Netherlands 1-0 Republic of Ireland: Wout Weghorst sends Ronald Koeman's side to Euro 2024
Match report as Netherlands qualify for Euro 2024 with victory over Republic of Ireland; Wout Weghorst scores early first-half goal to secure second place in Group B behind France; Ireland finish second bottom with only six points after two wins and eight defeats
Saturday 18 November 2023 22:08, UK
Wout Weghorst fired the Netherlands into the Euro 2024 finals as the Republic of Ireland's dismal campaign ended with a whimper.
Burnley's on-loan Hoffenheim frontman, whose winner in Dublin in September left Ireland with a mountain to climb, repeated the trick in Amsterdam to secure a 1-0 victory which was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggested.
As a result, the Dutch secured second place in Group B behind France, who put 14 without reply past Gibraltar.
Stephen Kenny's men, who have now won only six of the 29 competitive games they have played under his charge, barely laid a glove on a far superior side on a night when they had hoped to bloody the nose of one of Europe's traditional big guns.
Their feint hopes of securing a play-off berth via the Nations League were formally dashed on Thursday night by Slovakia's 4-2 victory over Iceland with automatic qualification having slipped from their grasp long before.
Callum Robinson was handed a first competitive start for the Republic of Ireland since June 2022 as they attempted to end their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on a high in the Netherlands.
The Cardiff frontman was included in one of four changes to the side that beat Gibraltar 4-0 last time out as he, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea and Alan Browne replaced the injured Chiedozie Ogbene as well as Shane Duffy, Jamie McGrath and Mikey Johnston, who were all named on the bench.
Get Sky Sports
Download the Sky
Read on skysports.com
