sweden 3. 29- 6-1912 Stockholm Sweden 3-4 Netherlands [Olympic Games, aet] 4. 9- 6-1919 Amsterdam Netherlands 3-1 Sweden 5. 24- 8-1919 Stockholm Sweden 4-1 Netherlands 6. 29- 8-1920 Antwerpen Netherlands 5-4 Sweden [Olympic Games, aet] 7. 8- 6-1924 Paris Netherlands 1-1 Sweden [Olympic Games, aet] 8. 9- 6-1924 Paris Sweden 3-1 Netherlands [Olympic Games] 9. 13-11-1927 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-0 Sweden 10. 9- 6-1929 Stockholm Sweden 6-2 Netherlands 11. 9- 6-1948 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-0 Sweden 12. 8- 6-1950 Solna Sweden 4-1 Netherlands 13. 14- 5-1952 Amsterdam Netherlands 0-0 Sweden 14. 19- 5-1954 Solna Sweden 6-1 Netherlands 15. 29- 4-1964 Rotterdam Netherlands 0-1 Sweden 16. 19- 6-1974 Dortmund Netherlands 0-0 Sweden [World Cup] 17. 4- 9-1974 Solna Sweden 1-5 Netherlands 18. 27- 4-1983 Utrecht Netherlands 0-3 Sweden 19. 26- 6-2004 Faro/Loulé Netherlands 0-0 Sweden [European Champ., aet, 5-4 pen] 20. 18- 8-2004 Solna Sweden 2-2 Netherlands 21. 19-11-2008 Amsterdam Netherlands 3-1 Sweden 22. 12-10-2010 Amsterdam Netherlands 4-1 Sweden [European Champ. Qual.] 23. 11-10-2011 Solna Sweden 3-2 Netherlands [European Champ. Qual.] 24. 6- 9-2016 Solna Sweden 1-1 Netherlands [World Cup Qualifier] 25. 10-10-2017 Amsterdam Netherlands 2-0 Sweden [World Cup Qualifier] 26. 20- 6-2026 Houston Netherlands 5-1 Sweden [World Cup]
Total record:
Netherlands 26 12 6 8 52- 49 30
Sweden 26 8 6 12 49- 52 22
Some more stats:
Pd N D S NG- SG
In the Netherlands: 10 7 1 2 19- 10
In Sweden: 9 2 2 5 19- 30
Elsewhere: 7 3 3 1 14- 9
Netherlands - List of International Matches
Sweden - List of International Matches
Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 21 Jun 2026
(C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2010/26
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.