Xavi, the former Barcelona manager and midfielder, takes charge of the Netherlands for the first time since being appointed in August.
He becomes the first non-Dutchman to take over as coach since Ernst Happel in 1978 and given the Netherland’s underwhelming performance at the 2026 World Cup, pressure is on.
Xavi to bring Spanish feel to the national team
“I consider it a tremendous honour to become head coach of the Dutch national team,” Xavi said. “As someone who received his training at Barca’s academy, with strong influences from Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, among others, I feel a special connection to Dutch football.
“You could say that I am partly a son of Dutch football. Other great coaches, especially Louis van Gaal, under whom I made my debut at Barca, and Frank Rijkaard, also played an important role in shaping me as a player and coach.”
Dutch and Spanish football has been interlinked since the 1970s and Xavi will be looking to bring his own style of play to the national team. At the recent World Cup, Ronald Koeman’s men demonstrated their goalscoring talents in the group stage, netting ten times across three matches.
Against Morocco in the last 32, however, the Dutch came unstuck. Not only did they concede a last-minute equaliser, but Koeman’s men suffered a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat. That was the nation’s earliest World Cup elimination since 2006, despite having a squad strong enough to progress further.
As expected, Koeman resigned. Can Xavi bring something different to the role that previous managers haven’t?
During his spell as Barcelona manager, Xavi led the Catalan side to LaLiga glory in 2023, but his style of play wasn’t quite as consistent as he would have wanted.
Typically operating with a 4-3-3 system, Barcelona dominated the ball during games under the Spaniard, averaging around 500 completed passes per game. Only 10% of these were progressive though, suggesting his midfielders struggled to break through opposition defences on a regular basis.
Will he adapt his style to suit international football? Only time will tell.
Xavi faces a difficult start to life as Netherlands boss
The Spaniard wont be able to ease into his tenure, as Jürgen Klopp’s Germany are his first opponents in the Nations League on Thursday. Away trips to Serbia and Greece follow, before the Dutch wrap up the first international break of the season with a home clash against the Serbians.
It is clear that the game against Germany could set the tone for the rest of the campaign. The last time the Netherlands defeated their rivals came back in September 2019. Since then, the nation has suffered two defeats to the Germans, including a 1-0 loss last time out.
After the early exit from the World Cup, a solid display against Klopp’s men could restore some confidence among the players, no doubt about that.
Big changes in the squad
There is no place in Xavi’s first squad for aging veterans Memphis Depay, Wout Weghorst and Stefan de Vrij. Sadly, Justin Kluivert and Donyell Malen all withdrew due to injury (replaced by Guus Til and Mexx Meerdink). PSV’s Ruben van Bommel and Feyenoord’s Gjivai Zechiël each received their first senior call-up.
Liverpool duo Cody Gakpo and Virgil Van Dijk will both be there, and they could be crucial across these opening four matches. Add in the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Jan Paul van Hecke, Micky van de Ven and Tijjani Reijnders, there is plenty of quality throughout the side.
It appears as though Xavi is certainly thinking ahead to the future, but with several experienced players called up, he will be expecting some big performances.
Nations League fixtures
U.S. broadcast rights are held by FOX. All matches should be streamed live on the FOX sports app, and on ViX in Spanish. Select matches will be broadcast on FOX, FS1 and FS2, and we’ve tried to identify those below. But check local listings to confirm.
- Netherlands vs Germany
- Thursday, 24th September
- Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam @ 2:45pm ET / 11:45am PT
- Serbia vs Netherlands
- Sunday, 27th September
- Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade @ 12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT
- This match will be broadcast on FS2
- Greece vs Netherlands
- Thursday, 1st October
- Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki @ 2:45pm ET / 11:45am PT
- Netherlands vs Serbia
- Sunday, 4th October
- Philips Stadion, Eindhoven @ 2:45pm ET / 11:45am PT
