Netherlands national under-21 football team

Netherlands U21
NicknameJong Oranje (Young Orange)
AssociationKoninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond
Head coachMichael Reiziger
CaptainDevyne Rensch
Most capsArnold Bruggink & Leroy Fer (31)
Top scorerKlaas-Jan Huntelaar (18)
First colours
Second colours
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances10 (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 6th 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/4th 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 3rd/4th 5 2 2 1 11 6 Squad 10 9 0 1 46 5
2023 Group stage 9th 3 0 3 0 2 2 Squad 10 8 2 0 32 3
2025 Semi-finals 3rd/4th 5 2 1 2 7 6 10 10 0 0 32 3
Total 2 titles 10/25 39 18 9 12 59 40 — 188 114 33 41 423 154

(*) 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 1/9 0 Medals 4 1 2 1 4 4

Results and fixtures 2021–2023

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Main article: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group E
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

Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. [1]

The following players were named in the squad for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group G match against Slovenia and Israel on 14 and 18 November 2025; respectively.[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2025, after the match against Israel.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Bernt Klaverboer (2005-09-26) 26 September 2005 1 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Heerenveen
23 1GK Niek Schiks (2004-02-03) 3 February 2004 1 0 Royal Dutch Football Association PSV
1GK Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro (2004-07-02) 2 July 2004 8 0 Royal Dutch Football Association AZ
1GK Tom de Graaff (2004-12-10) 10 December 2004 2 0 Royal Dutch Football Association PEC Zwolle
2 2DF Marvin Young (2005-10-02) 2 October 2005 2 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Sparta Rotterdam
3 2DF Wouter Goes (2004-06-10) 10 June 2004 10 0 Royal Dutch Football Association AZ
4 2DF Rav van den Berg (2004-07-07) 7 July 2004 10 1 German Football Association FC Köln
5 2DF Mats Rots (2006-03-11) 11 March 2006 4 0 Royal Dutch Football Association FC Twente
12 2DF Elijah Dijkstra (2006-08-05) 5 August 2006 3 0 Royal Dutch Football Association AZ
13 2DF Jozhua Vertrouwd (2004-08-21) 21 August 2004 1 0 Royal Spanish Football Federation Rayo Vallecano
14 2DF Thijmen Blokzijl (2005-02-25) 25 February 2005 4 0 Royal Dutch Football Association FC Groningen
15 2DF Sam de Grand (2004-10-05) 5 October 2004 1 0 Royal Belgian Football Association Lommel
2DF Givairo Read (2006-06-02) 2 June 2006 1 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Feyenoord
6 3MF Ezechiel Banzuzi (2005-02-16) 16 February 2005 10 1 German Football Association RB Leipzig
8 3MF Kees Smit (2006-01-20) 20 January 2006 4 0 Royal Dutch Football Association AZ
10 3MF Gjivai Zechiël (2004-06-01) 1 June 2004 9 2 Royal Dutch Football Association FC Utrecht
17 3MF Sami Ouaissa (2004-10-02) 2 October 2004 2 0 Royal Dutch Football Association NEC Nijmegen
20 3MF Isaac Babadi (2005-04-06) 6 April 2005 6 2 Royal Belgian Football Association Royal Antwerp
3MF Lamare Bogarde (2004-01-05) 5 January 2004 2 0 The Football Association Aston Villa
7 4FW Jayden Addai (2005-08-26) 26 August 2005 3 1 Italian Football Federation Como
9 4FW Thom van Bergen (2004-01-06) 6 January 2004 15 4 Royal Dutch Football Association FC Groningen
11 4FW Ernest Poku (2004-01-28) 28 January 2004 19 5 German Football Association Bayer Leverkusen
18 4FW Jorg Schreuders (2004-09-09) 9 September 2004 3 0 Royal Dutch Football Association FC Groningen
19 4FW Devin Haen (2004-06-18) 18 June 2004 2 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Willem II
21 4FW Aymen Sliti (2006-03-24) 24 March 2006 1 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Feyenoord
22 4FW Ayoub Oufkir (2006-01-04) 4 January 2006 0 0 Royal Dutch Football Association Sparta Rotterdam

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
DF Jorrel Hato (2006-03-07) 7 March 2006 11 0 England Chelsea v.  England, 25 June 2025
DF Maxim Dekker (2004-04-21) 21 April 2004 2 0 Netherlands AZ v. Slovenia, 14 November 2024
MF Antoni Milambo (2005-04-03) 3 April 2005 5 0 England Brentford v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
MF Dave Kwakman (2004-08-07) 7 August 2004 0 0 Netherlands AZ v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
MF Tygo Land (2006-01-11) 11 January 2006 0 0 Netherlands FC Groningen v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
FW Ro-Zangelo Daal (2004-02-10) 10 February 2004 0 0 Netherlands AZ v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
FW Don-Angelo Konadu (2006-05-03) 3 May 2006 0 0 Netherlands Ajax v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
FW Jaden Slory (2005-05-09) 9 May 2005 0 0 Netherlands Feyenoord v.  Israel, 9 September 2025
FW Ruben van Bommel (2004-08-03) 3 August 2004 15 4 Netherlands PSV September 2025 Camp INJ

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
2008
 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

Most capped players

Arnold Bruggink is the most capped player for Jong Orange.
Rank Player Career Matches Goals
1 Arnold Bruggink 1995–1999 31 15
Leroy Fer 2009–2013 31 6
3 Daniël de Ridder 2004–2007 30 1
4 Niels Oude Kamphuis 1996–2000 28 2
5 Roy Makaay 1994–1998 27 15
Mark van Bommel 1996–2000 27 3
7 Kiki Musampa 1996–2000 25 8
Arnold Kruiswijk 2003–2007 25 0
9 Georginio Wijnaldum 2009–2013 24 10
10 Daley Blind 2009–2013 23 0
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 2002–2006 23 18
Bram Nuytinck 2010–2013 23 2
Marco van Ginkel 2011–2014 23 4
Tonny Vilhena 2013–2016 23 4

Last updated: 29 May 2014

Most goals scored

Huntelaar was the top scorer and named best player at the 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and he is the all-time top scorer for Jong Orange.
Rank Player Career Goals Matches Average
1 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 2002–2006 18 23 0.78
2 Roy Makaay 1994–1998 15 27 0.56
Arnold Bruggink 1995–1999 15 31 0.48
4 Género Zeefuik 2011–2012 10 12 0.83
Georginio Wijnaldum 2009–2013 10 24 0.42
6 Brian Brobbey 2021–2023 9 17 0.53
7 Vincent Janssen 2014–2015 8 10 0.80
Kiki Musampa 1996–2000 8 25 0.32
9 Edwin Bakker 1984–1985 7 7 1.00
Ronald de Boer 1989–1992 7 9 0.78
Quincy Promes 2013–2014 7 10 0.70
Joshua Zirkzee 2020–2023 7 19 0.37
Jurgen Ekkelenkamp 2020–2023 7 22 0.32

Last updated: 27 June 2023

See also

References

  1. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship". UEFA. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Jong Oranje verwelkomt vier nieuwe spelers in definitieve selectie" (in Dutch). Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond. 7 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
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