Editing Sport in the Netherlands (section)

==Team sports==

===Football===
{{See also|Football in the Netherlands}}

The [[Royal Dutch Football Association]] (KNVB) is the largest sports federation in the country with 1,076,759 players (in 2005).<ref name="sport"/> According to the KNVB's website, it has over 1.2 million members as of 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.knvb.nl/over-ons/over-de-knvb|title = Over de KNVB &#124; KNVB}}</ref> The organization came into being on 19 December 1899, and was one of the founding members of [[FIFA]] (the world Football Association) in 1904.

Dutch football teams won three [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] bronze medals in 1908, 1912 and 1920. Other successes came in the 1970s, when [[Netherlands national football team|the national team]] played in the 1974 and 1978 [[FIFA World Cup]] finals, losing to the tournament's host on both occasions. In the same period, [[Eredivisie|Dutch league sides]] [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]] and [[Feyenoord]] won [[European Champion Clubs' Cup|European Cup]]s from 1970 to 1973. In 1988, the national team won the only international title so far at the [[UEFA European Championship|European Championships]]. [[PSV Eindhoven|PSV]] won the European Cup that year too. Ajax won the European Cup again in 1995.

Despite their wealth of individual talent, the Dutch national men team have only been able to claim one trophy in their entire history. This came at the [[UEFA Euro 1988]] in which they defeated the [[Soviet Union national football team|Soviet Union]] to claim the coveted Henri Delaunay Trophy. In [[UEFA Women's Euro 2017|2017]] the Dutch national woman team equalized this result when they beat [[Denmark women's national football team|Denmark]], claiming their European title on home ground.

Many Dutch football players have gained international fame, such as [[Johan Cruyff]], [[Marco van Basten]], [[Ruud Gullit]], [[Dennis Bergkamp]], [[Patrick Kluivert]], [[Ruud van Nistelrooy]], [[Clarence Seedorf]], [[Wesley Sneijder]], [[Arjen Robben]], [[Robin van Persie]] and [[Frenkie de Jong]]. [[Rinus Michels]] was named Coach of the Century by FIFA in 1999. Additional football notoriety came with the Dutch team's participation in the 2010 World Cup finals, in which they lost to [[Spain men's national football team|Spain]], giving Spain its first World Cup title. In June 2019 the Netherlands reached their 6th major final, where they lost to Portugal in the [[2019 UEFA Nations League Final|UEFA Nations League final]]. A month later the national woman team reached their first [[2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final|World Cup Final]] against [[United States women's national soccer team|USA]].

Football stadiums [[Johan Cruyff Arena]] and [[De Kuip]] have [[UEFA Stadia List|UEFA's 5-star rating]], enabling them to host finals of the UEFA Champions League and the European Championship.

===Baseball===
{{See also|Baseball in the Netherlands}}

The [[Koninklijke Nederlandsche Honkbalbond|Royal Dutch Baseball Federation]] was established on 12 March 1912. They merged with the softball federation to form the [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Baseball en Softball Bond|Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation]] in 1971<ref>[http://www.honkbalsite.com/interactief/historie.html {{in lang|nl}} honkbalsite.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311182223/http://www.honkbalsite.com/interactief/historie.html |date=2008-03-11 }}</ref> In 2008 there were over 24,000 players active at one of the 184 clubs in the country.<ref>[http://www.knbsb.nl/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=44&Itemid=157 {{in lang|nl}} knbsb.nl PDF file]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The Netherlands boasts the most successful [[Netherlands national baseball team|national baseball team]] in Europe, winning the [[European Baseball Championship]] 20 times and frequently representing the continent in international competitions such as the [[World Baseball Classic]] and [[Baseball World Cup]]. There is a domestic [[Honkbal Hoofdklasse|professional baseball league]] whose best team, [[Neptunus]] of [[Rotterdam]], regularly contends for the [[European Cup (baseball)|European club championship]], including five consecutive titles from 2000 to 2004.

Baseball is especially popular on the island of [[Curaçao]]. In 2005, the Pabao [[Little League]] Champions of [[Willemstad]] advanced all the way to the championship game in the [[Little League World Series]]. Former [[New York Yankees]] outfielder [[Andruw Jones]], now of the [[Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles]] in [[Japan]]'s [[Pacific League]], is arguably the most successful and popular baseball player to emerge from Curaçao, and in 2006 was a member of the [[Netherlands national baseball team|Netherlands national team]] that participated in the inaugural [[World Baseball Classic]]. [[Jair Jurrjens]], pitcher for the [[Atlanta Braves]], became the first pitcher from Curaçao to pitch in the major leagues. [[John Houseman (baseball)|John Houseman]] became the first Dutch-born player in the Major Leagues when he made his debut for the [[Chicago Colts]] in 1894.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/mlb/worldclassic2006/news/story?id=2291359 sports.espn.go.com]</ref> [[Bert Blyleven]] was an [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star]], a two-time [[World Series|World Series champion]] and was elected to the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 2011.

In 2009, the Netherlands twice upset the Dominican Republic in the [[2009 World Baseball Classic]]. The Dominican Republic's entire roster played in [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB), while the Netherlands only had one player on an MLB roster. The Dominican teams' combined salary total in the MLB was about $84 million, while the Netherlands totals for $400,000. The Dominican Republic were highly favoured but in its first game against the Dominican, the Dutch won 3–2. The Dominican Republic won its next game against Panama to set up a rematch against the Netherlands. The Dutch stunned the Dominicans again and won 2–1 in extra innings.<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090310&content_id=3961486&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Dutch pull off second upset to advance | MLB.com: News]. Mlb.mlb.com. Retrieved on 2011-02-18.</ref> At the [[2013 World Baseball Classic]] the Netherlands performed even better. With a mix of experienced veterans and talented youngsters they progressed through the preliminary rounds to the semi-final, where the team lost to the Dominican Republic. The team again reached the semifinals at the [[2017 World Baseball Classic]], but again fell one game shy of the championship, losing this time to [[Puerto Rico national baseball team|Puerto Rico]].

===Field hockey===

{{See also|Field hockey in the Netherlands}}

The [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Hockey Bond|Royal Dutch Hockey Federation]] was formed on 8 October 1898 and is, with 185,923 members (in 2005), the fifth largest sports federation.<ref name="sport"/> ''[[Men's Hoofdklasse Hockey]]'' and ''[[Women's Hoofdklasse Hockey]]'' are the country's primary hockey competitions, which are contested by 12 clubs in both the male and female league.

As of 2024, the [[Netherlands women's national field hockey team]] is the most successful team in [[Women's Hockey World Cup|World Cup]] and [[Field hockey at the Summer Olympics|Olympic]] history, having won the title nine and five times respectively. The [[Netherlands men's national field hockey team|Dutch male hockey team]] has won both the [[Hockey World Cup|World Cup]] and Olympic gold on three occasions. Several Dutch hockey league clubs have won the [[EuroHockey Club Champions Cup|European Cup]]. At the [[2024 Summer Olympics|Paris 2024 Olympics]] both the men's and women's teams won the gold medal.

===Korfball===
[[File:Korfrakkers vs Swift.jpg|thumb|Dutch korfball match "De Korfrakkers" ([[Erp, Netherlands|Erp]]) vs. "Swift" ([[Velden, Limburg|Velden]])]]
[[Korfball]] is a mixed gender or only female [[ball sport]], with similarities to [[netball]] and [[basketball]]. It is played by two teams of eight players with four females and four males in each team or with eight female players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball through a bottomless basket that is mounted on a {{convert|3.5|m|ft|1|abbr=in}} high pole. Mixed gender korfball is more generally played in the north of the Netherlands, while all female korfball is generally played in the south of the Netherlands.
The sport was invented by [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[Teacher|schoolteacher]] [[Nico Broekhuysen]] in 1902. In the [[Netherlands]], there are around 580 clubs and over 100,000 people playing korfball. The sport is also very popular in [[Belgium]] and [[Taiwan]], and is played in 54 other countries.
The Dutch korfball union is called Koninklijk Nederlands Korfbalverbond (KNKV).

===Basketball===
[[Basketball]] is also a popular sport in the Netherlands. The [[Netherlands national basketball team|national team]] had its most successful time during the 1980s. At the [[1983 European Basketball Championship]] the team finished in the final four and qualified to the [[1986 FIBA World Championship]] where the Dutch left behind strong competition such as [[Australia men's national basketball team|Team Australia]] and [[Germany national basketball team|Team Germany]]. During that time, the Dutch had its strong players in [[Jelle Esveldt]] and a young [[Rik Smits]]. Smits later became an [[NBA All-Star]] and emerged as the Dutch basketball-icon for years to come.

Since 2000, basketball in the Netherlands went through some revival and has been home to several [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) players, including [[Francisco Elson]] and [[Dan Gadzuric]].

===Handball===
While [[Netherlands men's national handball team|the men's national handball team]] has only qualified for the World Championship once and also once for the European Championship and never for the Olympic Games, [[Netherlands women's national handball team|the women's team]] have been more successful, with a gold medal at the [[2019 World Women's Handball Championship]] as the best result.

===Volleyball===
Volleyball is the third most participated team sport in the country. Founded on 6 September 1947, the [[Nederlandse Volleybalbond|Dutch Volleyball Federation]] is with 128,693 players (in 2005) the ninth largest sports association.<ref name="sport"/> The [[A-League (volleyball)|A-League]] is the highest division in which eight men's and women's teams compete for the national championships.

The [[Netherlands men's national volleyball team|national men's team]] is the most successful exponent, winning the silver medal at the [[Volleyball at the 1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Summer Olympics]] and the gold medal [[Volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics|four years later]] in [[Atlanta]]. The biggest success of the [[Netherlands women's national volleyball team|women's national team]] was winning the [[1995 Women's European Volleyball Championship|European Championship in 1995]] and the [[2007 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix|World Grand Prix in 2007]]

The Netherlands featured national teams in [[beach volleyball]] that competed at the women's and men's section at the [[2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup]].<ref>{{cite news |title= Continental Cup Finals start in Africa|url=https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/continental-cup-finals-start-in-africa?id=94414 |accessdate=7 August 2021 |work=[[FIVB]] |date=22 June 2021}}</ref>

===Cricket===
{{main|Cricket in the Netherlands}}
The [[Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond|Royal Dutch Cricket Federation]] was formed in 1883.<ref>[http://www.kb.nl/vak/deelcoll/teksten/crick.html {{in lang|nl}} kb.nl] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207180842/http://www.kb.nl/vak/deelcoll/teksten/crick.html |date=2008-02-07 }}</ref> In 2021 the federation had 5000 members, which indicates that cricket is a minority sport in the Netherland yet still growing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Onderzoeksrapportage Zo Sport Nederland - NOCNSF |url=https://nocnsf.nl/wat-doet-nocnsf/sport-in-nederland/sportonderzoek/zo-sport-nederland |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=nocnsf.nl}}</ref> The premier division is called the ''[[Topklasse (cricket)|Topklasse]]'', in which ten teams compete for the national championships.

The [[Netherlands national cricket team]] qualified for the [[ICC World Cup|cricket World Cup]] on five occasions; 1996, 2003, 2007, [[2011 Cricket World Cup|2011]] and 2023. The country has been considered one of the stronger associate in the world and in Europe alongside Scotland. Netherlands is ranked within the top 15 teams in the world and has co-hosted the [[ICC Cricket World Cup]] in 1999.

Most recently at the [[2009 World Twenty20]] in England, the Dutch team made a name for themselves by their victory over hosts, England, in the opening match of the tournament. Though they failed to qualify for the Super Eight stage afterward, their win against England,  considered one of the biggest wins in Dutch cricket history. Recently the Dutch have managed to beat two time world champions West Indies in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifiers Zimbabwe 2023 considered ones of the biggest upsets in Cricket history due to it eventually leading to the West Indies not being able to qualify for the World Cup in India 2023.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

In ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 Dutch team led by captain Scott Edwards has surprised the cricket world by beating South Africa and Bangladesh by big margins.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/28/netherlands-bangladesh-england-cricket-world-cup-2023-table|title=Netherlands stun Bangladesh to leave England bottom of World Cup table|publisher=The Guardian|date=October 28, 2023}}</ref>

===Bandy===
In terms of licensed athletes, [[bandy]] is the second biggest winter sport in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldbandy.com/newspost_7640.html |title=Bandy destined for the Olympic Winter Games! |access-date=2019-01-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017132109/http://www.worldbandy.com/newspost_7640.html |archive-date=2018-10-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Bandy was introduced to the Netherlands in the 1890s and enjoyed some following for a couple of decades before ice hockey took over as the most popular winter team sport in the 1920s. However, bandy lived on in the Netherlands, and in the 1970s, it got a more organised form again.<ref name="Janmaat">{{cite web|url=http://www.bandybond.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/120-jaar-bandygeschiedenis-in-Nederland.pdf|title=120 jaar bandygeschiedenis in Nederland|author=Arnout Janmaat|date=March 7, 2013|access-date=February 13, 2013}}</ref> [[Bandy Bond Nederland]] became the first non-founding member of [[Federation of International Bandy#Members and years of admission|Federation of International Bandy]] in 1973. [[Netherlands national bandy team|The national team]] normally plays in Division B of [[Bandy World Championships|the World Championships]]. After winning the division in [[2018 Bandy World Championship|2018]], the team played in Division A in [[2019 Bandy World Championship|2019]]. In [[2025 Bandy World Championship|2025]] a new Division B gold medal came.<ref>[https://worldbandy.com/2025/03/14/netherlands-world-champion-group-b/ NETHERLANDS WORLD CHAMPION GROUP B!]</ref>

===Lacrosse===
For the first time, the Netherlands will feature a national team at the 2022 [[Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships]].<ref>[https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1108412/lacrosse-world-u21 Record 23 lacrosse teams to play at Men's Under-21 World Championship] Ali Iveson ([[Inside the Games]]), 30 May 2021. Accessed 9 June 2021.</ref>