Lacking stars but have plenty of steel and goals

If the Dutch fans are anything to go by, the party is well and truly on.

- Ashish Magotra

The road to any Netherlands game is paved by the infectious energy of a sea of orange jerseys and that is clearly reflecting in how their team is playing as well.

While many around the world have been focussed on Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronald Koeman’s Dutch team have played with rare freedom to show that while they may lack a superstar, as a squad, they aren't to be trifled with. They started off with a 2-2 draw against a very good Japan team, followed it up with 5-1 hammering of Sweden and finally finished off the group stage with a 3-1 win over Tunisia.

With the win against Tunisia, the Netherlands extended the longest unbeaten group-stage run in World Cup history to 19 games. They last lost a group stage game in 1994, a 0-1 defeat to Belgium.

They next run into Morocco, a team that can take on any side in the world and have genuine hope of beating them. But the Dutch aren't pushovers either.