Xavi Hernández appointed Netherlands head coach on four-year deal
Xavi Hernández was appointed head coach of the Netherlands on 12 August 2026, agreeing to a four-year contract.
The 46-year-old Spaniard has been out of management since leaving Barcelona in 2024 and will take up the national role after a spell away from the touchline. He took charge of Barcelona in November 2021, succeeding Ronald Koeman, and had made 767 appearances for the club as a player. As a player Xavi won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2008 and 2012, and as a manager he guided Barça to the La Liga title in 2023 after beginning his coaching career with Qatari club Al Sadd.
In a statement released by the Dutch Football Association (KNVB), Xavi said: "I consider it a tremendous honour to become head coach of the Dutch national team. As someone who received his training at the FC Barcelona academy, with strong influences from Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, among others, I feel a special connection to Dutch football. You could say that I am a bit of a son of Dutch football."
He added: "The Netherlands has a rich football culture and a clear vision that also appeals to me enormously: attacking football, based on possession, with creativity, passion, and conviction. Of course, the most important goal is and always will be to win, but I prefer to do so in a way that reflects those characteristics and that people can enjoy. The potential for this is there, as well as a solid foundation to build upon."
Former Liverpool head coach Arne Slot walked away from talks about replacing Koeman after saying he wants to remain in club football, and his link to the role did not get beyond an initial approach. "At this stage in my career, I prefer to see myself on the training pitch with my players every day, something that is simply not possible in the same way with a national team," Slot told Voetbal International. "And [it is] why I chose not to continue the talks and not to start negotiations on what a possible contract might look like. "I have enormous respect for the national team and for the KNVB [Dutch Football Association] and can only be positive about the professional manner in which the talks proceeded that week. For now, I believe club football still has a lot to offer me."
Xavi succeeds Ronald Koeman, who stepped down after the Netherlands’ last-32 defeat by Morocco at this summer’s World Cup, and has agreed to lead the Dutch team through to the 2030 World Cup.