A confident Louis van Gaal stated that his side has what it takes to win the World Cup, with him believing that his current squad is of ‘higher quality’ than his previous outfit eight years ago, who collected bronze medals at Brazil 2014.
The Netherlands will kickstart their campaign against reigning African Cup of Nations champions, Senegal on Monday in what could be a decider of who tops Group A.
Van Gaal's previous World Cup squad contained the likes of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt.
The 71 year old however believes that his current side has a "higher average quality" with a mix of youth and experience.
The Oranje are captained by Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk, have Frenkie De Jong running the midfield and boast some of the world’s most exciting young prospects in Xavi Simons and Cody Gakpo.
Ahead of the game, the former Manchester United manager was keen to praise his captain and current squad:
"I've been a coach for 30 years, I've worked with many captains, but he (Van Dijk) is a truly excellent captain and this group is keen to execute the job"
"The 2014 group wanted to execute but the average quality of this group is higher than them.
“In 2014 there was Van Persie, Robben and Sneijder but Sneijder had to serve the squad (playing in a different position) as he was usually a number 10.”
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On the Netherlands’ chances of success
The Orange are underdogs heading to Qatar, but they do have talent in abundance.
Van Gaal was keen to stress the quality of his side, suggesting whilst they may not be favourites, the Netherlands could have enough to lift the trophy:
"I believe in this squad of players. In 2014, we came third with a squad less than this group but (doing well) not only depends on tactical and technical skills but a bit of luck: can you score at the right time? Things like that.
“We could become world champions, but there are squads who are at a higher level than my squad, but it is about how my squad deals with that.
”I like to think I can affect this as I have a head start (with experience) and we can (win the World Cup)."
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On Senegal and Sadio Mane
Fresh off the back of their first ever AFCON triumph, Senegal will be brimming with confidence and will present a stern test for the Dutch.
However, they have been dealt a major blow with talisman Sadio Mane ruled out of the whole tournament, joining a host of other big names on the sidelines.
Mane was substituted in the 20th minute during Bayern Munich's 6-1 victory against Werder Bremen last week.
It was later confirmed that he had damaged a fibula in his right leg.
The absence of the 2022 Ballon d'Or runner up and current African Footballer of the Year will most certainly be felt in the camp, having provided some of his countries biggest moments.
Mane scored the winning penalty against Egypt in the AFCON final to secure Senegal’s first ever major piece of silverware.
He scored the winning penalty once again in the play-off to ensure that Senegal would be on the plane to Qatar.
Van Gaal was full of compliments for Senegal ahead of the tie:
"Senegal are the champions of Africa and it won't be easy. They are missing Sadio Mane, but for us Memphis Depay won't start.”
The Dutch boss also revealed that he tried to sign Mane when he was managing Manchester United in 2016:
"I wanted him when I was the manager of Man United.
"I chased him at the time. I am a fan of Mane. He can break open a match and I would say Senegal will really miss him."
Mane's former teammate, Van Dijk expressed his sympathy for the forward, having first hand experience of missing a major tournament himself.
Van Dijk missed Euro 2020 after undergoing surgery on his ACL.
"I called him the next day in the morning and obviously I wanted to know how he was, first and foremost because there were so many rumours coming out that he was injured for a while" the Dutch captain said.
"I wanted to know how he was. Unfortunately it was not the best news he had but there was a little bit of hope, everyone thought it, but unfortunately he wasn't going to be able to make this tournament.
"I feel sad for him. I know how hard he works and he wants to be important for Senegal and he has been important over the past few years. It's tough.
"Obviously he's going to be a big miss for Senegal. Hopefully we can benefit from it a little bit."
