Netherlands women's national handball team

The Dutch women’s team would have been qualified as the host nation for the 2012 European Championship. However, the event had to be moved to Serbia at a late stage due to high costs and uncertain revenue for the Netherlands Handball Association. As a result, the Netherlands lost its host-nation berth and also received a heavy fine.^[2][3][4]

Netherlands failed to qualify for the 2009 World Championship because it lost both qualification matches against Ukraine. Things went better at the 2011 World Championship, where the team reached the final round and ultimately finished fifteenth. A fourth place in the group stage secured a spot in the round of 16, but there the Netherlands came up against the eventual world champion, Norway. The same scenario unfolded at the 2013 World Championship. In the final round, the team once again finished fourth in the group stage and faced the eventual world champion – this time Brazil – in the round of 16.

The breakthrough for the Dutch women’s team came at the 2015 World Championship in Denmark, where the Netherlands reached the final of a global tournament for the first time in history, finishing second after a 23–31 defeat to world champion Norway.^[5] It would mar the start of the Dutch golden generation, including players like Tess Wester, Lois Abbingh, Estavana Polman, Kelly Dulfer and Nycke Groot.

In 2016, the team achieved its second major success by qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At an Olympic qualification tournament in Metz, France, the Netherlands defeated Tunisia, Japan, and hosts France, earning an Olympic berth for the first time ever. They finished fourth at the Games after a disappointing 26–36 loss to Norway in the bronze-medal match. In the semifinals, the Netherlands had narrowly lost to France. Gold went to Russia, who defeated France 22–19.

A few months later, at the 2016 European Championship in Sweden, the team achieved its third major success within a single year. Once again, and for the first time in European Championship history, the Netherlands reached the final, where they once more had to bow to world and European champion Norway—this time by the smallest possible margin: 29–30.^[6]

At the 2017 World Championship in Germany, the Dutch women’s team finished in third place after defeating Sweden 24–21 in the bronze-medal match.^[7] At the 2018 European Championship in France, the Dutch team once again reached the podium, finishing third after beating Romania 24–20 in the bronze-medal match. In that game, the Netherlands were exceptionally strong in defense: Romania managed to convert only 33% of their attacks.^[8]

At the 2019 World Championship in Japan, the Dutch women’s team achieved the greatest success in its history by becoming world champions. In a thrilling final, the Netherlands defeated Spain 30–29. The ending was dramatic: just over half a minute before the end, the Netherlands lost the ball, giving Spain the chance to run down the clock and look for a winning goal. Tess Wester saved the team with a brilliant stop, after which Hernández received a red card for obstructing Wester’s throw-out. With six seconds left, the Netherlands were awarded a penalty, which Lois Abbingh converted with nerves of steel.^[9] In the semifinal, the Netherlands had already beaten Olympic champion Russia 33–32, with Laura van der Heijden scoring the decisive goal in a true thriller.

For the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, the Netherlands were automatically qualified as reigning world champions. Their second consecutive Olympics once again did not produce a medal. The team lost only narrowly to Norway (29–27) in the group stage and advanced to the quarterfinals as the second-placed team. There, they were overpowered 32–22 by the eventual champions, France. After reaching the World Championship podium three times in a row, the Netherlands were eliminated in the main round at the 2021 World Championship in Spain and finished ninth.^[10]

At the 2025 World Championship at home they reached a semifinal for the first time since 2019 when they beat Hungary in the quarterfinal.^[11] Afterwards, Lois Abbingh and Estavana Polman retired from the national team, marking the end of an era.^[12]

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1976	Did not qualify
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016	4th	8	2	2	4	216	218	−2
2020	5th	6	4	0	2	191	175	+16
2024	5th	6	4	0	2	177	166	+11
Total	3/13	20	10	2	8	584	559	+25

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1957	Did not enter
1962
1965
1971	8th	4	1	0	3	31	46	−15
1973	12th	5	0	0	5	33	81	−48
1975	Did not qualify
1978	9th	5	1	0	4	87	97	−10
1982	Did not qualify
1986	10th	7	2	0	5	127	163	−36
1990	Did not qualify
1993
1995
1997
1999	10th	6	4	0	2	140	127	+13
2001	16th	6	1	1	4	138	144	−6
2003	Did not qualify
2005	5th	9	6	1	2	262	242	+20
2007	Did not qualify
2009
2011	15th	6	2	0	4	186	176	+10
2013	13th	6	2	0	4	170	150	+20
2015	2nd	9	7	1	1	298	217	+81
2017	3rd	9	6	1	2	252	214	+38
2019	1st	10	7	0	3	328	280	+48
2021	9th	6	4	1	1	270	145	+125
2023	5th	9	8	0	1	289	216	+83
2025	4th	9	7	0	2	285	219	+66
2027	TBD
2029
2031
Total	15/30	106	58	5	43	2906	2517	+389

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD
1994	Did not qualify
1996
1998	10th	6	1	0	5	126	153	−27
2000	Did not qualify
2002	14th	3	0	0	3	73	80	−7
2004	Did not qualify
2006	15th	3	0	0	3	65	84	−19
2008	Did not qualify
2010	8th	6	2	0	4	131	145	−14
2012	Withdrew
2014	7th	6	2	1	3	161	158	+3
2016	2nd	8	6	0	2	227	201	+26
2018	3rd	8	6	0	2	207	196	+11
2020	6th	7	3	0	4	193	196	−3
2022	6th	7	3	1	3	214	196	+18
2024	6th	8	5	0	3	241	215	+26
2026	Qualified
2028	TBD
2030
2032
Total	11/20	54	23	2	29	1397	1409	–12

• Carpathian Trophy 2004 – Third place
• Holland Handball Tournament 2006 – Fifth place
• Carpathian Trophy 2016 – Third place
• Intersport Cup 2022 - Winner