Netherlands ready to host the Nations League Final

The Netherlands played well in the 2022 World Cup and were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual world champions Argentina. Ronald Koeman has been a new coach on the sidelines since January 1st, 2023. He is now playing his first important game as a Bonds coach. In the Nations League he has the opportunity to win a title. Croatia wants to do the same. These were once again the positive surprise at the World Cup, as they made it to the semi-finals. Unlike the Netherlands, however, Croatia are in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League for the first time. 

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Ronald Koeman on the wheel

Coach Louis van Gaal announced his expected retirement after the World Cup, but this was already certain in advance. The Elftal played anything but a bad World Cup. The group stage was won quite confidently and there was no weakness in the round of 16 against the USA. In the quarter-finals, they only had to admit defeat to eventual world champions Argentina on penalties. In 2023 the team has played 2 games in the group stage of the European Championship qualifier so far. After a crushing 4:0 defeat against France, they were able to prevail against Gibraltar as expected.The defeat against the French was certainly a wake-up call for the team and for Ronald Koeman. However, one must not forget that the team is still in a state of upheaval.

For a long time there was a lack of young talent in the Netherlands, who are in the spotlight in Europe. This has meanwhile turned positive again, because with an average age of 25.6 years, the Oranje squad is already very young. Players like Xavi Simons, Cody Gakpo and Jurrien Timber already play for top European clubs or are on the list for such . With Virgil van Dijk or Frenkie de Jong they also have experienced world-class players who should lead the team. Under Ronald Koeman, the style of play should become a little more offensive again. With Wout Weghorst, however, they currently only have a real center-forward. Memphis Depay will not be in the semifinals.

Never underestimate Croatia

The Croatians are a team that is very difficult to assess. At the 2018 World Cup, they surprisingly reached the final. After that, there wasn't much to see from the Croatians for 4 years before they made it to the semi-finals again last year at the 2022 World Cup and defeated the big favorites Brazil. In the Nations League they have not had any great success so far and this year they are in the KO phase for the first time. In their group, they left France and Denmark behind. This year they are unbeaten in their two European Championship qualifiers against Wales and Turkey.After a 1-1 draw with Wales, they won 0-2 in Turkey. Apart from the World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina, Croatia has now been unbeaten since June 2022.

In contrast to the opponent, the Croatians have not yet initiated the upheaval. Luka Modric and Co. want to continue playing for their country after the World Cup. The quality that these players bring with them could probably not catch Croatia at the moment either. In contrast to the opponents from the Netherlands, there are only 4 players under the age of 25 in the Croatian squad . The quality is certainly not as high as that of the opponents, but Croatia should never be underestimated in important games. The midfield trio around Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic is still one of the best in the world.

Netherlands - Croatia: What to expect? 

So far there have only been 2 duels between these two national teams. The balance is balanced, as both Croatia and the Netherlands were able to win one game each. The last duel so far took place in 2008. In a friendly game, the Netherlands was able to win quite clearly with 0-3. Due to the fact that these duels were decades ago, we wouldn't take them too seriously.

It's a balanced semi-final between the Netherlands and Croatia. Elftal has a new coach, while Croatia are looking for continuity with both the squad and the coach. The Netherlands certainly have the higher quality and they also have more experience in the Nations League. We would therefore tend towards tip 1 . In any case, Croatia can be expected to score. In our opinion, the safer option would therefore be a tip on "Both teams score YES".

• Both Teams To Score
• Netherlands to win

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.