Hat-trick heroines hand Netherlands monster win in World Cup play-offs

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/netherlands/Gb7JYPgA/"]The Netherlands[/a] were condemned to play in the European play-offs for the FIFA Women's World Cup after finishing two points behind group winners [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/G0E4tMc9/"]France[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hungary/8lhnftJB/"]Hungary[/a] was the first obstacle on their way to the World Cup, having won their group with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/azerbaijan/dvWhy56d/"]Azerbaijan[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/north-macedonia/UsufwJ4p/"]North Macedonia[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/andorra/G6JEqVEc/"]Andorra[/a] in League C of World Cup qualifying.[/p][p]In Budapest, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/beerensteyn-lineth/pKX8sIG4/"]Lineth Beerensteyn[/a] helped the visitors get off to a hopeful start with two goals in the opening 15 minutes, with the second the pick of the bunch, a weighted cross from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wilms-lynn/6J7EPjY6/"]Lynn Wilms[/a] volleyed in beautifully by the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/4xlfVfnP/"]Real Madrid[/a] forward.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/8CKOoQdn/"]Arsenal[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pelova-victoria/0nfypiSE/"]Victoria Pelova[/a] helped the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/netherlands/Gb7JYPgA/"]Netherlands[/a] take a three-goal lead in the 26th minute, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/YFBOvfnB/"]Barcelona[/a]'s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brugts-esmee/zXYLtT07/"]Esmee Brugts[/a] finished the first half by tapping in a rebound.[/p][embed guid="0399bc4c-a938-4656-a5f5-e8e9ddbf5859" url="https://x.com/oranjevrouwen/status/2108646705642217965?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Orange Lionesses didn't stop their charge there, with Friday's heavy favourites going up five shortly after the restart via [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/egurrola-damaris/SQBPi5rj/"]Damaris Egurrola Wienke[/a], who headed in from a corner.[/p][p]Pelova then bagged her hat-trick in the next 14 minutes, twisting and turning to the 6-0 before taking full advantage of poor Hungarian defending.[/p][p]As the Dutchwomen eased off the throttle in the final 30 minutes, a late Beerensteyn goal was disallowed for offside, but the Real striker still completed her hat-trick by scoring from a rebound in the opening minute of injury time.[/p][p]A smashing 8-0 win over Hungary, ranked 38 places below [i]Oranje[/i] in the FIFA World Rankings, ruled the return leg in Tilburg as good as redundant, with the game taking place on Tuesday, October 13th.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/hungary-8lhnftJB/netherlands-Gb7JYPgA/?mid=jXvcC31k"]Check out the full match and player statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="d439ee62-ffbb-44a2-8b67-6a9572f8318c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f9db1a4f-6177-4e7d-a4e1-c966726ef088" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]