On the face of it, you’d rather finish first in a World Cup group and play a second-place finisher than the other way around. But for the U.S. men’s soccer team, finishing second in Group B in Qatar might have produced a better matchup for them than finishing first would have.
The Netherlands undoubtedly has a very good team. Forward Cody Gakpo is on fire, with a goal in each of the Dutch squad’s group stage games — and they were all terrific plays. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong is an elite playmaker and tempo-setter who has two goals, one assist, and three chances created so far. Centerback Virgil van Dijk is one of the world’s very best at his position.
If you follow the big club teams in Europe, you know de Jong plays for Barcelona and van Dijk plays for Liverpool. You might not know a lot about Gakpo. He plays for PSV Eindhoven, mainly as a winger, and had 18 goals and 18 assists for the Dutch club this season before heading to the World Cup.
