Xavi Hernandez has been appointed coach of the Netherlands, taking charge of the Dutch national team on a four-year contract that will run through the 2030 World Cup.
The former Barcelona midfielder and coach succeeds Ronald Koeman, who resigned after the Netherlands were eliminated by Morocco on penalties in the round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup. The Dutch lost 3-2 in the shootout after a 1-1 draw in Guadalupe, Mexico, marking their earliest exit in 12 World Cup appearances.
Xavi, 46, will oversee the Netherlands through the 2028 European Championship and the 2030 World Cup. His first match is scheduled for Sept. 24, when the Dutch face Germany in the Nations League at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam.
The appointment gives Xavi an opportunity to apply the football philosophy that defined much of his playing career to a national team with a long history of possession-based, attacking football.
"As someone who received his training at the Barcelona academy, with strong influences from Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, among others, I feel a special connection to Dutch football," Xavi said.
"You could say that I am a bit of a son of Dutch football."
Xavi said Dutch football's emphasis on possession, creativity and attacking play closely matches his own approach.
"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," he said.
"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."
Xavi's appointment also carries a strong historical connection. He was heavily influenced by Dutch football during his development at Barcelona, where coaches such as Louis van Gaal and Frank Rijkaard helped shape his understanding of the game.
He also played a major role in one of the Netherlands' most painful defeats. Xavi was in Spain's midfield when the Dutch lost 1-0 after extra time in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg, South Africa. He later helped Spain win the European Championship in 2012, adding to the continental title he won in 2008.
His club career with Barcelona was equally decorated. Xavi won eight La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies and made 767 appearances for the Catalan club, second only to Lionel Messi.
For much of that era, he formed one of football's most celebrated midfield partnerships with Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets.
His coaching career has been considerably shorter.
Xavi's first senior coaching job came at Al-Sadd in Qatar, where he spent two years before returning to Barcelona in November 2021. He guided Barcelona to the 2022-23 La Liga title but left the club in 2024 and has not held a head coaching position since.
Now, he inherits a Netherlands team trying to overcome a familiar problem: coming close without winning the biggest prizes.
The Dutch have reached three World Cup finals but lost each time, the most World Cup final defeats by a nation that has never won the tournament. Their only major international trophy remains the 1988 European Championship.
Netherlands football director Nigel de Jong believes Xavi's playing and coaching background makes him a natural fit for the job.
"As a player alone, Xavi has experienced and won everything, with a World Cup, multiple national titles, and Champions League titles to his name," de Jong said.
De Jong also pointed to Xavi's education under coaches whose football philosophy closely resembles the Netherlands' traditional style.
"As a coach, he has been shaped by years of working with top coaches who espouse a football vision that aligns very well with the way we want to play with the Dutch national team," de Jong said. "Taking initiative, dominant and attractive football, combined with the flexibility that modern elite football demands."
Xavi now has the chance to bring those principles to a national team that has often been associated with attractive football but has struggled to turn that style into major international success.
As a player, he was part of the Spain team that transformed from perennial underachievers into one of the dominant sides of his generation, winning three consecutive major international tournaments between 2008 and 2012.
