Despite enduring a tough time at club level, Van der Vaart remained a first-choice player for Van Basten's successor Bert van Marwijk in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
On 10 September 2008, he ended a ten-month goal drought with a vital strike against Macedonia in a 2–1 win.
He ended the campaign with 2 goals and several important assists.

On 12 August 2009, Van der Vaart captained the Dutch in the absence of Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a friendly against England.
He scored the second goal off a Gareth Barry mistake to put the Netherlands two goals up in the first half but Jermain Defoe netted a brace to seal a 2–2 draw.

Van der Vaart was in the starting line-up for the three group matches in the 2010 World Cup, against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, but eventually lost his spot in the starting line-up to his recently recovered fellow midfielder Arjen Robben after being substituted in the match against Cameroon.
He was brought off the pitch after giving away a penalty to Cameroon by blocking the ball with his arm from a free-kick.
However, he made another appearance in the semi-final against Uruguay, after coming on for the injured Demy de Zeeuw.
He helped Oranje win the match with 3–2, thus sending them to the final.
He also played in the final against Spain, substituting Nigel de Jong just before injury time.
Netherlands lost the game 1–0 to a goal from Andrés Iniesta.
He was handed the captain's armband during the match, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted off.
Despite enduring a tough time at club level, Van der Vaart remained a first-choice player for Van Basten's successor Bert van Marwijk in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. On 10 September 2008, he ended a ten-month goal drought with a vital strike against Macedonia in a 2–1 win. He ended the campaign with 2 goals and several important assists.
On 12 August 2009, Van der Vaart captained the Dutch in the absence of Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a friendly against England. He scored the second goal off a Gareth Barry mistake to put the Netherlands two goals up in the first half but Jermain Defoe netted a brace to seal a 2–2 draw.
Van der Vaart was in the starting line-up for the three group matches in the 2010 World Cup, against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, but eventually lost his spot in the starting line-up to his recently recovered fellow midfielder Arjen Robben after being substituted in the match against Cameroon. He was brought off the pitch after giving away a penalty to Cameroon by blocking the ball with his arm from a free-kick. However, he made another appearance in the semi-final against Uruguay, after coming on for the injured Demy de Zeeuw. He helped Oranje win the match with 3–2, thus sending them to the final. He also played in the final against Spain, substituting Nigel de Jong just before injury time. Netherlands lost the game 1–0 to a goal from Andrés Iniesta. He was handed the captain's armband during the match, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted off.
Rafael van der Vaart