Barcelona legend Xavi appointed Netherlands head coach

Xavi Hernández has been appointed head coach of the Netherlands men’s national team on a contract running to the 2030 World Cup, the Dutch football association KNVB has announced.

The 46-year-old Spaniard succeeds Ronald Koeman, who stepped down after the Netherlands’ last-32 defeat by Morocco at this summer’s World Cup. His appointment ends a long and closely watched search, and comes as a surprise after several higher-profile names fell away.

Former Feyenoord and Liverpool coach Arne Slot, ex-Ajax and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and PSV’s Peter Bosz all ruled themselves out, while the KNVB passed over Jong Oranje coach Michael Reiziger and Louis van Gaal. On

Tuesday, Roberto Martínez was reportedly the front-runner, though the KNVB never held direct talks with him.

“A son of Dutch football”
Xavi becomes the first foreign coach of Oranje since the Austrian Ernst Happel, who led the side to the 1978 World Cup final.

“It is a great honour to become head coach of the Netherlands national team,” he said in a statement released by the KNVB. “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.”

As a player, Xavi is regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, winning four Champions League titles in more than 750 games for Barcelona and lifting the 2010 World Cup with Spain – beating the Netherlands in the final – as well as the European Championship in 2008 and 2012.

He started out as a coach at Al Sadd in Qatar, then took charge of Barcelona in 2021 – also succeeding Koeman – and won the Spanish league title in 2023, but made little impression in Europe before leaving in 2024.

Restoring tactics
The KNVB has handed Xavi an explicit task: restore the attacking, possession-based football long associated with the Dutch game, after a World Cup exit widely seen as a low point in style as much as result.

“As a coach, he has been shaped by years of working with top coaches who share a footballing vision that aligns very well with the way we want the Netherlands national team to play,” said the KNVB’s director Nigel de Jong. He pointed to “taking the initiative, playing dominant and attractive football, combined with the flexibility required in modern football at the highest level.”

Xavi said he shared that ambition. “The Netherlands has a rich football culture and a clear vision that strongly appeals to me: attacking football, based on possession, with creativity, passion and conviction,” he said. “The main objective is always to win, but I prefer to do so in a way that reflects those characteristics and that people can enjoy watching.”

He will be presented at the KNVB’s Zeist headquarters on August 25 and takes charge for the first time on September 24, at home to Germany in the Nations League.