Netherlands national under-21 football team

Netherlands U21
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Jong Oranje (Young Orange)
AssociationKoninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond
Head coachMichael Reiziger
CaptainQuinten Timber
Most capsArnold Bruggink & Leroy Fer (31)
Top scorerKlaas-Jan Huntelaar (18)
First colours
Second colours
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances9 (first in 1988)
Best resultWinners (2006, 2007)

The Netherlands national under-21 football team is the national under-21 team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years.

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Dutch Under-21 team was formed. The team did not have a very good record, failing to qualify for nine of the fifteen tournaments. The team did not enter for the 1978 competition, but since then has reached the semi-finals twice, and qualified for the last eight on three other occasions.

Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, the Netherlands' record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown. The first competitive match was in the "Under-23 Challenge", a match which they lost. The team qualified for the last eight of each of the three U-23 tournaments.

In 2006 the Netherlands national under-21 football team of coach Foppe de Haan won the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar became top scorer and player of the tournament with four goals, and also broke the all-time goalscoring record of 15 goals previously held by Roy Makaay and Arnold Jan Bruggink, in his last match with the team as he pushed this record to eighteen goals. The following year, Netherlands national under-21 football team successfully defended their title by winning the 2007 European Under-21 Championship in the final against Serbia with 4–1. Maceo Rigters was the top scorer of the competition with four goals and Royston Drenthe was the Player of the Tournament. The win meant that the Netherlands qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The team failed to qualify for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, after losing out to Switzerland in their final qualifying match.

Competitive record

UEFA U-23 Championship record

The Netherlands were randomly chosen to play against Bulgaria for the title in a one-off match in Sofia, which the Netherlands lost.

  • 17 April 1968: Bulgaria 3–1 Netherlands.

UEFA U-23 Championship Record

UEFA U-23 Championship Record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D* L GF GA
1972 Quarter-finals ? 3 0 1 2 4 2 4 2 1 1 9 7
1974 Quarter-finals ? 2 1 0 1 4 4 2 2 0 0 4 1
1976 Semi finals ? 4 2 0 2 3 5 4 3 1 0 10 3
Total 0 titles 3/3 9 3 1 5 11 11 10 7 2 1 23 11

(*) Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

UEFA U-21 Championship Record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D* L GF GA
1978 did not enter did not enter
1980 did not qualify 4 0 1 3 4 8
1982 4 2 0 2 4 4
1984 4 1 2 1 7 3
1986 6 4 1 1 11 3
1988 Semi-finals 3rd/4th 4 3 0 1 5 6 6 5 0 1 12 5
1990 did not qualify 6 1 2 3 6 9
1992 Quarter-finals 5th 2 1 0 1 2 2 6 4 2 0 20 4
1994 did not qualify 10 3 2 5 11 14
1996 10 6 2 2 23 9
1998 Fourth place 4th 3 1 0 2 2 2 Squad 8 6 1 1 26 5
2000 Group stage 3 1 0 2 3 5 Squad 10 7 1 2 21 9
2002 did not qualify 10 5 3 2 22 10
2004 8 1 4 3 6 10
2006 Final Champions 5 3 1 1 9 5 Squad 10 7 2 1 21 7
2007 Final Champions 5 3 2 0 10 5 Squad Qualified as hosts
2009 did not qualify 8 5 1 2 10 3
2011 10 8 0 2 22 8
2013 Semi-finals 3rd 4 2 0 2 8 7 Squad 10 8 1 1 25 3
2015 did not qualify 10 5 1 4 26 13
2017 8 4 2 2 15 10
2019 10 5 3 2 21 6
2021 Semi-finals 4th 5 2 2 1 11 6 Squad 10 9 0 1 46 5
2023 Group stage 3 0 3 0 2 2 Squad 10 8 2 0 32 3
Total 2 titles 9/24 34 16 8 10 52 34 178 104 33 41 391 151

(*) Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.

Olympic Games

Summer Olympic record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Spain 1992 Did not qualify
United States 1996
Australia 2000
Greece 2004
China 2008 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 4 4
United Kingdom 2012 Did not qualify
Brazil 2016
Japan 2020
France 2024
Total 1/7 0 Medals 4 1 2 1 4 4

Results and fixtures 2021–2023

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 10 8 2 0 32 3 +29 26 Final tournament 2–0 3–0 5–0 3–1 6–0
2   Switzerland 10 7 2 1 22 6 +16 23 2–2 3–0 5–1 1–0 4–0
3  Moldova 10 3 3 4 7 12 −5 12 0–3 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–0
4  Wales 10 3 2 5 15 14 +1 11 0–1 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–0
5  Bulgaria 10 2 4 4 10 11 −1 10 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–4 5–0
6  Gibraltar 10 0 1 9 1 41 −40 1 0–7 0–4 0–4 0–7 1–1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the matches against Norway U21 on 21 March and Moldova U21 on 25 March 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of 21 March 2024, after the match against Norway U21.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Calvin Raatsie (2002-02-09) 9 February 2002 (age 22) 6 0 Netherlands Roda JC
16 1GK Dani van den Heuvel (2003-05-28) 28 May 2003 (age 20) 1 0 England Leeds United
23 1GK Robin Roefs (2003-01-17) 17 January 2003 (age 21) 1 0 Netherlands NEC

12 2DF Neraysho Kasanwirjo (2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 (age 22) 7 0 Austria Rapid Wien
2 2DF Devyne Rensch (2003-01-18) 18 January 2003 (age 21) 13 2 Netherlands Ajax
4 2DF Jorrel Hato (2006-03-07) 7 March 2006 (age 18) 5 0 Netherlands Ajax
3 2DF Wouter Goes (2004-06-10) 10 June 2004 (age 19) 1 0 Netherlands AZ
8 2DF Ian Maatsen (2002-03-10) 10 March 2002 (age 22) 16 1 Germany Borussia Dortmund
5 2DF Bjorn Meijer (2003-03-18) 18 March 2003 (age 21) 4 2 Belgium Club Brugge
15 2DF Youri Baas (2003-03-17) 17 March 2003 (age 21) 3 0 Netherlands NEC
14 2DF Max Bruns (2002-11-06) 6 November 2002 (age 21) 1 0 Netherlands Twente

13 3MF Ryan Flamingo (2002-12-31) 31 December 2002 (age 21) 3 0 Netherlands Utrecht
6 3MF Kenneth Taylor (2002-05-16) 16 May 2002 (age 21) 14 2 Netherlands Ajax
18 3MF Julian Baas (2002-04-16) 16 April 2002 (age 21) 1 0 Netherlands Excelsior
20 3MF Youri Regeer (2003-08-18) 18 August 2003 (age 20) 6 0 Netherlands FC Twente

11 4FW Ruben van Bommel (2004-08-03) 3 August 2004 (age 19) 7 3 Netherlands AZ
10 4FW Myron van Brederode (2003-07-06) 6 July 2003 (age 20) 5 1 Netherlands AZ
17 4FW Ernest Poku (2004-01-28) 28 January 2004 (age 20) 3 0 Netherlands AZ
19 4FW Noah Ohio (2003-01-16) 16 January 2003 (age 21) 7 5 England Hull City
7 4FW Million Manhoef (2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22) 11 3 England Stoke City
22 4FW Ibrahim Cissoko (2003-03-26) 26 March 2003 (age 21) 1 0 France Toulouse
4FW Emanuel Emegha (2003-02-03) 3 February 2003 (age 21) 4 0 France RC Strasbourg
9 4FW Sontje Hansen (2002-05-18) 18 May 2002 (age 21) 3 1 Netherlands NEC

Recent call ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Netherlands under-21 squad in the last year and remain eligible.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Hugo Wentges (2002-02-11) 11 February 2002 (age 22) 1 0 Netherlands ADO Den Haag v.  Moldova, 8 September 2023

DF Rav van den Berg (2004-07-07) 7 July 2004 (age 19) 3 0 England Middlesbrough UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF Ki-Jana Hoever (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22) 6 1 England Stoke City v.  North Macedonia, 12 September 2023
DF Finn van Breemen (2003-02-25) 25 February 2003 (age 21) 4 0 Switzerland FC Basel UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF Tyrese Asante (2002-04-09) 9 April 2002 (age 21) 1 0 Netherlands ADO Den Haag UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF Anass Salah-Eddine (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22) 7 0 Netherlands Twente UEFA Euro U-21 qualification

MF Ryan Gravenberch (2002-05-16) 16 May 2002 (age 21) 11 1 England Liverpool UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
MF Isaac Babadi (2005-04-06) 6 April 2005 (age 18) 2 1 Netherlands PSV v.  North Macedonia, 12 September 2023
MF Calvin Twigt (2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21) 3 0 Netherlands FC Volendam v. UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
MF Dirk Proper (2002-02-24) 24 February 2002 (age 22) 7 1 Netherlands NEC v. UEFA Euro U-21 qualification

FW Brian Brobbey (2002-02-01) 1 February 2002 (age 22) 17 9 Netherlands Ajax v.  Georgia, 27 June 2023

INJ Withdrew due to injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
SEN Accepted call up to senior team.

Overage players in Olympic Games

Tournament Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Kew Jaliens (DF) Gerald Sibon (FW) Roy Makaay (FW)

Notable players from under-21 football team

Individual all-time records

  Still active players are highlighted
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