Wijnaldum double seals Dutch's perfect record
Report as Georginio Wijnaldum's double and another from Memphis Depay send Netherlands into last 16 having won all three of their Group C games; North Macedonia see goals from Ivan Trickovski and Darko Churlinov ruled out for offside in either half
Monday 21 June 2021
Georginio Wijnaldum moved above Marco Van Basten in Netherlands' all-time scoring charts as his double helped them complete a 100 per cent group C record with a 3-0 win over North Macedonia.
North Macedonia manager Igor Angelovski had spoken of "putting on a show" in his side's last game in the tournament and they very nearly did early on, with Ivan Trickovski only denied the opener by a late offside flag after slotting home Goran Pandev's through ball.
Instead Netherlands continued their impressive run of scoring form themselves, with Memphis Depay slotting home on the break from Donyell Malen's tee-up after Pandev had been left on the floor by what appeared a foul from Daley Blind.
Wijnaldum moved level with Van Basten six minutes into the second half as Depay found the Netherlands captain with a nice square ball after being played through by Ryan Gravenberch.
And the now-PSG midfielder, who criticised Frank De Boer's 3-5-2 tactics ahead of the game, may have had reasons to backtrack after netting his second of the day to fire home the rebound from another Depay effort, as Netherlands advanced to the last 16 with a flourish.
The retiring Pandev was given a guard of honour by his team-mates as he headed to the bench with 68 minutes gone, shortly before Darko Churlinov looked to have beaten Maarten Stekelenburg again, only to be ruled by another offside flag to deny North Macedonia one final moment to cheer before they departed the competition.
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