HAGUE.- The Spanish Xavi Hernandez, emblematic former player and former coach of the FC Barcelonawas appointed as the new coach of Netherlands in replacement of Ronald Koeman, who resigned after the disappointment of the “Oranje” in the World Cup 2026announced this Wednesday the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB).
Without a team since his departure from the Barça bench at the end of the 2023-2024 season, the Catalan coach now has a contract until 2030, the year of World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Moroccothe KNVB stated in its statement.
“The Netherlands has a rich football culture and a clear vision that also attracts me enormously: offensive football, from possession of the ball, with creativity, passion and conviction,” declared Xavi, quoted in the statement.
“Of course, the most important goal is always and will always be to win, but preferably I want to do it in a way where those characteristics are reflected and that people can enjoy.”
“The potential for this is there, as is a good foundation on which to continue building. I am looking forward to starting this challenge together with the players, the coaching staff and everyone who is part of the KNVB,” he noted.
Xavi will thus face his first experience as a coach, after having started his career on the bench at the head of the Al Sadd Qatari, whom he made champion of his country in 2021, and then continue at FC Barcelona, where he won the Spanish league in 2023, before a much more negative final 2023-2024 season.
New page for the “Oranje”
The Netherlands was one of the disappointments of the recent World Cup, where it was eliminated in the round of 32 after falling in the penalty shootout against Morocco.
This meant the resignation of coach Koeman (63 years old), who had been in the position since 2023, after a first stage in office between 2018 and 2020.
Destiny repeats itself in a certain way, since at FC Barcelona Xavi was also Koeman’s successor in 2021, a path that he now repeats in the Netherlands team, champion of Europe in 1988 and three times runner-up in the world (1974, 1978, 2010).
