Netherlands hire Xavi as coach through 2030 WC

BREAKING: The Netherlands appoint Barcelona great Xavi Hernandez as their new national team coach through the 2030 World Cup, following Ronald Koeman's resignation.

A Spaniard is now in charge of Dutch football, and honestly, it makes perfect sense.

The Netherlands have appointed Xavi Hernandez as national team coach on a four year deal, taking him through Euro 2028 and all the way to the 2030 World Cup. There he is, back on a touchline after two years away since Barcelona let him go in 2024.

This follows Ronald Koeman's resignation after the Dutch got dumped out of the World Cup this summer in the round of 32, by Morocco. And here's a detail I love, Xavi replacing Koeman is a rerun. He did exactly this at Barcelona in 2021, then won them a league title.

Xavi called himself, quote, partly a son of Dutch football, raised on Cruyff and Michels, given his Barça debut by Louis van Gaal. The man was practically built in an Amsterdam lab.

So the country that invented Total Football just hired its most famous export back. Full circle doesn't get rounder than that.

This is Kateryna Kovalenko, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at espn.com