As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.Totaalvoetbal – Total FootballWhen the Netherlands appeared at their first World Cup in 36 years, Bert Stummel was there.It was 1974, and he was 18 years old. After spotting an advert with tickets for sale in his local newspaper, he was on his way to neighbouring West Germany to watch his country’s second game in the first of two group stages, against Sweden in Dortmund.The tournament was a big deal for the Netherlands for reasons that stretched beyond sport.German soldiers had marched across the Dutch border in 1939, overrunning Doetinchem, the town where Stummel was born 16 years later.The Second World War left deep scars across the Netherlands, and Stummel can remember the conversations he heard as a child about those six years of Nazi occupation.“There was animosity with people who lived through the war,” he recalls. “But there was a kind of friendship between younger people. The border was not far away. I learned German in school and grew up watching German football. They always seemed superior. Every time you had the opportunity to beat them, you wanted to do it for reasons that were not just about football.”Stummel travelled by bus, with a sandwich and an apple in his backpack. He had enough money to pay for two beers. On arrival in Dortmund, he was overwhelmed by the size of the city, the huge crowds and the noise — Doetinchem is a quiet town surrounded by flat countryside.The match against Sweden finished goalless, yet it holds a cherished place in football history.Stummel was yards away when Dutch forward Johan Cruyff twisted his way past Swedish defender Jan Olsson by feigning a pass before dragging the ball behind his standing leg, pivoting 180 degrees, allowing him to accelerate into space.“The Cruyff move,” Stummel calls it, though in other parts of the world it is referred to as a “turn”.“I can see it very clearly. There was a short gasp in the crowd but Cruyff moved so quickly it was difficult to know exactly what had happened. It was only later when I saw the news that I realised it was a special moment.”Johan Cruyff in action for the Netherlands that night against Sweden in 1974 (J Varley/Mirror Syndication International/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)Stummel would meet Cruyff at an exhibition in Amsterdam 39 years later. “I told him I was there (at that match). He smiled. I asked him what prompted him to make the move. He could not really answer — it was improvisation.”Cruyff is not just the Netherlands’ greatest footballer but one of the country’s most famous figures, on the same level as artists Van Gogh and Rembrandt.