the dutch side that took part in the 1974 fifa world cup were the pinnacle of total football. most of the 1974 team were made up of players from afc ajax and feyenoord, so rensenbrink was an outsider and was unfamiliar with playing the system. his preferred position was up front on the left, but that position was already johan cruijff's domain, so he played on the left-wing position in midfield, taking over from ajax player piet keizer. he missed one game in the tournament (when keizer played instead) and was only half-fit for the final after picking up an injury during the semi-final against brazil. rinus michels gambled on rensenbrink's fitness and played him from start – however he only lasted until half-time and was replaced by rené van de kerkhof. the netherlands took an early lead through a johan neeskens penalty, but goals from paul breitner and gerd müller gave west germany a 2–1 victory. rensenbrink's performances saw him named to the team of the tournament and he was sought by ajax as a replacement for keizer. however, contract negotiations fell through and he remained at anderlecht.