The Netherlands national under-21 football team is the national under-21 team of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and is controlled by the

Royal Dutch Football Association The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

. The team competes in the

European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

, held every two years. Following the realignment of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

'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 Foppe Geert de Haan (, born 26 June 1943) is a Dutch association football, football coach. He is known for his long association with Friesland, Frisian club SC Heerenveen. De Haan was the manager of the Tuvalu national football team during 2011 ...

won the 2006 European Under-21 Championship.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Jan Klaas "Klaas-Jan" Huntelaar (; born 12 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a striker. Huntelaar played for PSV, De Graafschap, AGOVV Apeldoorn, Heerenveen, Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan, before joining S ...

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 Rudolphus Antonius "Roy" Makaay (born 9 March 1975) is a Dutch former footballer and a coach who is currently first team coach at Rangers. As a striker, he was known for his goal-scoring ability as a result of his "aerial prowess and quick driv ...

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 Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

with 4–1.

Maceo Rigters Maceo Rigters (born 22 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for SC Heerenveen, FC Dordrecht, Dordrecht, NAC Breda and Willem II (football club), Will ...

was the top scorer of the competition with four goals and

Royston Drenthe Royston Ricky Drenthe (born 8 April 1987) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Murcia. Although primarily a left winger, he has also played as a left-back. Drenthe started his professional career with Eredivisie side Feyenoord i ...

was the Player of the Tournament. The win meant that the Netherlands qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. The team failed to qualify for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, after losing out to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in their final qualifying match.

Competitive record

UEFA U-23 Championship record

The Netherlands were randomly chosen to play against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

for the title in a one-off match in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

, which the Netherlands lost. *17 April 1968: Bulgaria 3–1 Netherlands.

UEFA U-23 Championship Record

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

UEFA U-21 Championship Record

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

Olympic Games

Results and fixtures 2021–2023

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Qualification

Players

Current squad

* The following players were called up for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches. * Match dates: 3, 7 and 11 June 2022 * Opposition: , and * Caps and goals correct as of: 3 June 2022, after the match against * Names in bold denote players who have been capped for the Senior team.

Recent call ups

The following players have previously been called up to the Netherlands under-21 squad in the last year and remain eligible. ^INJ Withdrew due to injury.
^PRE Preliminary squad.
^SEN Accepted call up to senior team.

Overage players in Olympic Games

Notable players from under-21 football team

* Jo Bonfrere *

Arnold Bruggink Arnold Bruggink (born 24 July 1977) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Born in Almelo, Overijssel, Bruggink started his professional career at FC Twente, where he became the club's leadi ...

Wilfred Bouma Wilfred Bouma (; born 15 June 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played most notably for PSV Eindhoven, Aston Villa and the Netherlands national team. Club career Early career Born in Helmond, North Brabant, Bouma started his ...

Peter Wisgerhof Peter Wisgerhof (; born 19 November 1979) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for Vitesse, NEC and Twente. Career Club Wisgerhof made his debut in professional football, being part of the Vitesse squad in th ...

Victor Sikora Victor Tadeusz Sikora (born 11 April 1978) is a Dutch retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Sikora began his career at the Go Ahead Eagles youth academy and worked his way into the first team, debuting as a 16-year-old. H ...

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Belgian side Royal Antwerp. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackli ...

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink (; born 7 November 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He formerly played for the Netherlands national team as a striker. He played for clubs such as the Dutch Eredivisie's FC Twente and PSV, the ...

* Dirk Kuyt *

Kenneth Vermeer Kenneth Harold Vermeer (born 10 January 1986) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Vermeer has played for Jong Ajax, Willem II on loan, ...

Gijs Luirink Gijs Luirink (, born 12 September 1983 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a centre back. He is a former Dutch under-21 international. Career He began his career at FC Volendam, making 57 league appearances for the club ...

Nicky Hofs Nicky Hofs (born 17 May 1983) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his professional career with SBV Vitesse, Vitesse. After retiring, he began working as a youth and assistan ...

Stijn Schaars Stephanus Johannes "Stijn" Schaars (born 11 January 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Vitesse Born in Gendt, Gelderland, Schaars was first discovered by Dutch coach Theo Bos, who went on to ...

Urby Emanuelson Urby Vitorrio Diego Emanuelson (born 16 June 1986) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He is the currently assistant trainer of Utrecht. As a product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Emanuelson spent most of his career at Ajax playing as a l ...

Romeo Castelen Romeo Erwin Marius Castelen (born 3 May 1983) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a right winger. Club career ADO Den Haag Born in Paramaribo, Suriname, Castelen started his professional career with ADO Den Haag, playing two full season ...

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball co ...

Boy Waterman Boy Waterman (born 24 January 1984) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for PSV Eindhoven. He was part of the Netherlands under-21 national team which won the 2007 Under-21 European Football Championship. Club career ...

Ron Vlaar Ron Peter Vlaar (born 16 February 1985) is a Dutch former footballer who played as a centre-back. Vlaar came up through AZ's youth ranks. After making his professional debut, he played sparingly for two seasons before joining Feyenoord in 2006. ...

* Ryan Donk * Gianni Zuiverloon *

Hedwiges Maduro Hedwiges Eduard Martinus Maduro (born 13 February 1985) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player who is the assistant coach of Eerste Divisie club Almere City. Mainly a defensive midfielder during his playing career, he could a ...

Otman Bakkal Otman Bakkal (born 27 February 1985) is a Dutch retired international footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began his career at PSV, and was loaned to Den Bosch, Eindhoven, Twente and Feyenoord. After making a permanent move to ...

Ryan Babel Ryan may refer to: People and fictional characters *Ryan (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) *Ryan (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia * Division of Ryan, an elector ...

* Tim Krul *

Erik Pieters Erik Pieters (; born 7 August 1988) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left back for West Bromwich Albion. Pieters began his career with Utrecht and made his professional debut in August 2006. He impressed enough at the Stadion Ga ...

Individual all-time records

Most capped players

Last updated: 29 May 2014

Most goals scored

Last updated: 17 November 2015

References

External links

UEFA Under-21 website
Contains full results archive

Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.
Official KNVB U-21 site
in Dutch {{DEFAULTSORT:Netherlands U-21 National Football Team European national under-21 association football teams

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Youth football in the Netherlands