By Samuel A. October 12, 2025
Memphis Depay broke the record for most assists for the Netherlands – and extended his own goalscoring record – in his side’s comfortable World Cup qualifying win over Finland.The 31 year old forward picked out Aston Villa’s Donyell Malen to fire in the opener from outside the box.
He then assisted Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk from a set piece to make it 2-0.That was his 35th assist in an Oranje jersey, taking him two above Wesley Sneijder’s old record.
The Corinthians forward rounded off an impressive display by slotting in a 38th minute penalty to kill the game off at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
That was Depay’s 54th goal for his country, stretching the national record he broke last month. Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo lashed in a late fourth following a pass from Tottenham’s Xavi Simons.
After six games, the Netherlands top Group G by three points from Poland, who beat Lithuania 2-0 later on Sunday with Sebastian Szymanski and Robert Lewandowski on target. A run of four wins from their last five qualifying matches has seen them rise to third in Group L. Their win against the second placed Czechs means just one point separates the teams in the race to be runner-up to Croatia, securing a place in the playoffs. Substitute Martin Agnarsson was the hero for the Faroe Islands, located halfway between Scotland and Iceland and covering just 540 square miles. The team has long been an underdog in European soccer and was once ranked as low as 198th.
