Why the Netherlands won’t play in third-place playoff match at Euro 2024

The Netherlands will not feature in a third-place play-off match at Euro 2024 after they were beaten by England in the semi-final.

On Wednesday night, the Three Lions took on the Netherlands at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund for the chance to take on Spain in Sunday night’s Euro 2024 final.

The Dutch had the perfect start after Xavi Simons dispossessed Declan Rice before unleashing a brilliant strike in the seventh minute to make it 1-0.

With 16 minutes on the clock, England were awarded a controversial penalty after Denzel Dumfries was adjudged to have fouled Harry Kane inside the area following a VAR check.

The Bayern Munich talisman stepped up to make it 1-1.

As the clock ticked towards the 90th minute, substitute Ollie Watkins fired England ahead from an almost impossible angle to make it 2-1 to England.

Eventually, Gareth Southgate’s men held on to seal their passage to the final of Euro 2024.

The Netherlands will now head home, which might surprise a few as normally, there would be a third-place play-off match.

However, unlike the FIFA World Cup, there will not be a third-place play-off match at Euro 2024.

In fact, there hasn’t been a third-place play-off match since Euro 1980, which took place in Italy.

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The hosts were in action for third place but they lost 9-8 on penalties against Czechoslovakia after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Although Italy were playing, the interest in the game was low and TV audiences were down. In fact, the attendance inside the stadium was also below expectations.

Since then, there have been 10 European Championships without a third-place play-off match.

After scoring the winner, Watkins said: “I’ve been waiting for that moment for weeks. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am today. I’m delighted. I swear on my life that I said to Cole Palmer that he’s going to set me up today and I’m going to score. It’s the best feeling ever.

“There’s been a lot of criticism but we’re in the final and that’s all that matters. We’ve got that bounce back factor. Going behind seems to kick us into gear. We’ve won on penalties and come from behind.”