Football: Xavi appointed Netherlands manager to succeed Ronald Koeman

Former Barcelona player and Spanish international Xavi Hernandez was appointed Netherlands coach on Wednesday, succeeding Ronald Koeman who resigned after the World Cup, the Dutch Football Association (KNVB) announced on its social media.

The 46-year-old coach, who notably led FC Barcelona to the Spanish league title in 2023, has signed a contract until the next World Cup in 2030, which will take place in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (plus three matches in Latin America).

Koeman had left his position after the elimination in the round of 16 against Morocco (1-1, 3-2 on penalties) at the 2026 World Cup.

"It is a huge honor for me to become the manager of the Netherlands team. As a player trained at the FC Barcelona academy, heavily influenced in particular by Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, I feel a special connection with Dutch football," said Xavi, who was a 2010 World Cup winner as a player and one of the pillars of the great FC Barcelona team of the Messi era, with whom he notably won four Champions Leagues (2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015).

"You could say that I am a bit of a son of Dutch football. Other great coaches, especially Louis van Gaal with whom I made my debut at Barcelona, and Frank Rijkaard, also played an important role in my development as a player and coach," added the new coach of the "Oranje", quoted in the KNVB press release.

- To give a boost -

Xavi began his head coaching career in 2019 with Qatari club Al Sadd SC, before taking the reins at Barça in 2021, succeeding Ronald Koeman. There, he won a La Liga title and a Spanish Super Cup before being dismissed at the end of the 2024 season.

His mission will be to revitalize the Netherlands, a historic powerhouse of world football, three-time World Cup finalist, but who have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a World Cup since a third-place finish in Brazil in 2014. Not qualified in 2018, the Dutch were beaten in the quarter-finals by Argentina in 2022 before their exit against Morocco this year.

Xavi "has developed as a coach over the years by working with top-level coaches who advocate a vision of the game that fits very well with how we want to play with the Netherlands team," said Nigel de Jong, the Federation's director of high-performance football.

"Taking the initiative, playing dominant and attractive football, combined with the flexibility required in modern top-level football. Xavi believes in these basic principles, he has adopted this vision and made it his own. All of this, combined with his personality and his way of managing players and getting the best out of a group, makes him the right choice for the years to come," he continued.