Holland 2 Qatar 0: Gakpo and De Jong fire Dutch into World Cup last 16 to set up tie vs runners-up of England’s group

HOLLAND breezed into the last 16 of the World Cup and will play the runners-up from Group B after beating Qatar 2-0.

And England know they will face Senegal in the first knockout round this weekend should the Three Lions beat Wales later after the Lions of Teranga progressed for the first time since 2002.

GettyHolland booked their place in the last 16 of the World Cup[/caption]

AlamyCody Gakpo grabbed his third goal in as many games[/caption]

EPAKalidou Koulibaly was the hero for Senegal as his winner sent them through[/caption]

Cody Gakpo is becoming one of the stars of this World Cup and could be heading for the Golden Boot.

Many Dutch fans felt they would struggle for goals with Memphis Depay unable to start the opening two games.

But PSV Eindhoven’s Gakpo has filled the gap with three in as many games.

In so doing he has joined exulted company as only the fourth Dutch player to do so at a World Cup after Johan Neeskens (1974) Dennis Bergkamp (1994) and Wesley Sneijder (2010).

His goals have helped the Dutch march into the knockout phase largely untroubled as Group A winners.

To think Manchester United could have got the 23-year-old for £40million in the summer but instead kept that money to fund the Antony deal which cost twice as much.

Leeds will also be ruing the fact that the player pulled out of a move to Elland Road late in the day as well and decided to stay at PSV.

His strike against Qatar broke the deadlock here at the Al Bayt Stadium in the 26th minute and it was a cracking slick move to that led to it.

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There had been question marks over why wing-backs Daley Blind and Denzel Dumfries had not been getting more involved in the opening two games.

But Blind was constantly part of anything good the Dutch did in the first period.

It was he who found Depay who moved it on to Gakpo and he played a slick one-two with Davy Klaassen before executing another fine finish curling the ball beyond the goalkeeper’s outstretched arm into the far bottom corner.

In their opening group win over Senegal he stole in to nick a header home to break that deadlock and was on the mark with a scorching shot after just six minutes against Ecuador.

Memphis was starting his first game here in Qatar after being used as a sub previously following a long lay-off with a hamstring injury.

He was pushing to make up for lost time and after a Frenkie de Jong shot in the 15th minute hit Klaassen he hooked the rebound over the bar.

Qatar did have some moments to lift the home crowd not least in the opening moments when some loose play from the Dutch saw Abdulaziz Hatem have a long-range shot but it was straight at the goalkeeper.

Successive corners around the 20-minute mark also raised expectations but they would come to nothing.

As coach Felix Sanchez said before the game they are just lagging behind at this level and in losing they would become the first hosts to finish a tournament pointless.

Holland added a second through De Jong four minutes after the break.

Klaassen’s cross flicked off a Qatari head in a packed penalty area and found it’s way to Memphis at the far post.

He controlled the ball superbly and shot from close range but was denied by a fine point-blank save by Meshal Barsham.

De Jong was following in to gobble up the loose ball and fire it into the roof of the net.

A player who looked pale and ill with a sore throat the day before was now beaming from ear to ear.

The Qatari crowd in Al Bayt now silent.

Holland thought they had a third when subs Steven Berghuis and Vincent Janssen, who had just come on, combined but it was ruled out after a VAR intervention for a handball by Gakpo in the build-up.

Louis van Gaal’s dream of bowing out in his third term as Dutch coach as world champions is very much alive.

The three points ensured the Netherlands topped Group A and will now face the runners-up from Group B – likely to be Iran or the United States.

Elsewhere, Senegal scraped past Ecuador with a tight 2-1 win to make it through to the knockouts in second place at the expense of the South Americans.

And the Lions of Teranga know they will play the winners of Group B.

Kalidou Koulibaly was the hero with his spectacular winner, volleying in just three minutes after Ecuador had initially equalised.

Knowing a win was needed to go through, Senegal took the lead through Ismaila Sarr’s composed no-look penalty.

But they looked to be crashing out in heartbreaking fashion when Moises Caceido found the net to level the game up.

However, skipper Koulibaly stepped up when his country needed him with his sweeping finish 20 minutes from time.

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ReutersGakpo found the bottom corner to open the scoring[/caption]

GettyFrenkie de Jong could not miss to seal the win[/caption]

ReutersMemphis Depay returned to the starting XI for the Dutch[/caption]

GettyIsmaila Sarr kept his composure with a no-look clutch penalty[/caption]

APKoulibaly finished expertly at the back post[/caption]