Spanish coach Xavi, a 2010 World Cup winner as a player, has been appointed head coach of the Netherlands national football team. The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNBA) press service announced this.

The contract with the coach runs until the end of the 2030 World Cup.

Xavi replaces Ronald Koeman, who led the national team since April 2023 and left after the team's defeat in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup. Under Koeman, the Netherlands national team reached the semi-finals of the 2024 European Championship.

Xavi, 46, was most recently coached by “Barcelona” from November 2021 to May 2024, leading the club to Spanish championship and the Spanish Super Cup in 2023. From 2019 to 2021, he led Qatari club “Al Sadd”.

Xavi is a product of “Barcelona's” youth system, where he played for the main squad from 1998 to 2015. With the club, he won eight Spanish championships, three Copa del Rey titles, and four Champions League titles. Xavi has played 767 matches for “Barcelona”, scoring 85 goals and providing 185 assists. With the Spanish national team, he won the World Cup (2010) and two European Championships (2008, 2012), as well as an Olympic silver medal (2000).