Netherlands at the UEFA Women's Championship
For the first European Championship 16 teams entered qualifying and the allocation of the qualification groups took place geographically.
The team coached by Bert van Lingen had to compete against Belgium, West Germany and Denmark.
On 25 September 1982, they played against their neighbors Belgium their first qualifier, in which Sjaan Fortuin scored the first official goal for the Dutch women in the first minute.
After that they won 2–1 against the Danes in Groningen and managed two draws against West Germany, but the last match in Denmark was lost 2-0 and so they missed the qualification for the final round.
The Dutch women started the qualification with a goalless draw in Sweden, after which they won all their matches without conceding and qualified for the first time for the quarter-finals.
In qualifying for the following European Championship finals, the Dutch women were coached by Bert van Lingen.
They scored a total of 17 goals, only one less than Denmark and defending champion Germany, but played two more games.
Denmark were allowed to host the finals and failed in the semi-final against Norway in the penalty shootout, but managed a win in the match for third place against Italy.
A month later 29 teams began the qualification for the next European Championship, which was played for the last time without a final round.
In the finals France and Russia didn't move past the group stage, which took place for the first time.
Sweden as a runner-up in the group faced Finland in playoff's and prevailed through to the finals, where they lost to host and defending champion Germany.
In category A this time, 20 teams played in four groups of five and the Netherlands met old acquaintances: Denmark, Norway, Spain and Belgium.
The Dutch women, now coached by Frans de Kat, could only win both games against their neighbors - each 3-0 - and reach a goalless draw in Spain.
In October 2004, he was replaced by Vera Pauw, who had previously coached the Scotland women's national football team.
At the championship Norway made it into the final but lost against Germany, while Denmark failed at the group stage.
For UEFA Women's Euro 2009, the Netherlands put in a bid to host, but the tournament was awarded to Finland.
They then lost to hosts Finland 2–1, but a 2–1 win over Denmark helped them to second place and qualification for the knockout stage.
While only two of seven Dutch shooters failed to score, three French women fired at the post or over the goal.
The English women scored the decisive goal four minutes before the end to win a place in the final.
Vera Pauw initially remained in office, but was fired as bondcoach in March 2010 after differences with the association leadership.
[7] Top scorer for the Dutch was again Manon Melis, this time with eight goals, four of which she scored in the 6–0 against Serbia in the first game.
At the World Cup, the team failed in the last sixteen round to defending champion Japan and the KNVB separated from Reijners.
His successor was initially on an interim basis, the former national player Sarina Wiegman, before Arjan van der Laan took over the office in October 2015 and began his term with a 2–1 victory in France.
In the quarter-finals they beat Olympic champion Sweden and in the semi-final England, against whom they achieved their highest victory in a European Championship finals.
Lieke Martens was voted best player in the tournament and a few days later Europe's Footballer of the Year as well.
