Netherlands vs Malta

Euroborg is the venue as the Netherlands and Malta go head-to-head in a lopsided 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier. 

As expected, the Netherlands kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign on a winning note, strolling to a 2-0 victory over Finland last weekend. That triumph extended their unbeaten streak as pre-match favorites to eight games (W5, D3) since losing to Austria at Euro 2024, putting the Oranje in pole position to post another win against sub-par Malta. The Netherlands last faced Malta in October 1995 when they claimed a landslide 4-0 victory to make it six wins out of six against the Mediterranean minnows. Unsurprisingly, they netted 28 goals across those meetings and conceded none. Furthermore, the Dutch have been relentless in recent home clashes against nations ranked outside FIFA’s top 20, winning 30 of their last 31 such outings (D1) – 25 via multi-goal margins. 

On the other hand, Malta’s hopes of securing a first-ever World Cup qualification are in tatters after they failed to score in their opening three Group G outings. However, after back-to-back defeats against Finland and Poland, they held Lithuania to a scoreless home draw, offering traveling fans a glimmer of hope ahead of this tantalizing trip. Yet, winless and scoreless in their last four games (D2, L2), the visitors cannot realistically hope to defy an underwhelming run of seven defeats from their previous eight matches on foreign soil (W1), conceding an average of almost three goals per game in those losses!