World Cup countdown: Tragic hero scores the competition's 1000th goal | OneFootball

In 1978, the Netherlands traveled to the World Cup in Argentina and met Scotland in the group stages, where Rob Rensenbrink would create footballing history.

Against Scotland, everything was set for the Dutch. Both teams had good chances to progress in their second game but naturally, left it to their final one instead.

Early on, Rensenbrink scored a landmark goal – the 1000th in World Cup history – as the Oranje went through to the next round despite a 3-2 defeat.

Ernst Happel had only been hired by the Dutch for this tournament and optimism was slowly growing across the country for their first world title.

After squeezing through the initial group stages, Happel’s men defeated Austria 5-1, earned a hard-fought draw against Germany and beat Italy 2-1.

Incredibly, they reached the final against host nation Argentina and it was there that Rensenbrink became a tragic hero.

In the 81st minute, the Oranjes equalised to make it 1-1, and in injury time Rensenbrink had a chance to cement his name in history.

From an acute angle, however, the winger did not find the back of the net – but the post.

A matter of inches was all that prevented the Netherlands lifting the trophy and Rensenbrink becoming the tournament’s top scorer. Instead, Argentina won in extra time 3-1.