George Burley’s side created some excellent chances, hitting the woodwork twice in the first half, but were undone by a mistake from veteran defender David Weir.
The Ranger’s captain inadvertently headed the ball into the path of Dutch substitute Eljero Elia who rounded David Marshall to score the decisive goal with 10 minutes to go.
With Craig Gordon failing a late fitness test, Cardiff City’s Marshall started in goal. Paul Hartley came in to play the holding role in midfield with Steven Naismith and Shaun Maloney replacing Steven Fletcher and the suspended James McFadden.
Although they had already qualified, The Netherlands named a strong team with Inter Milan’s Wesley Sneijder and Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben starting in midfield. However first choice goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg missed out with a finger injury, allowing Michel Vorm to make his first start for the Dutch.
Burley’s men were lucky not to concede after only three minutes when Dirk Kuyt hit the post with a powerful shot after exchanging passes with Sneijder on the edge of the box.
Scotland recovered well from their early scare though and Kenny Miller forced a corner after his shot from twenty yards was deflected over.
Minutes later Scott Brown should have opened the scoring when he latched onto Alan Hutton’s curling cross, however the Celtic midfielder couldn’t control his finish as he stretched to reach the ball and his effort went agonisingly wide.
The Netherlands looked determined to stifle Hampden’s patriotic crowd by dominating possession but they could not bypass Scotland’s five-man midfield and looked vulnerable as Burley’s men attempted to spring quick counter attacks.
However the Dutch’s individual quality was always a danger and Marshall - making his first start at Hampden Park - did well to push Sneijder’s dipping shot over the bar before making a crucial save from Robben after he was played in by Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie.
Miller almost opened the scoring after half an hour with a dipping shot from the right of the penalty box. His effort beat Vorm but came straight back off the crossbar.
And the Ranger’s man missed a glaring opportunity five minutes later. Vorm managed to palm Naismith’s 20-yard drive onto the post and with the goal at his mercy Miller struck his shot straight at the grounded keeper who parried the ball away from danger.
The Dutch started the second-half brightly with Kuyt inches away from reaching Robben’s cross from the left.
Scotland struggled to maintain any prolonged spells of possession and Liverpool’s Kuyt should have done better with a free header from a corner which he put over the bar.
The Dutch were rampant and when Robben was played through by Sneijder it looked as though they would take the lead. The Bayern Munich winger cut inside Hutton and released a right foot shot but Marshall stayed on his feet and pulled off another crucial save to keep Scotland in the game with half an hour left.
Miller came close again with 20 minutes to go when he struck a well hit volley after Naismith’s knockdown in the box, however, Vorm managed to get a hand to the ball and it dribbled past the far post.
Burley switched to a 4-4-2 formation for the last quarter of an hour, replacing Hartley with Kris Commons.
And the substitute had good chance to break the dead lock after Maloney’s cross from the left but the Ranger’s striker headed wide.
Scotland paid for their missed chances moments later when David Weir headed a clearance straight to substitute Elia who rounded the helpless Marshall and passed the ball into the net for his first international goal.
Elia almost set up fellow substitute Rafael Van der Vaart after flying past the 39-year-old Weir on the left and crossing, however the Real Madrid midfielder hit the ball over.
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