They are fancied to qualify comfortably for next year's tournament in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., but Dutch-born talent is also helping other countries bidding to reach the finals for the first time.
A change in single-nationality laws has enabled Indonesia and Suriname to significantly bolster their talent pool, while the island nations of Cape Verde and Curaçao have a considerable and influential number of Dutch-born players in their squads.
Morocco, who have qualified for the World, also tap into the migrant community in the Netherlands, with players like Sofyan Amrabat and Noussair Mazraoui regulars in the team who were the first to book a 2026 berth from the African zone.
Indonesia have taken on a distinctly Dutch flavour under coach Patrick Kluivert, with more than a dozen players recently naturalised, as they look to earn one of the two remaining Asian spots available when they meet Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and Iraq on Saturday.
Strictly speaking, they have played in a World Cup, as the Dutch East Indies in 1938, but an independent Indonesia have never been as close as they are now.
Among the additions is Eliano Reijnders, the 24-year-old younger brother of Manchester City’s Tijjani, who should feature for the Dutch side in World Cup qualification this week. Their mother is from the Maluku Islands.
Massive improvement for Indonesia
Marc Klok, one of the first Dutch-born players to be granted Indonesian citizenship because of family ties and who debuted for them two years ago, says the improvement is tenfold.
"We're improving in quality on all fronts, thanks to the new international (Dutch) players. If I compare it to my first international spell, the growth in quality and professionalism is wonderful to witness," he told the Voetbal International magazine.
Famous Dutch internationals, like Edgar Davids, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Clarence Seedorf, have roots in Suriname, the former colony at the top of South America, but it was only five years ago that they were able to dip into the massive talent pool in the Netherlands when Suriname allowed dual nationality.
Former Ajax Amsterdam and Netherlands goalkeeper Stanley Menzo is now the coach and has Dutch top-flight players Justin Lonwijk, Richonell Margaret and Etienne Vaessen as key members of his squad. Suriname top their qualifying group and should keep up their leadership at the expense of Guatemala on Friday before a potentially decisive match in Panama next Tuesday.
Curacao, the Caribbean island which is still part of the Netherlands, can take over the leadership of their CONCACAF group if they beat Jamaica at home in Willemstad on Friday and consolidate their position with a home victory over Trinidad & Tobago on Tuesday.
Brink of qualifying
“These results will say a lot about how good our chances are of being able to get to the World Cup,” said veteran coach Dick Advocaat, who has previously coached seven other national teams around the world.
In Africa, the Cape Verde Islands are on the brink of qualifying with a healthy dose of Dutch influence.
They need three points from their last two qualifiers against Libya on Wednesday and Eswatini on Monday.
There is a large 30,000-strong community in Rotterdam from migrants who came from Cape Verde to work in the bustling port. Six players from the Dutch city are in the squad seeking to write history this week after 24-year-old Rotterdammer Dailon Livramento scored the winner against Cameroon last month to put them tantalisingly close to qualification.