Xavi's Netherlands Run Riot In Thrashing Of Greece

Netherlands demolish Greece

It was billed as a clash of the unbeaten sides. It ended as a rout. Xavi's Netherlands were relentless, ruthless and utterly unstoppable as they put seven past Greece in a statement Nations League win.

Mavropanos nightmare as Netherlands hammer Greece 7-0 in Nations League rout...

When the two unbeaten sides met, only one turned up. The Netherlands ran riot in a jaw-dropping 7-0 thrashing of Greece in Nations League Group A2, inspired by a first-half hat-trick from Tijjani Reijnders.

The rout was on inside six minutes, and Greece only had themselves to blame. Konstantinos Mavropanos endured a horror start, losing possession twice in a matter of seconds to gift the Dutch the opener.

Desperate to make up for that first mistake, the West Ham defender only made things worse. In trying to recover, he ended up laying the ball on a plate for his former teammate Crysencio Summerville, who gleefully punished the generosity.

The second goal, by contrast, was pure Dutch class. A slick, one-touch passing move dragged the Greek defence all over the place before Reijnders arrived to crash the finish into the roof of the net.

By the 19th minute it was already 3-0. Reijnders doubled his tally for the night, latching onto a clever flick from Donyell Malen to deepen Greece's misery.

Greece thought they had been thrown a lifeline when Bart Verbruggen slipped badly after a long ball over the top from Konstantinos Tzolakis, leaving Fotis Ioannidis to roll it into an empty net. But VAR intervened, spotting a handball from Ioannidis in the build-up and chalking it off.

Mavropanos then wasted a decent chance, heading over from close range, and any faint hope of a comeback vanished moments later. Reijnders raced onto a Denzel Dumfries header to seal his hat-trick and put the game well and truly to bed.

Reijnders nets first-half hat-trick

And the humiliation wasn't done before half-time. Malen turned provider, rolling it across for Jurrien Timber to walk it in for his first goal in orange.

Greece survived a little longer after the break, but only just. On 59 minutes, Timber was there again, ghosting in to bury another inviting cross from point-blank range.

The scoreboard barely had time to update. Two minutes later, Malen got the goal his performance deserved, arriving to finish off yet another cutback and make it seven.

It just wasn't Ioannidis' night. He finally beat Verbruggen with a shot that cannoned off the post, but the linesman's flag was already up.

Xavi's men eventually eased off, sparing Greece further punishment. Even then, Tzolakis had to pull off a smart save to stop Summerville from making it eight.

Coming into this one, Greece had built their reputation on being hard to break down. Just three goals conceded in four Nations League games, five clean sheets in their last nine. That defensive wall simply crumbled. Xavi's side have now scored at least twice in eight of their last ten games, and on this form, no backline looks safe.

𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍. 🇳🇱 https://t.co/B6I2JMdMXH

— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) November 13, 2026

There is a catch for the Dutch, though. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker in the group, so topping it is not yet in their hands. They still have to avoid defeat against Germany. But with a goal difference like that, a quarter-final spot is now as good as booked.

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