The former Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernández, 46 years old, will be the new coach of the Netherlands national football team. He has reached an agreement with the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which announced on Wednesday the signing of a contract until 2030. Xavi, who replaces Ronald Koeman, will be publicly presented on August 25. For now, he has declared through the KNVB that the appointment is “a great honor” for him. The Federation has described him as a player “who has experienced and won everything.”
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We proudly present our new head coach. 🇳🇱⁰⁰Welcome, Xavi Hernández! 🧡#NothingLikeOranje #Xavi2030 pic.twitter.com/9aOpc9J53S
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) August 12, 2026
Koeman announced his departure after a disappointing 2026 World Cup – held in Canada, Mexico, and the United States – in which the Dutch team was eliminated in the round of 16 by Morocco. The search for a suitable replacement led the KNVB to consider, among others, Dutch footballer Arne Slot. He coached Liverpool between 2024 and 2026 and prefers to stay in the club circuit.
Xavi Hernández has been captain of the Spanish national football team and has been capped 133 times. His coaching career began with the Al-Sadd team in Qatar – from 2019 to 2021 – although he was previously one of their players for four seasons. After the Qatari adventure, he became coach of F.C. Barcelona, where he signed in 2021 and was dismissed in 2024.
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In the same statements made public by the KNVB, the Spanish footballer says he was trained in the F.C. Barcelona youth academy, “with strong influences from, among others, Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels.” “I feel a special bond with Dutch football. You could say that I am, in a way, a child of Dutch football,” he added. For his part, Nigel de Jong, director of elite football at the KNVB, stated: “Every new cycle requires us to analyze again where we want to go, what we need for that, and which available coach fits best with those objectives.” Marianne van Leeuwen, director of professional Dutch football, added this Wednesday that with Xavi they bring in “someone who, as a player and coach, knows the absolute elite of international football.”
As a player, Xavi Hernández spent 17 seasons at Barcelona. In total, he played more than 750 official matches and won eight leagues, four UEFA Champions Leagues, and two FIFA Club World Cups with the club. With the Spanish national team, he was European champion in 2008 and 2012, and world champion in 2010. In the coming weeks, the composition of the technical staff of the Dutch national team will be outlined.