Netherlands qualified for the quarter-finals of with a 4-1 win over France which left the hopes of the World Cup runners-up hanging by a thread this evening.

The Dutch advanced thanks to goals from Dirk Kuyt, Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder, with Thierry Henry replying.

Marco van Basten's team clinched first place in the group with six points, four ahead of Romania. France and Italy, who meet on Tuesday, have one point each.

Kuyt opened the scoring with a powerful header in the ninth minute following a Rafael van der Vaart corner and poor marking by the defence.

The second goal capped a swift counter-attack involving Ruud van Nistelrooy and halftime substitute Robben who raced away from the chasing defenders before crossing low and hard for van Persie to volley in.

Goalkeeper Gregory Coupet got a hand to the ball but could only watch in agony as it bounced over the line.

Henry, France's all-time leading scorer, had been guilty of the miss of the match five minutes before when he lobbed way over the bar with only Edwin van der Sar to beat.

But he pulled one back after 71 minutes with his 45th goal for France in his 101st international.

His joy was short-lived as 30 seconds later Robben scored from an almost impossible angle, lashing the ball past Coupet.

Sneijder then completed the rout with a delightful long-range shot into the top corner in stoppage time.