Penalty shootout - in the group stage?

[Fussbudget]

Países Bajos means literally the same thing as Netherlands doesn't it? Pays-Bas in French although most people will informally call them Hollande.

The Dutch seem happy enough to call themselves Holland so I'll take my cue from them

[ursus arctos]

One curiosity is how Low Countries in English refers to a wider area than the Romance language equivalents

[Sporting]

One curiosity is how Low Countries in English refers to a wider area than the Romance language equivalents

Yes.

[Fussbudget]

The concept of Pays-Bas to talk about the wider area also exists in French but has fallen out of use to avoid confusion with the country, so I guess we'd just say Benelux these days.

By the way the demonym of Pays-Bas (the country) in French is Néerlandais - though again 99% of people will say Hollandais instead

[Satchmo Distel]

My reading (admittedly only Wiki) is that English took its cue from the Dutch. One factor might be that from a northern European perspective the area is defined by interdependence of trade, and a common language, whereas for the Roman Empire it was defined by military defence frontiers (but with a buffer zone for trade).