Xavi Hernandez has been appointed as the Netherlands’ new head coach on a contract running through the 2030 World Cup, the Dutch football federation announced on Wednesday, August 12.
The 46-year-old Spaniard replaces Ronald Koeman, who had been in charge since 2023 and led the Netherlands to the Euro 2024 semi-finals before their World Cup campaign ended in the round of 32 with a penalty shootout defeat at the hand of the Moroccan national team.
Xavi will become the Netherlands’ first foreign coach since Austria’s Ernst Happel led the team at the 1978 World Cup.
“It is a great honor to become head coach of the Netherlands national team. As someone who was developed at the FC Barcelona academy, with strong influences from, among others, Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, I feel a special connection to Dutch football. You could say I am, in a way, a son of Dutch football,” Xavi said after his appointment.
His first match in charge will come against Germany in the Nations League on September 24 as he begins his tenure with the Dutch side.
Xavi spent most of his playing career at Barcelona and was part of the Spain side that won the 2010 World Cup and European Championship titles in 2008 and 2012.
He moved into management with Barcelona, guiding the club to the LaLiga title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23. He left the club in 2024 after three seasons and had remained without a coaching position since then.
