The 1988 winners finished third in their group but saved their best so far at these European Championships for their first knockout match in a thumping 3-0 win.
Netherlands had 23 attempts on the night, but a fine Cody Gakpo strike in the first half and a late double from substitute Donyell Malen that sealed their place in the last eight.
Romania had approached their first knockout game since Euro 2000 with no fear. Their energy and positivity meant the Dutch had been forced to drop deep by the 10 minute mark. It was only a fleeting period of nervousness, thorugh.
Gakpo has been the Dutch talisman of late and he added his third goal of the tournament when he took a touch inside Andrei Ratiu and hit a crisp strike that beat goalkeeper Florin Nita at his near post.
As a result, he became just the third player to score three or more goals at two different major tournaments for the Netherlands, along with Johnny Rep and Dennis Bergkamp.
The impressive Malen added the gloss with the final action of the match, latching onto Simons’ neat ball, chopping inside Razvan Marin and finding the bottom corner.
Netherlands will face Turkiye in the Quarter Finals on 6th July 2024. Also in the Quarter finals there would be a mouth watering clash between the titans Portugal & France on 5th July 2024.