What Happened: 1-2

Serbia 1-2 Netherlands — Rajko Mitić Stadium, 27 September 2026. A patched-up Eagles side, missing Mitrović, Vlahović, Milenković and Rajković, pushed van Dijk’s organised Oranje hard but were undone by a Mexx Meerdink brace on the Dutch debutant’s first start.

Takeaway: Meerdink’s debut brace — the second a composed first-time finish after Guus Til’s pass — settled a contest where Jović’s instant impact off the bench only briefly revived Serbia. Van Dijk’s back line held firm, and the Oranje moved top of Group A2 while Serbia’s winless run stretched to four.

A Fortress Under Pressure

Thursday cut both of these teams differently. Serbia lost at home to Greece, undone by Douvikas in the fourth minute of stoppage time; the Netherlands needed Gakpo’s 92nd-minute equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw with Germany. On Sunday they meet at the Rajko Mitić, where the margin for a second misstep is exactly zero.

Group A2 was always going to be the window’s tightest — Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Serbia, four teams with genuine quarter-final ambitions and only two berths. After one matchday, Greece top it. That fact alone will make Belgrade louder than usual on Sunday evening.

Serbia’s Response

Dragan Stojković has built Serbia’s identity around exactly this: the Marakana, the noise, a reshuffled attack after Mitrović, Vlahović (calf), Nikola Milenković and first-choice keeper Predrag Rajković were all ruled out, with Sergej Milinković-Savić dictating from midfield. The 1-2 loss to Greece dents the plan’s opening chapter — dropping a home game in this group is a body blow — and the Dutch arrive as the worst possible medicine. Dušan Tadićs creativity and Strahinja Pavlovićs defensive leadership are the quiet constants; Luka Jović the man tasked with leading the patched front line.

The Oranje’s Solid Start

Ronald Koeman’s side held Germany to a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam (full recap here), and while Gakpo’s 92nd-minute equaliser felt like rescue, the point keeps the group’s pre-tournament favourite on track. Virgil van Dijk organises a side without Frenkie de Jong (injured) or the omitted Memphis Depay; Cody Gakpo is the main threat, with Brian Brobbey out (hamstring) and Mexx Meerdink poised for a first start. The task in Belgrade is different: impose possession in a stadium designed to prevent exactly that.

Head-to-Head

The Netherlands hold the head-to-head edge on the meetings on record — two wins to Serbia’s one, with a draw — and the sides last met in a 2022 friendly that finished 1-1. Competitive history leans Dutch. Recent history, one matchday old, belongs to Greece — which is precisely why neither of these teams can afford anything but a win on Sunday.

What We Expect

The duel that decides it is probably Serbia's patched front line against van Dijk's organising — the Oranje captain will be asked to dominate a depleted Eagles attack, and the midfield battle around Milinković-Savić will tell the tale. Serbia will try to make the first twenty minutes a physical statement; the Netherlands will try to survive it and play. We lean Netherlands, narrowly — but this is the kind of fixture where one set-piece or one moment of Marakana fury rewrites the script.

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