The Greatest Country To NEVER Win The World Cup

Throughout the history of the World Cup, football's most anticipated tournament and the most watched sporting event in the world, there has never been a nation that's been so historically good at the game and so close to securing victory and listing the trophy, but at the same time failed so many times to have ever won it like the Netherlands. Seriously, there has never been a World Cup squad to make it to three World Cup finals and never win, except for the Uranje. People forget just how historically great the Dutch are at football. Sure, maybe the Eredivisie isn't as respected as it once was, but did you know that the Netherlands are tied for the all-time record in producing the most Ballon d'Or winners of all time? So just how was it possible that a nation this talented has never managed to win? And will they have a chance in the 2022 World Cup? Let's take a look. 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You'll also be getting a total of seven gold rare players, as well as two picks of a minimum 81 overall rating, along with 12 plus rare consumables and your choice of eight picks between two FIFA World Cup players. But what do you guys think? Not too bad, right? And you can always sell them if you'd like and get other players. So make sure to claim your FIFA 23 Prime Gaming drop and come back for more every month. So go and click the link in my description to sign up for Prime Gaming and claim all of Prime's amazing offers. Just like I did. Thanks to Prime Gaming for sponsoring this video. In the 1970s, Dutch football was arguably at the highest level it's ever been. They were consistently seen as one of, if not the top international squad in the world. And a huge reason for that was no other than one of the greatest footballers of all time, as well as the man who basically founded the way the modern game is played, the late, great Johan Cruyff. Cruyff embodied the concept of total football. Total football is basically a system where players can take over the role of another within the pitch, allowing for a more dynamic style of play in an era where players strictly stuck to their positions, played their roles, and played in a very static way. This fluid way of playing was back then seen as revolutionary. How players move and switch around, allowing for more freedom in individual players to really shine and make a greater impact on the pitch. And despite the many greats of his era, it was almost consensus that there was no other player in the world as good as Johan Cruyff. The three-time Ballon d'Or winner was immensely gifted. He played primarily as a playmaker, but at the same time had the ability to score all by himself with unrivaled skill. His touch was divine, his ball control as good as any to ever play, his dribbling graceful and composed, and of course his vision matched only by the greatest passers the game has ever seen. And although he didn't look like it, he was one of the fastest players in his era. Even now, it's hard to find a player who really shows similar traits to the all-time great. I would say he was a mix of a prime caca with Iniesta and diversity of a Luka Modric all in one. In 1974, Cruyff would put the Netherlands squad on his back and lead them to the World Cup. Along with notable players like Johan Nyskens, one of the top midfielders of his era who back in 2004 was even named in the 125 Greatest Living Footballers of All Time by FIFA. Ranked the former 64th in 442's Greatest 100 All-Time Players and was Barcelona's assistant coach during the Rijkaard era. Rob Resenbrink, a winger slash forward who was the all-time scorer for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, the very first winner of the Ans de Oor, and a player who only missed two penalties in his entire career who scored 143 goals in 262 appearances, .54 goals per game record in his prime. Wilhelm Van Hanegem, a midfielder who once beat out Cruyff for the Dutch Footballer of the Year award and one of the best pure passing accuracy and ball retaining midfielders of his era. And Ruud Krol, a defender who placed 3rd in the 1979 Ballon d'Or and a former Serie A Player of the Year who was well known for his ability to win the ball back as well as being one of the best passing defenders in the world. The Netherlands had a pretty stacked team and were already one of the favorites to win. They would destroy Argentina 4-0 with Cruyff scoring a brace, embarrass Brazil 2-0 with Cruyff scoring the final goal, and comfortably win against East Germany 2-0 to make it all the way to the final. And when they got to the final against West Germany, right at the beginning of the match Cruyff would make an amazing run all within the first minutes of the match and eventually reached inside the box with ease before he would get a hard tackle that led to a penalty, which their penalty expert Nieskens easily scored to put Netherlands up 1-0 in just two minutes of play. However, it would kind of knock the wind out of Cruyff and somewhat slow him down throughout the game. However, that West Germany team was just as scary as the Netherlands. They would mark Johan Cruyff heavily throughout the match to prevent him from opening up chances for a squad. And West Germany had legends of their own like Paul Breitner, Franz Beckenbauer, and Gerd Müller. Beckenbauer in particular was able to control the game and help West Germany dominate the match. Paul Breitner, the former Ballon d'Or runner-up and German Footballer of the Year, would score a penalty on the 21st minute while Gerd Müller, one of the most dominant goal scorers ever, secured a win with a 43rd minute goal, eventually making a 2-1 comeback to win the match and take the title. What could have elevated the already all-time great Johan Cruyff to GOAT status felt just a bit short, as he was named the player of the tournament and won his third Ballon d'Or that year. But what he really wanted the most for himself and his nation was just within grasp, but never happened. However, the very next World Cup, in 1978, the Netherlands would once again make a huge push in the tournament and try to win the trophy they were so close to getting just four years ago. Although Cruyff had already retired from international duty after helping his country qualify for one more World Cup, the squad remained relatively the same from four years ago, with names like Nyskens, Resenbrink, Repp, Hahn, and Kroll, and the van der Kerkhoff brothers making the core of the squad. The Netherlands would destroy countries like Austria 5-1, as well as defeat one of the favorites, Italy 2-1. Then they would tie defending world champs West Germany 2-2, but back then the World Cup system was more based on points rather than a knockout bracket. Eventually they would move up to face a host, Argentina, in the final. However, without Johan Cruyff, the Netherlands, as good as their defense and midfield was, just couldn't match Argentina's firepower. Mario Kempes, one of Argentina's most historic players and best goal scorers of all time, would open up the match 1-0 just before halftime, as the Dutch struggled to equalize and control the match. However, in the 82nd minute, the Netherlands would finally get a goal, and the match would be forced into extra time. Then in the span of 10 minutes, Argentina would score two more, led by Mario Kempes winning the match 3-1, absolutely crushing the hearts of all Holland supporters, as they lost their second consecutive World Cup final. Mario Kempes would go on to win the World Cup Golden Boot and Golden Ball, along with the Onze d'Or and South American Footballer of the Year award, being remembered by the older generation as one of Argentina's all-time heroes. While the Netherlands would take many, many years to make a squad as strong as the ones in 1974 and 1978 and make a push to the World Cup final once more. It wouldn't be until the late 80s that the Netherlands would produce a squad talented enough to stand on top of the world. This was the era of the greatest Dutch trio and even one of the greatest footballing trios of all time, Marko van Basten, Ruud Hulet, and Frank Rijkaard. At one point, all three finished on top of Ballon d'Or voting, with Rijkaard being an incredibly diverse and talented defensive mid, Ruud Hulet being an incredible playmaker, and Marko van Basten being the cherry on top as a lethal striker. These three, along with notable names like Ronald Koeman, Wim Keeft, and Gerald Wavenberg would be crowned as champions in the 1988 Euros. The squad was young and full of talent, led mostly by their iconic Dutch trio, who the people believed could finally win their country the coveted World Cup. But although they were dominant in the Euros, much to everyone's surprise, in the World Cup, they never went far. In the 1990 World Cup, in their group, they only finished third, falling behind England in the Republic of Ireland, eventually being knocked out by West Germany in the round of 16. A major disappointment for such a talented squad. However, in 1998, although not nearly as good as the Dutch trio led squad a decade prior, Netherlands squad had great form and chemistry. Led by players like Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Mark Overmaars, Frank and Ronald de Boer, and Patrick Kluivert, the Netherlands would finish at the top of their table without a loss and go on to beat Yugoslavia in the round of 16 and Argentina in the quarterfinals. However, they would come across the heavy favorites to win, a Ronaldo led Brazil. It was an underrated matchup with the tournament, as Ronaldo scored right before halftime and Kluivert equalized for the Netherlands right before the 90th minute whistle. But they would narrowly lose 4-2 on penalties, making it the closest they got to reaching the final in 20 years. But it wouldn't be until over another decade until they would produce a squad with enough quality to finally get a chance to get back to the final. This brings us to the 2010 World Cup. Of all the previous great Dutch squads, although not as top heavy, this was arguably the most solid squad the Netherlands have ever put together. Their attack was led by Robin van Persie, Wesley Snyder, and Arjen Robben. Their defense was led by Giovanni van Bronckhorst with very informed players like John Hatienga and Gregory van der Veel. Nigel de Jong, Raphael van der Vaart, and Mark van Bommel were also relentless midfielders as well. And lastly, their goalkeeper, Martin Stecklenburg, was probably the best performing keeper in the tournament after Iker Casillas. They would dominate their group without a single draw or loss. Going on to beat Slovakia in the round of 16 absolutely crushed the hearts of Brazil in an upset 2-1 win in the quarterfinals, a match that I watched and I couldn't believe as I watched Kaká try so hard to score and win, but was ultimately stopped by Stecklenburg's unbelievable saves. But throughout the knockout stages, it was no doubt Wesley Snyder who was leading the team to victory. In the semifinal, they would battle it out against a Uruguay missing Luis Suarez, ultimately winning 3-2. Then in the final, they would face the mighty Spain in one of the most hard-fought World Cup finals ever, a match where there was a record 14 yellow cards issued by the refs. In fact, there should have been more red cards, but considering how big the match was, they let some pretty questionable fouls remain as yellows, and Arjen Robben was as close as any other Dutch player before him to winning the World Cup. But Iker Casillas had a miracle save just by the very end of his boots, which kept Spain alive long enough to score the game-winning goal in additional time, making it the third World Cup final so far for the Dutch. Now in the 2022 World Cup, after missing the previous World Cup in Russia, the Netherlands have assembled a squad that is very defensive and midfield heavy, but overall pretty balanced if you ask me. They'll have players like Virgil van Dijk, Mathias De Ligt, Nathan Ake, Frankie de Jong, Xavi Simmonds, Denzel Dumfries, and Memphis Depay. Now I'm not exactly saying I support this Dutch squad, but I think they're pretty decent. And who knows, they might have a 30% chance based on sports gambling odds, but I think that they might be a team that can surprise everyone.