Korfball is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless basket that is mounted on a 3.5 m high pole.
Approximately 5 million of the 17 million people in the Netherlands are registered to one of the 35,000 sports clubs in the country. About two thirds of the population older than 15 years participates in sports weekly.
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
The Belgium national football team officially represents Belgium in men's international football since their maiden match in 1904. The squad is under the global jurisdiction of FIFA and is governed in Europe by UEFA—both of which were co-founded by the Belgian team's supervising body, the Royal Belgian Football Association. Periods of regular Belgian representation at the highest international level, from 1920 to 1938, from 1982 to 2002 and again from 2014 onwards, have alternated with mostly unsuccessful qualification rounds. Most of Belgium's home matches are played at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
Edwin van der SarOON is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a member of the club's golden generation and was part of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995. A goalkeeper, he left Ajax for Juventus in 1999, where he spent two years before moving to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United in 2005. There he won a second Champions League title in 2008, making him one of just eight players at the time to have won the competition with more than one club. He retired as a professional in 2011, but briefly came out of retirement in 2016 to play a match for Dutch amateur team VV Noordwijk, for whom he had previously played as a youth. He played 130 times for the Netherlands national team, and was the nation's most-capped player until 2017, when he was overtaken by Wesley Sneijder.
Gerard Piqué Bernabeu is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Barcelona. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation.
Carlos Arnoldo Salcido Flores is a Mexican former professional footballer. He started his career as a centre-back and played most of it as left-back, then converted to defensive midfielder and ended it as centre-back. He won the 2012 Olympic gold medal.
Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar is a retired Dutch professional footballer who played as a striker.
Mounir El Hamdaoui is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Dutch Hoofdklasse club DHSC.
Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Uruguay national team. He is currently a free agent. Nicknamed El Pistolero, he is known for his passing, finishing and comfort with the ball. Suárez is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest strikers of all time. Suárez has won two European Golden Shoes, an Eredivisie Golden Boot, a Premier League Golden Boot, and the Pichichi Trophy. He has scored over 500 career goals for club and country.
The Netherlands national football team has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The mens national team is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), the governing body for football in the Netherlands, which is a part of UEFA, and under the jurisdiction of FIFA. They are widely considered one of the best national teams in world football and widely regarded as one of the greatest national teams of all time. Most of the Netherlands' home matches are played at the Johan Cruyff Arena and the Stadion Feijenoord.
Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel is a Dutch former footballer who played as a right-back.
Dušan Tadić is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder and captains both Eredivisie club Ajax and the Serbia national team.
Fatos Bećiraj is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a striker for FK Dečić and the Montenegro national team.
Robin van Persie is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball control, intelligent positioning, and vision. He is the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands national team. He is currently an assistant manager at boyhood club Feyenoord in his first managerial role.
Alfreð Finnbogason is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club FC Augsburg and the Iceland national team.
Thomas Meunier is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgium national team.
The 10th IKF World Korfball Championship were held in the Belgian cities of Ghent, Tielen and Antwerp in 2015. Ghent and Tielen hosted the first and second round matches, whilst the placing matches and finals were all held in the Lotto Arena in Antwerp.
Donny van de Beek is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Netherlands national team.
The 11th IKF World Korfball Championship was held in August 2019 in Durban, South Africa and won by the Netherlands. The International Korfball Federation awarded the hosting rights for the tournament to South Africa on 7 November 2015, ahead of the bid by New Zealand.
Netherlands 