Netherlands vs Austria live updates: Euro 2024 match team news ...

While they have struggled at the European Championship in the last few editions, the Netherlands have serious Euros pedigree if you go a bit further back.

They lifted the trophy in 1988 and have reached three semi-finals since, although a second final still eludes them. They could be handed a rather favourable run to the latter stages of the tournament dependent upon today's results.

Did not qualify: 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1984, 2016

It is Hamburg on the opening Sunday of the European Championship and the north German port city is cosplaying as Amsterdam.

The Reeperbahn is a carpet of orange fans, stretching, swaying, and bouncing as far as the eye can see. For many, it is simply not a Euros without the noise and colour provided by Dutch supporters, possibly the most vociferous in Europe.

On this afternoon, however, the actions of three supporters will reignite a fierce debate in Dutch culture — which the national team have now been dragged into.

Those three — male, white, and appearing aged under 40 — were dressed as legendary midfielder Ruud Gullit, who captained the Netherlands to their only major tournament win in the 1988 Euros.

They donned his retro shirt, a dreadlocks wig — and wore blackface. The practice, an individual darkening one’s skin to impersonate a black person, is deemed as racist and offensive in many countries around the world.

Read more below

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Dutch football supporters and a tradition that divides the Netherlands

Ralf Rangnick made a big call up front last time out, recalling Marko Arnautovic back into the starting XI in place of Michael Gregoritsch after the latter got the nod against France earlier in the week.

Bologna forward Arnautovic, 35, who spent last season on loan with Inter Milan, is heading for the end of his career now but remains one of Austria’s key men.

He’s not the fiery, me-against-the-world youngster he once was, but he can still strut like a peacock. So how would he fare leading Austria’s high intensity, high-pressing game? Well, he wasn’t exactly haring around like a greyhound, but his work rate was great, he won the ball back in the final third, he linked up well in Austria’s dangerous front four and he had a couple of sights at goal.

You would imagine Rangnick would prefer a younger version of the former West Ham United and Stoke player to lead his line but Arnautovic did pretty well and it was his clever dummy that led to Baumgartner putting Austria ahead in the second half. Don’t be surprised to see him retain his place.

An impressive Austria beat Poland 3-1 in Berlin, thanks to goals from Gernot Trauner, Christoph Baumgartner and a Marko Arnautovic penalty.

Poland, who were again unable to start Robert Lewandowski, offered little throughout and will now need to beat France in their final group game to have any chance of reaching the knockout stage after losing their first two matches.

The scores were level at half-time, but Austria manager Ralf Rangnick’s clever substitutions turned the tide in his team’s favour and they ran out comfortable winners.

For a forward with 45 goals in 94 international caps, Memphis Depay has a remarkably false role in the Netherlands’ 4-2-3-1. Against France he spent most of the time shuttling between their centre-backs, trying to lock them in one side and play a role in receiving passes when the Dutch made midfield regains.

At the tip of a 4-2-3-1, Depay was given a task which most Premier League forwards failed at last season: play back-to-goal against William Saliba, win aerial duels and try to hold passes into your feet. He thought he had created the winner, indirectly. His shot on the spin, holding off Dayot Upamecano, forced Maignan to parry and Simons fired in the rebound — only for Dumfries to be offside and adjudged as in Maignan’s way.

It spoke to a complicated relationship between Dutch football and No 9s (and their role in build-up), with target man Wout Weghorst left on the bench until 78 minutes — he has four goals in 266 minutes at major tournaments. Koeman’s triple sub in the second-half changed Netherland’s right side (No 8, right winger, No 10) in attack, but left Depay up top. Injuries have contributed but Depay only has one international goal since March 2023.

The Netherlands and France played out the first 0-0 draw of Euro 2024 as both moved closer to qualification for the knockout stages.

The first-half was defined more by a strange decision than anything else. Adrien Rabiot was played through on goal courtesy of a flick from Marcus Thuram. Just yards away from the net, he chose to try and pass the ball to Antoine Griezmann rather than shoot. The ball was slightly behind Griezmann, and his attempt did not trouble Bart Verbruggen in the Netherlands goal.

The Netherlands looked to have taken the lead in the second-half courtesy of a strike by Xavi Simons. But referee Anthony Taylor believed Denzel Dumfries was obstructing Mike Maignan and stopped him from saving the shot while stood in an offside position — leading to the goal being ruled out. It was the only time the ball was put in the net during Friday’s game and, with Kylian Mbappe left on the bench after breaking his nose against Austria, the game finished as a draw.

Memphis Depay will retain his place in the Netherlands starting XI, his manager Ronald Koeman said on Monday.

Depay has been criticised for his poor form back in his native Netherlands.

But Koeman said: “He is convinced of himself, and I have told him he has a very important role because he is a player who normally adds value. The team needs him.

“So for me it is not up for discussion, he will play. It is not without reason that he is the top scorer for the Netherlands.”

Austria boss Ralf Rangnick has said his side will go all out for the win today, rather than relying on the lottery of finishing as one of the better third-placed teams.

He said: “We need an intense and physical performance so we can show off what we are truly capable of.

“To get second we just have to win, so we want to do our job and then see what the other teams do.”

Ronald Koeman has warned his Netherlands side that Austria will “slaughter” them unless they are at their best.

“We have to focus on a target and the players have to be razor-sharp, to make the right choices at the right point of time,” Koeman said at a press conference yesterday.

“We have to be prudent, we cannot give the ball away because Austria will slaughter us. They are very strong, so we need to have possession and come up with a solution.”

If Ralf Rangnick’s side win, they will qualify and this will be as group winners if France don’t beat Poland.

A draw would see them finish third on four points (enough to qualify) and defeat would also see them come third, but this would still likely be enough for them to get through providing they aren’t thrashed.

The top two teams in each of the six groups qualify automatically for the knockout stage.

Teams finishing first will face one of the group-stage runners up or a third-place team in the last 16. Those finishing second will face one of the group winners or another of the runners up in the last 16.

As there will be six each of group winners and runners up, it leaves four spots to be filled. And those will be taken by four of the six teams that finish third.

Of the six third-place teams, the four with the most points will advance to the last 16. In the event of a tie on points, the following factors will be used to determine which team advances:

There will be two rest days between the end of the group stage and the start of the knockout stage. The Round of 16 begins on Saturday, June 29 with two matches.

Here is a full breakdown of the knockout-stage dates:

We will find out over the duration of this tournament who the best managers are at Euro 2024. That’s the easy bit.

But what about the fun bit? How would these managers’ playing careers rank?

Well, if ever there was a feature for the delightful Tim Spiers to get stuck into, it was this. From Serhiy Rebrov to Luis de la Fuente, Luciano Spalletti to Steve Clarke… You can read the rankings in full below — and no, the top-5 is not a foregone conclusion.

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Ranking all the managers at Euro 2024: Which of them was the best player?

Arnautovic has played for a title-winning side twice in his career. He won Serie A with Inter in the 2009-10 and 2023-24 seasons.

So what was he doing for the intervening 13 years? There was a decent three-year spell in Germany with Werder Bremen, a frustrating three and a half years for Stoke City, then a move to West Ham where he briefly seemed their most important player — before a sudden move to Shanghai SIPG in China. Bologna and back to Inter followed.

Arnautovic’s club career has been unpredictable.

But at international level, Arnautovic is the most-capped player in Austria’s history and a veteran of Euro 2016 and Euro 2020 campaigns.

Despite rarely completing 90 minutes he remains one of the side’s leaders, scoring the first goal of Rangnick’s reign and also netting twice in Austria’s most important victory in qualification, a 3-1 win at Sweden.

Arnautovic has scored the most international goals of any player and added to his tally last time out.

What a year for Jeremie Frimpong. A Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal champion, as well as Europa League runner-up, he and Bayer Leverkusen were unbeaten in domestic competitions and so nearly perfect across all three.

A Manchester City academy graduate who began his career as a right-winger, he joined Leverkusen in 2021 after 18 months at Celtic, where he had been used as an attacking full-back.

By his admission, he arrived in the Bundesliga as a raw player who was too dependent upon his speed and too confident in his ability to beat opponents one-on-one.

Now 23, those imperfections have melted away. Many of Frimpong’s best moments in 2023-24 relied not just upon his speed and skill, but also his timing and appreciation for the tactical dynamics around him.

It was remarkable how often he found himself in the right place at the right time.

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The Radar – The Athletic’s Euro 2024 scouting guide

As the Netherlands’ wide forwards combine with their wing-backs in the final third, one feature of this attack is the wing-backs rotating positions with the forwards to be a threat inside the penalty area.

On other occasions, the narrow positioning of the wing-backs creates space for the Dutch forwards in wide areas.

You can see some of the examples of this in Ahmed Walid’s piece, which you can check out in full below.

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Euro 2024 Group D guide: France’s Mbappe plan, Netherlands’ shape-shifting and Austria’s energy

Alternating between a back three and four, Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands continuously change their shape from game to game or within the same match.

Despite that, the differences between the 3-2-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 on the ball are minimal. The Dutch still look to find their No 10s between the lines and combine to create an advantage for their widest players — whether these are wing-backs, a wide forward or an overlapping full-back.

On the other hand, the 4-2-3-1 provides a different profile in the front line; rather than having two wing-backs, it’s an overlapping full-back and a winger. Often, one of the wingers would roam inside the pitch to create space for the advancing full-back.

Out of possession is where the difference between their shapes is most stark, with an additional centre-back making it a back five instead of a back four.

In addition, the Netherlands are able to press higher up the pitch if needed, with their centre-backs accustomed to aggressively marking opponents in advanced positions.

As is the case with all the group climaxes, we’ve got simultaneous games with France vs Poland in Dortmund kicking off at the same time as our clash in Berlin.

Poland were the first country eliminated from Euro 2024 after their defeat to Austria. The remaining three teams have qualified for the round of 16 — now it’s just a case of who finishes where.

Then about an hour after the full-time whistle sounds in Group D, attention switches to Group C where England play Slovenia in Cologne and Denmark take on Serbia in Munich.

England have already qualified for the last 16, but any of the other three could join them.

And the good news is that we have live coverage of all four games today, right here at The Athletic.