Swansea City's Gylfi Sigurdsson was the match-winner for Iceland on Thursday evening, as his penalty brought Iceland to the brink of qualification.
The Dutch were in desperate need of a win and Guus Hiddink was relieved of his duties in favour of Danny Blind in an effort to do so. He opted for three alterations from the side that beat Latvia 2-0, bringing in Davy Klaassen, Georginio Wijnaldum and Arjen Robben for Jetro Willems, Luciano Narsingh and Robin van Persie.
Lars Lagerbäck had turned around the fortunes of the Iceland side in this campaign. The Swedish coach had moulded his men into a team that can beat anyone on their day, evidenced by their wins against the Netherlands and the Czech Republic during qualifying. It was against the Czechs that Iceland won 2-1 last time out, and Lagerbäck made one change from that side; Jon Dadi Bodvarsson came in for Emil Hallfredsson.
Iceland almost take a shock lead
Despite the Dutch having the better possession and territory, Iceland almost shocked the home faithful after inside the opening ten minutes. Gylfi Sigurdsson was afforded time to pick out Johann Gudmundsson at the back post, who volleyed the ball bad across goal. It was set on a plate for Bodvarsson, though the striker couldn't make contact from mere inches out.
Blind's side began to regain their dominance and had a flurry of chances, with Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar both going close from long-range. The best opportunity of the lot came to the former but he could only fire a free-kick wide from the edge of the area.
Disaster for the Dutch
Just as the home side were building up a head of steam, disaster struck. Robben, who was already looking menacing, was taken off mid-way through the half with a groin problem and replaced with Narsingh. Memphis had to turn into the main creator and he almost did just that, with his cross being a whisker away from Huntelaar's outstretched boot.
As if things couldn't get any worse, Bruno Martins Indi saw red for reacting to Kolbeinn Sigthorsson's foul. The two tussled near the corner flag and the latter fouled Martins Indi, though the Dutch defender flapped his elbows towards his opponents' head and Milorad Mazic decided to give him his marching orders. Jeffrey Bruma was brought on for Huntelaar, much to the dismay of the fans, as the half finish goalless.
Sigurdsson stays calm from the spot
A recurring theme was that the Netherlands were slowly imploding, and that was the case at the start of the second half as well. Birkir Bjarnason was clipped in the area by Gregory van der Wiel, and Mazic pointed to the spot without hesitation; the hosts remonstrated but it was to no avail. Gylfi Sigurdsson stepped up and hit it well into the corner, though Jasper Cillissen just couldn't push it wide of the post, giving Iceland the lead.
Once again, on the back foot, Blind's side were trying to get back into the game again. Hannes Thór Halldórsson was forced into action by Wesley Sneijder and Georginio Wijnaldum, only for the Iceland stopper to be equal to the task. Eidur Gudjohnsen was brought on to lead the line and hold up the ball that bit more, but it made little difference when Narsingh went closer still to finding an equaliser.
Iceland remain resolute to the end
Cillissen was forced into two good saves by Gylfi Sigurdsson and Gudmundsson had a great opportunity to volley home, only to fire well over the goal. The Dutch came back at their visitors and could have gotten the crucial leveler had Wijnaldum's finish been more convincing, as he passed the ball into the midriff of Halldórsson.
Iceland held on, despite some frantic moments, to secure the three points and put themselves within touching distance of the finals in France. The Netherlands, however, have a massive task on their hands to qualify for EURO 2016 and will need to start picking up points quickly to do so.