25% of Dutch think Oranje will win European title; Where to watch the semi-final tonight

On the day of the European Championship semi-final between the Netherlands and England, 25 percent of Dutch football supporters think that Oranje will win the European title. Three-quarters have confidence in coach Ronald Koeman’s team, according to a survey of RTL Nieuws’s panel. Various cities will show the match on big screens tonight.

Pubs and bars across the country will broadcast the match between Oranje and England at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Various cities have also organized public screenings, according to ANP. Amsterdam, for example, will broadcast the match on a large screen at the Westergasterras in Westerpark. Tilburg is placing screens on Piusplein and Oranjestraat, Enschede on the Oude Markt, and Amersfoort at the Hof.

Dutch fans’ confidence in Oranje has grown enormously since the start of the European Championship. Two weeks before the Dutch team’s first match, only 45 percent had confidence in the team. Today, that’s 75 percent. At the start of the tournament, 5 percent thought the Netherlands could win the Euro 2024. Now, that’s up to a quarter. Most, 49 percent, think France will win.

Sixteen percent of Dutch football fans have little superstitious rituals they perform to increase Oranje’s chances, the RTL survey found. These range from wearing the same outfit to leaving the room when Oranje’s on the attack in the belief that the team only scores when you’re not watching.

“Superstition is something very strange,” RTL pollster Gijs Rademaker said. “Of course, people know that wearing a specific orange shirt does not directly influence the course of the match, but we still see the strangest examples of rituals surrounding the matches of the Dutch national team.”