Euro 2024: Orange March of 110,000 Dutch Fans Recognised as Largest Fanwalk in Dortmund's History
The Orange Fanwalk of hundreds of thousands of Dutch fans who travelled to Dortmund for the Euro 2024 semi-final between England and the Netherlands has been recognised as the largest fan procession in the city's history.
According to the Dutch football federation KNVB and the city authorities, at least 110,000 Dutch fans travelled to Dortmund on Wednesday. 30,000 people attended the match won by England at the stadium.
The Fanwalk participants marched from the city centre to the stadium. They turned Dortmund into an orange sea. Dutch fans painted the city centre of Ruhr orange all day long and outnumbered their English counterparts.
The "fan zones" set up in the city for the fans were also crowded due to the large number of people. Therefore, the local authorities asked people to watch the rally in one of the cafes in the city centre.
Fans gathered in bars, town squares and public places to watch the game on huge screens and cheer the team on, but the dramatic late turnaround left them stunned and silent.
Police made a total of 26 arrests throughout the day, but said they were "largely satisfied" with how events unfolded.
Head coach Ronald Koeman said he was proud of his players for coming so close to their first European Championship final in 36 years, but criticised the decision to award a penalty to England in the first half.
As a reminder, England reached the Euro 2024 final after defeating the Netherlands 2-1.
