Netherlands Fail to Qualify for Euro 2016: Latest Details and Twitter Reaction

The Netherlands have failed to qualify for Euro 2016 less than 18 months after finishing third at the 2014 World Cup, losing 3-2 at home to the Czech Republic to finish fourth in Qualification Group A.

Ten-man Turkey sealed a late 1-0 win over Iceland to finish as best third-place finishers in qualifying, but Danny Blind's Oranje will miss the European Championships for the first time since 1984.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Their failure ends a streak of seven consecutive appearances at the European showcase dating back to their first and only triumph at the competition in 1988, despite the fact the pool of teams was increased from 16 in 2012 to 24 in 2016.

Robin van Persie and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored consolatory efforts for the Dutch, but Breathe Sport put into pictures just how much has changed in little over a year:

"

Netherlands: Jun 2014: Beat then World & Euro champs Spain 5-1. Oct 2015: Fail to qualify for #Euro2016 pic.twitter.com/k0ufExpzNh

— BreatheSport (@BreatheSport) October 13, 2015"

Van Persie was only making up for what was a criminal own goal earlier in the defeat, and Sky Sports Statto took note of just how long the 32-year-old had gone without a goal in national team colours:

It also emphasised just what a terrific job previous manager Louis van Gaal did with this Netherlands squad, as successors Guus Hiddink and later Blind have failed to capture the same standards.

Tuesday's defeat to automatic qualifiers Czech Republic was especially hurtful. OptaJohan attested to a couple of undesirable watershed moments coming about in the Netherlands' history:

A record of 14 goals conceded in their 10 games suggests defence has been a particular concern for the Netherlands in this qualifying run, and OptaJoe's Matt Furniss stumbled upon a particularly worrying statistic relating to England:

"

Netherlands have conceded more goals (13) than England allowed their opponents shots on target (12) in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

— Matt Furniss (@Matt_Furniss) October 13, 2015"

A record of just four wins and five losses in Group A means the Oranje really deserved not to make the final cut for Euro 2016, even though there was an inevitable suspicion that the team was capable of turning things around.

It wasn't to be, however, and the BBC's John Bennett rightly testified to their shock departure's coming down to little more than the surprise value of international football:

It's not all bad news, though, as Manchester United will be among those to take their positives from the team's non-participation at next year's major tournament, per the Daily Mail's Mike Keegan:

In the grand scheme of things, it makes for a terrific advertisement in terms of balance in world football, but at the same time it's awfully saddening to see such a heralded powerhouse fall quite so sharply.

The Netherlands have no choice but to concentrate all their international efforts on the 2018 World Cup—a tournament that lies more than 30 months away—with no hope of chasing a second European Championship crown next year.