Netherlands see off Tunisia to top group, set up Morocco clash

Brian Brobbey scored his third goal of the World Cup, the Netherlands got a pair of goals that deflected off Tunisia into its own net, and the Dutch rolled in the rain to a 3-1 victory Thursday night to advance to the knockout stage as the winners of Group F. The Netherlands began the day tied atop the group with Japan. But when the Samurai Blue could only manage a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Arlington, Texas, it left Virgil van Dijk and his teammates looking forward to a matchup with Group C runner-up Morocco on Monday -- and Japan with the heavy task of playing powerhouse Brazil in the Round of 32.

Tunisia, which sacked its coach after a loss to open the World Cup, had already been eliminated from the tournament. The opening minutes summed up the last couple of weeks for the Eagles of Carthage: Denzel Dumfries sent a ball across the front of the goal, Tunisian captain Ellys Skhiri slapped at with his foot in an attempt to clear, and he found the back of his own net instead. Brobbey made it 2-0 in the seventh minute, after the Dutch had earned a free kick from about 25 yards.

The 6-foot-5 van Dijk expertly headed it across the box, and Brobbey was in perfect position to chip the ball past Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen. Tunisia finally scored in the 54th minute, when Hazem Mastouri redirected a corner kick into the net, but the Netherlands answered in the 62nd, when Jan Paul van Hecke's header off a corner glanced off Anis Slimane's head and into his own net. The Netherlands controlled the game from there as a first-half drizzle turned into a second-half downpour.

The threat of thunderstorms had persisted all the week, and lightning briefly delayed the completion of the "Oranje fanwalk" to the game. But once they were given the all-clear, the Dutch fans clad in their highlighter-orange shirts poured down the aisles and into Arrowhead Stadium, making it look like deer hunting season in the Midwest. The Netherlands is certainly big-game hunting in this World Cup.

The nation of Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten has long held the moniker of best never to have won the tournament. Three times the Dutch have advanced to the finals and each time they have lost, most recently to Spain in extra time in 2010. They got off to a lackluster start this go-round, too, tying Japan 2-2 in their opener.

But with two goals apiece from Brobby and Cody Gakpo, the Netherlands routed Sweden 5-1, and it now has some momentum heading into the knockout stage. Tunisia seemed quite content just to finish a disastrous World Cup. The Eagles of Carthage opened with a 5-1 loss to Sweden, which led to coach Sabri Lamouchi's firing.

French coach Herve Renard took over amid reports of tension and infighting within the team, and little seemed to have changed in a 4-0 loss to Japan last week. Thursday's loss ran Tunisia's winless streak to six matches.