But this promises to be a far greater test of their mettle and their prospects of lifting the trophy next month.
France, who are contending with a broken nose for Kylian Mbappe, are the favourites for the Euros but whoever finishes as runners-up will be thrust into what looks like the harder side of the draw for the knockouts.
Few expect Ronald Koeman to lead the Dutch to silverware but this represents a chance to put down a huge marker in their quest to go all the way.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Netherlands vs France is scheduled for an 8pm BST kick-off on Friday June 21, 2024.
The match will take place at Red Bull Arena in Leipzig.
France are fearing for Kylian Mbappe’s availability
REUTERS
Where to watch Netherlands vs France
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on BBC One, with coverage beginning at 7.30pm.
Live stream: Fans can also catch the contest live online for free via the BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer app and website.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Netherlands vs France team news
The big question mark for France comes with Mbappe’s broken nose. A custom mask is being made for the striker, who hurt himself colliding with Kevin Danso late on against Austria, but his return date is not yet certain.
Didier Deschamps should otherwise stick with the line-up from the first game.
Wout Weghorst is not expected to breach the Dutch starting line-up despite his heroics off the bench against Poland, with a super-sub role likely to be his mandate for the tournament.
Donyell Malen looked bright off the bench so could replace Xavi Simons in attack with Jeremie Frimpong another option – particularly to try and keep a lid on Mbappe.
Netherlands vs France prediction
This will be a real litmus test of both teams’ ability to challenge for the trophy. France looked very good against Austria but only managed to score via an own goal, whereas a wasteful Oranje performance against Poland required late heroics.
France are the favourites in what could be a very open and entertaining game.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Les Bleus won both games when these teams met in qualifying but lost to the Dutch in the groups at both Euro 2000 and 2008. However, they did beat them on penalties in a Euro 96 quarter-final at Anfield.
Netherlands vs France match odds
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
[title_words_as_hashtags