Before Klopp's debut: Classic Germany vs Netherlands in Nations League

On Thursday evening, the football world awaits the highly anticipated Klopp premiere in the Nations League match between the Netherlands and Germany, while.de highlights the most significant encounters of these rivals.

Historical Highlights Between the Two Nations

At Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, Germany celebrated a 2:1 victory over the Netherlands on 13 June 2012 in Kharkiv. The classic had already been the World Cup final on 7 July 1974, which Germany also won 2:1 against the favored “Eleven”, with Johan Neeskens scoring the earliest World Cup final goal after just two minutes.

Another memorable match was the 1:1 draw in the World Cup qualification on 26 April 1989 in Rotterdam, which was overshadowed by serious hooligan disturbances.

Quotes and Anecdotes from History

“I’ll tell you,” world champion Paul Breitner said in November 2025 to our editor, “after the 1:0 for the Dutch there we all wanted only one thing: Go home to mum!” Breitner added that the Dutch, after the 1:0, had tried to make the Germans look ridiculous, which gave the Germans time to recover.

Klopp urges Germany to rise above early World Cup exits

A legendary Euro semi‑final in Hamburg ended 2:1 for the Netherlands thanks to a late goal from Marco van Basten; Ronald Koeman caused a stir when he symbolically wiped a swapped shirt of Olaf Thon on his backside.

Frank Rijkaard spat at Rudi Völler in the face on 24 June 1990 in the World Cup round of 16 in Milan, after which Guido Buchwald told his teammates: “Now we have to play for Rudi.”

Klopp expects a smooth debut against the Netherlands

The Spanish sports newspaper AS warned: “Never doubt Germany”, while the Dutch Algemeen Dagblad wrote: “Leaderless the Oranje suffers defeat against Germany on a gloomy evening.”