Copa Football Jersey Copa Pays-Bas 1978

Determined to do better than the second place achieved in the 1974 tournament, the Dutch comfortably qualified for the 1978 competition ahead of their local rivals, the Belgians, and traveled to Argentina with confidence.

However, things took time to get going and qualification in the group stage was hard-earned, due to a draw against Peru and a defeat to Scotland. The turning point came in the second group phase: Rob Rensenbrink and Johnny Rep started scoring freely and the Dutch reached the final thanks to their victories against Austria and Italy and a draw against West Germany.

Despite a great performance over 120 minutes, the final unfortunately unfolded like it did four years ago, as they lost in extra time to the hosts.