The Netherlands’ Vivianne Miedema has half an eye on Abby Wambach’s international goalscoring record of 184 – being closed in on by Canada’s Christine Sinclair – after scoring two in this win against Cameroon to take her tally to 60 at only 22 and become her country’s all-time top scorer. The Arsenal Women’s Super League winner said: “180 goals is special, I’d love to be among them one day. I’ve no idea what’s in front of me or where this will end.”

For a team that boasts, on paper at least, the best forward line at the World Cup – the Euro 2017 hero Lieke Martens, Arsenal’s Miedema and Daniëlle van de Donk and Lyon’s Shanice van de Sanden – the win against a bruising Cameroon, who are ranked 46th in the world, should have been less of a labour.

Two goals from Miedema and one from Dominique Bloodworth sandwiched a tidy finish from Cameroon’s best player of the tournament, Gabrielle Onguéné, to secure the three points and guarantee progress for the Dutch, but the worries that existed before this match remain. Cameroon’s manager, Alain Djeumfa, made three changes to the team that surprised many with a slightly chaotic but exciting performance in their 1-0 loss to Canada in Montpellier.

If the bright performance in the south against the team 31 places ahead of them in the Fifa rankings was buoyed by the cheers of what felt like home support, travelling north to the Belgium border would be a very different story.

Valenciennnes has a population of around 44,000 but a Saturday 3pm kick-off meant the Dutch were in town and in force, the overwhelming majority of a 22,423 attendance. The Stade du Hainaut is just over 90 minutes’ drive from the Netherlands. A sea of orange that famously flooded towards home grounds of the Netherlands’ Euro 2017 winning campaign, gaining momentum as the team progressed against the odds, continues its legacy. Through the streets of Valenciennes the brightly coloured hordes weaved towards the ground, dancing in unison.

Vivianne Miedema heads home the opener. Photograph: Hollandse Hoogte/Rex/Shutterstock

The support has continued despite the underwhelming performances of the team since that historic trophy – they had to qualify via the play-offs and struggled in their opening fixture against New Zealand. Early play here indicated the problems behind their electric front line have not been eliminated. Rather the Dutch seemed to be competing with the players in green for the more chaotic defence.

“Cameroon are quick and unpredictable and we’re not used to that,” said the Netherlands’ manager, Sarina Wiegman. “The long ball, we had to get back very quickly. Against Canada I’m expecting a more structured game.”

Onguéné was a constant threat on the right and Desiree van Lunteren struggled repeatedly with the speed of her runs. With five minutes left of the first half the Dutch found an ounce of rhythm. Van de Sanden played a quick one-two with Jackie Groenen and whipped the ball into the middle for Miedema to head home unmarked.

The relief felt by the Dutch fans was very short-lived. Just 150 seconds later a pass over the top from the centre circle found Onguéné, who calmly headed the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper, Sari van Veenendaal, and coolly slotted home to level before the break.

After the restart the snappy tackling of Cameroon proved costly. A free-kick by Van de Donk was played short to Groenen. Her cross was poked back into Bloodworth’s path by Cameroon’s Michaela Abam and she fired in from six yards. Cameroon could have levelled but Ajara Nchout shot agonisingly wide.

“The fact we were here in Valenciennes, very close to the Netherlands, we were at a disadvantage,” said Djeumfa. “We weren’t able to play one hour away from Holland and for it not to affect our team’s psychological level. The referees were not on our side either. I think we did what we could.”

The Dutch made the win look more impressive than had been the case when, with five minutes remaining, Miedema got her second, whipping the ball past Annette Ndom from the left. Uncharacteristically she celebrated.

“I made a deal with my brother to do a roll on the pitch but that won’t happen again. No more gymnastics, I’ll leave that to Sarina,” she said, laughing.

Though the talismanic forward will draw the plaudits, the Dutch will probably be most pleased with the performance of Groenen – now a Manchester United player – in the middle. She has seemed off colour of late but was involved in the first two Dutch goals, suggesting the midfield may be finding its feet a little, even if the defence is not.

Meanwhile, in Grenoble, Jessie Fleming and Nichelle Prince put Canada into the last 16. Their second-half goals against New Zealand gave them a 2-0 win for six points out of six, while the Ferns’ fate hangs on their game against the Netherlands.