The Netherlands first appearance in the UEFA European Championship was at Euro 1976. During qualification they won their group ahead of Poland and Italy, and then defeated Belgium. During the four-team final tournament they lost the semi-finals to Czechoslovakia, and then defeated Yugoslavia in the third-place playoff match. They qualified for Euro 1980 over Poland and East Germany. Despite an opening match win against Greece, a loss to West Germany and a draw with Czechoslovakia kept them from advancing past the group stage. They failed to reach Euro 1984 despite finishing level on points with Spain during qualification.
The Netherlands qualified for Euro 1988 with wins over Greece, Hungary and Poland. During the final tournament group stage they lost to the Soviet Union, and then went on to defeat England and Ireland. In the semi-finals they defeated hosts Germany 2-1, and then beat the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final to become 1988 champions. In the build-up for Euro 1992, the Netherlands qualified ahead of Portugal and Greece. In the group stage, they defeated Scotland and Germany, and drew with the CIS. They then lost to eventual champions Denmark in the semi-finals after 2-2, which was decided by a penalty shootout. The Netherlands finished behind the Czech Republic, and qualified for Euro 1996 via a play-off against Ireland. In the tournament, they drew with Scotland, beat Switzerland and then lost 4-1 to England; they went on to loss in a penalty shootout in the quarter finals to France after 0-0.
As co-hosts with Belgium, the Netherlands automatically qualified for Euro 2000. They won all of their group stage matches, against the Czech Republic, Denmark and France. In the quarter finals they defeated Yugoslavia 6-1 only to lose in the semi finals after 0-0 in a penalty shootout against Italy. The Netherlands finished behind the Czech Republic, and qualified for Euro 2004 via a play-off against Scotland. The opened their tournament match with a draw against Germany, then a loss to the Czech Republic amd a win over Latvia. In the quarter finals they won in a penalty shootout to Sweden before losing the semi finals to hosts Portugal 2-1. They finished second after Romania to qualify for Euro 2008; the Netherlands opened with three wins: 3-0 against Italy, 4-1 over France and 2-0 against Romania. In the quarter finals they lost 3-1 (aet) to Russia. Qualifying ahead of Sweden for Euro 2012, the Netherlands lost all group stage matches: to Denmark, Germany and Portugal. The Netherlands failed to reach Euro 2016 after loses to the Czech Republic, Turkey and Iceland.
Euro 2020 saw the Netherlands qualify behind Germany; they won all group stage matches against Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia. In the round of 16, they lost 2-0 to the Czech Republic. The Netherlands finished behind France to qualify for Euro 2024; they opened with a win over Poland, followed by a draw against France and a loss to Austria. In the round of 16 they defeated Romania 3-0 followed by a 2-1 quarter final win against Turkey. In the semi finals they lost to England 2-1.
Source: UEFA Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Wins; 5) Lower disciplinary points total; 6) European Qualifiers overall ranking (or drawing of lots, if hosts Germany had been involved in the tiebreaker).[18] Notes: