Netherlands 2 France 5
July 13 – France rallied from behind to defeat the Netherlands 5-2 and claim top spot in Group D with a perfect record and in doing so eliminating Oranje and their departing manager Andries Jonker from Euro 2025.
The French fell behind 2-1 in the first half but came roaring back with a three-goal blitz after the hour mark to top the group with nine points, joining Spain and Sweden as the only team with a perfect record. San Diego Wave’s Delphine Cascarino was instrumental in France’s second-half renaissance with two goals and an assist.
It took her team six barnstorming minutes to knock out the Dutch. In injury time, Sakina Karchaoui added France’s fifth from the penalty spot.
Not that the Netherlands had thrown in the towel without a fight. They had their backs to the wall, needing a win by three goals or more following a comprehensive defeat by England. That drubbing left the Dutch and their beleaguered, headline-grabbing manager Jonker soul-searching and questioning their place in the global hierarchy.
Against France, Jonker switched to a 4-4-2 formation with Lineth Beerensteyn and Chasity Grant up front, dropping the talismanic Vivianne Miedema.
In a furious start, Victoria Pelova drove at the French goal and Karchaoui almost opened the score at the other end, but this was a game that neither side controlled. It was a match of moments with both teams showing weaknesses and allowing too much space. The French were the first to capitalise when Sandie Toletti got on the end of a counter, took a touch and finished composedly in the 22nd minute.
The Dutch’s steep task had become even more difficult. They now required four goals, but Jonker’s team didn’t give up and scored a deserved leveller four minutes later through Pelova, who, in the rebound from a spectacular French save, picked out the top corner.
The game remained box-to-box and the industrious Beerensteyn proved that she merited her place in the starting XI. The number ten also played her part in Holland’s second goal that offered the team a glimpse of hope going into the dressing room. Oranje broke down the left with Pelova squaring the ball; Beerensteyn and the French goalkeeper missed it, but Selma Bacha deflected the ball into her own net. The number thirteen hide her face, but the Dutch fans, who had marched through Basel’s city centre in their thousands, were energised and dreamed of an unlikely qualification.
At the start of the second half, the French knocked on the door impatiently with an inexplicable miss from Cascarino, who with the goalmouth gaping, fired over. In the next attack, she slalomed her way past a couple of Dutch defenders but Kerstin Casparij blocked her shot with a last-minute intervention.
Cascarino came good and steered her side to a deserved win. Pinning the Dutch back into their own half, France attacked relentlessly and an equaliser felt inevitable. Just after the hour mark, the ball broke in midfield for Cascarino who set up Marie-Antoinette Katoto, whose finish beat the Dutch goalie.
The French were now rampant. Cascarino got her first goal with a stunning strike in the 64th minute. From the edge of the box, she dispatched a banana ball that flew into the top left corner, sending the French fans behind the goal into a frenzy.
The Cascarino show was not over yet. In the 67th minute, Sandy Baltimore had her shot come off both posts and Cascarino met the rebound with supreme calm to get her second and France’s fourth.
The Dutch had completely faded and in stoppage time, Karchaoui sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot to seal a 5-2 victory.
As group winners, France will play Germany in the last eight. The Dutch return home reflecting on a disappointing tournament as Jonker departs for the English Women’s Super League and Manchester City.
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