After Oranje crush Tunisians, Netherlands says best is yet to come in World Cup

It was an Oranje party in Kansas City on Thursday.

After an estimated 20,000 fans marched through KC clad in all shades of their team’s signature orange, the Netherlands cruised to a 3-1 victory over Tunisia in front of 68,391 at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium.

The victory clinched the top spot in Group F and put the Dutch on a path toward the coveted “deep run” in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“We’re really happy we can be top of the group,” said Netherlands defender Jan Paul Van Hecke. “Now it’s game on. Now the big games come.”

Goals from Van Heck and Brian Brobbey were preceded by Ellyes Skhiri’s own-goal just two minutes in. Hazem Mastouri’s 54th-minute header gave Tunisia a consolation prize as the team bowed out of the tournament without recording a single point.

The Netherlands’ journey through the group stage was impressive. The Dutch tallied 10 goals — tied with 2014 for their most in a group stage — and went unbeaten for the seventh time.

“The confidence is really high,” said goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. “I think we’ve shown this group stage how good we can be … and I still believe we’ve got more in us.”

While scoring goals left and right, the Dutch have also conceded a goal in every game, four in all.

“We’ve got some more clean sheets in us,” Verbruggen said. “So the combination of what we’ve already shown and what we know that we are still capable of, that combination gives us a lot of faith, a lot of trust and confidence. I’m excited.”

What awaits Oranje in the knockouts?

Up next for Team Netherlands is Morocco, and that matchup is no easy task.

After drawing with mighty Brazil in its first match of the tournament, the Moroccans defeated Scotland and Haiti en route to a second-place finish in the group, based on goal differential.

“Personally, I’m really looking forward to that game,” Van Hecke said. “These are the kind of games you want to play. These are the big games, and that’s why you want to play in the World Cup.”

Coincidentally, the Netherlands and Morocco faced each onther in the group stage during the 1994 World Cup, which also took place in the U.S.

That match in Orlando was played on June 29, 1994. The date for the Netherlands’ upcoming Round of 32 matchup? June 29 on the dot, in Monterrey, Mexico, exactly 32 years later.

Morocco was a surprise semifinalists in the 2022 World Cup at Qatar, defeating both Spain and Portugal before falling to France. This time around, however, Morocco will surprise no one.

Should the Netherlands get past Morocco, the winner of the South Africa-Canada match awaits in the Round of 16 — a showdown in which the Netherlands would be heavy favorites. That would set up a match with what could very likely be the winner of a game between France and Germany, so long as those two take care of business.

But the Netherlands isn’t thinking about any of that just yet.

“One step at a time,” Verbruggen said. “I think Morocco is a very, very good team. It will be a hard game. We should put all our focus on that game, preparing ourselves to the best we can to show the best possible performance that we can.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.