Greece arrived level with the Dutch and lost 7-0, Reijnders' hat trick done by halftime

Greece came to Amsterdam on Friday level on points with the Netherlands at the top of their Nations League group, needing a win to take it outright. By halftime they were 5-0 down, and Tijjani Reijnders already had a hat trick. The Dutch won 7-0 at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, and the group that looked like a two-way race before kickoff now has one clear leader.

Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring in the sixth minute. Reijnders followed in the 12th, 18th and 33rd minutes, the last after Joey Veerman's ball to the back post was headed across goal by Denzel Dumfries. According to Dutch broadcaster NOS, it was the first first-half hat trick for the Netherlands since Marco van Basten did it against Malta in 1990, and Reijnders, in his 40th appearance, had never scored twice in a game for his country before.

Jurriën Timber made it 5-0 in the 40th minute from a Donyell Malen cutback. NOS said it was only the fourth time the Dutch have scored five before halftime, and the first since a game against Estonia on Sept. 5, 2001. Greece had a goal ruled out in the 24th minute.

Frenkie de Jong, only recently back from injury, stayed in the locker room at halftime and was replaced by Teun Koopmeiners, with Dumfries taking the captain's armband. Timber scored his second in the 59th minute, again from a Dumfries cross, and Malen made it 7-0 three minutes later. It was his first goal for the Netherlands in all of 2026, NOS noted.

Greece did have chances at the begining of the second half, the best a 20-yard shot from Fotis Ioannidis that went just wide, and a VAR check on a Reijnders fall in the box ended with no penalty. Goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis also made a one-handed save on Summerville in the 73rd minute.

Before Friday, the two teams were unbeaten on eight points, and Greece had never beaten the Netherlands in a senior competitive match. In Belgrade, Germany beat Serbia 3-1, with goals from Florian Wirtz and Brajan Gruda after an early own goal by Srđan Babić, who later scored for Serbia. Serbia finished with nine men after red cards in the 76th and 89th minutes.

That leaves the Dutch on 11 points, with Germany and Greece on eight going into Monday, when the Netherlands visit Germany and Greece host Serbia. The margin in Amsterdam matters: NOS worked out that if Germany beat the Dutch and Greece beat Serbia, leaving three teams on 11 points, the Netherlands could lose by as many as 13 goals and still go through to the quarterfinals.