Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman could finally field his "dream trio" in midfield, with Ryan Gravenberch, Frenkie de Jong, and Tijjani Reijnders all fit enough to play. Nathan Ake, who started for the Netherlands for the first time since September 2024, kept Spurs defender Mickey van de Ven on the bench. Jeremie Frimpong got the nod as the starting right winger and completed a Liverpool trio alongside Cody Gakpo and captain Virgil van Dijk.
Mark Flekken replaced the injured Mark Verbruggen in goal and had his direct competitor for the starting role at Bayer Leverkusen, Lukas Hradecky, play opposite him in the Finnish goal. Eredivisie and Go Ahead Eagles starlet Oliver Antman started in attack for the home side, who'd kicked off their qualifying campaign in March with a narrow 1-0 win over Malta and a 2-2 draw against Lithuania.
It did not take long for the visitors to take the lead: Memphis Depay, looking to become Oranje's all-time top scorer, struck gold as he took advantage of poor defending from the Fins and scored his 48th goal in the famous orange jersey. The Corinthians striker is now just two behind Robin van Persie's record.
Koeman's side dominated the opening half and rather quickly added a second through Denzel Dumfries, who cleverly got on the end of a sailing Cody Gakpo cross and emphatically struck the ball past Hradecky.
Finland looked to gain momentum in the counter and fired a first warning shot via Antman, who bypassed Dumfries and fired at Flekken, who made an easy save. Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke got into foul trouble early and picked up a first-half yellow card after clipping Joel Pohjanpalo's foot in an attempt to clear the ball, exemplifying the slight trouble the youngster had in his third-straight start for Oranje.
Memphis nearly added a second ten minutes after the break, but the veteran striker couldn't beat Hradecky one-on-one.
Both sides took it slower in the second half as some players got to deal with cramps and injuries after a long season. Finland were held to zero shots for the first 40 minutes after the break and only broke that deadlock when Antman fired his second accurate shot of the match at Flekken.
A quick combination between Wout Weghorst and Frenkie de Jong gave the latter a chance to score his first Netherlands goal since the 2022 World Cup, but the Barcelona midfielder's effort went wide of Hradecky's far post.
The Netherlands held onto their two-goal cushion to sail past a toothless Finland and spotlessly open their World Cup qualifying campaign. Oranje will continue their route to the 2026 World Cup with a home game against Malta on Tuesday, June 10th.