Netherlands squad World Cup 2026: Ronald Koeman goes Premier League heavy in final 26-man list (original) (raw)
The Netherlands during a recent friendly with Ecuador (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ronald Koeman has named his final 26-man squad for this summer's World Cup - leaning heavily on the Netherlands' Premier League contingent.
The country has been to three finals in its history but have never won the competition, so the Netherlands will be hoping to put that right at World Cup 2026.
Ronald Koeman has one of the stronger squads at the tournament but the team are unlikely to be the very favourites to triumph, though they reached the quarter-finals in 2022.
The Oranje breezed through Group G in the qualifiers and were unbeaten in eight games, with only Poland able to hold them to draws on two occasions.
They boast a defence packed with Premier League talent, featuring the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Micky van de Ven, Jorrel Hato and Jurrien Timber, who has overcome injury to be named at the World Cup. Liverpool's Jeremie Frimpong, though, will sit this tournament out.
Further forward Tijjani Reijnders and Ryan Gravenberch offer an interesting balance but Xavi Simons misses out having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Tottenham.
The only area arguably lacking in Koeman's side is in attack, but he does appear to find ways to get the best out of a sometimes patchy Memphis Depay, who is now his nation's all-time top goalscorer.
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Squad
Netherlands squad World Cup 2026
- GK: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove Albion)
- GK: Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen)
- GK: Robin Roefs (Sunderland)
- DF: Virgil van Dijk (captain) (Liverpool)
- DF: Denzel Dumfries (Internazionale)
- DF: Nathan Aké (Manchester City)
- DF: Jurriën Timber (Arsenal)
- DF: Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur)
- DF: Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion)
- DF: Jorrel Hato (Chelsea)
- MF: Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
- MF: Marten de Roon (Atalanta)
- MF: Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City)
- MF: Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus)
- MF: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)
- MF: Mats Wieffer (Brighton & Hove Albion)
- MF: Quinten Timber (Marseille)
- MF: Guus Til (PSV Eindhoven)
- FW: Memphis Depay (Corinthians)
- FW: Wout Weghorst (Ajax)
- FW: Donyell Malen (Roma)
- FW: Cody Gakpo (Liverpool)
- FW: Noa Lang (Galatasaray)
- FW: Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth)
- FW: Brian Brobbey (Sunderland)
- FW: Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United)
Fixtures
- June 14, 2026: Netherlands vs Japan, AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, United States
- June 25, 2026: Tunisia vs Netherlands, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
- September 24, 2026: Netherlands vs Germany, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- September 27, 2026: Serbia vs Netherlands, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia
- October 1, 2026: Greece vs Netherlands, Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece
- October 4, 2026: Netherlands vs Serbia, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- November 13, 2026: Netherlands vs Greece, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- November 16, 2026: Germany vs Netherlands, Germany
Recent Results
- June 3, 2026: Netherlands 0-1 Algeria, De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- March 31, 2026: Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador, Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands
- March 27, 2026: Netherlands 2-1 Norway, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- November 17, 2025: Netherlands 4-0 Lithuania, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- November 14, 2025: Poland 1-1 Netherlands, Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
- October 12, 2025: Netherlands 4-0 Finland, Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- October 9, 2025: Malta 0-4 Netherlands, National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta
- October 7, 2025: Lithuania 2-3 Netherlands, Darius and Girenas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania
- September 4, 2025: Netherlands 1-1 Poland, De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- June 10, 2025: Netherlands 8-0 Malta, Euroborg, Groningen, Netherlands
- June 7, 2025: Finland 0-2 Netherlands, Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland
- March 23, 2025: Spain 3-3 Netherlands (5-4 pens), Mestalla Stadium, Valencia, Spain
- March 20, 2025: Netherlands 2-2 Spain, De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Group F standings
The Netherlands are in Group F at World Cup 2026.
Manager
Who is the Netherlands's manager?
Ronald Koeman, Head Coach of the Netherlands (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Netherlands is home to some pioneers of football, and it's fair to say Ronald Koeman was one of them during his playing career. He was a defender but ended his career with over 250 goals for club and country.
This is his second stint in charge of the national team, but World Cup 2026 will represent just the second tournament he has taken charge of after failing to qualify for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup.
Koeman led Southampton to seventh- and sixth-placed finishes during his two seasons at the club, and his first season in charge of Everton was enough to see him ranked at no.30 in FourFourTwo's list of the best Premier League managers ever.
Star Player
Who is the Netherlands' star player?
Virgil van Dijk for the Netherlands (Image credit: Getty Images)
He may be undergoing a tough season at club level, but Virgil van Dijk is still a vitally important part of both his club and national teams.
Ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best centre-backs in the world right now, Van Dijk will need to be at his best to help the Netherlands in their second consecutive World Cup appearance.
As the old saying goes, attack wins games but defence wins titles, and it will certainly be true for the Netherlands should they want to break their World Cup hoodoo.
Best XI
Arthur Renard has been writing for FourFourTwo since 2013, when Ronald Koeman hosted him for a Readers interview in a small room in stadium De Kuip. Two years later Arthur moved to London, where he still lives and from where he covers English football, while he has also been travelling the world to cover events like the World Cup and Copa America.