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 RecordQualification recordYearRoundPosition1972Quarter-finals? 3012424211971974Quarter-finals? 2101442200411976Semi finals? 4202354310103Total 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 RecordQualification recordYearRoundPositionSquad1978did not enterdid not enter1980did not qualify40134819824202441984412173198664111131988Semi-finals3rd/4th430156 — 65011251990did not qualify6123691992Quarter-finals5th210122 — 64202041994did not qualify1032511141996106222391998Fourth place4th310222Squad86112652000Group stage6th310235Squad107122192002did not qualify105322210200481436102006FinalChampions531195Squad107212172007FinalChampions5320105SquadQualified as hosts2009did not qualify85121032011108022282013Semi-finals3rd/4th420287Squad108112532015did not qualify1051426132017842215102019105322162021Semi-finals3rd/4th5221116Squad109014652023Group stage9th303022Squad108203232025Semi-finals3rd/4th521276Squad101000323 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 recordYearRoundPositionGPWD*LGSGA 1992Did not qualify 1996 2000 2004 2008Quarter-finals7th412144 2012Did not qualify 2016 2020 2024Total1/90 Medals412144
Results and fixtures 2025–2027
2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Qualification
Players Current squad Players born on or after 1 January 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
The following players were named in the squad for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group G matches against Norway and Belgium on 25 September and 2 October 2027; respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2026, after the match against Belgium.
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 Tournament Player 1Player 2Player 3 Kew Jaliens (DF) Gerald Sibon (FW) Roy Makaay (FW)
Notable players from under-21 football team
Jo Bonfrere Roy Makaay Arnold Bruggink Wilfred Bouma Peter Wisgerhof Victor Sikora Mark van Bommel Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink Dirk Kuyt Kenneth Vermeer Gijs Luirink Nicky Hofs Stijn Schaars Urby Emanuelson Romeo Castelen Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Robin van Persie Boy Waterman Ron Vlaar Ryan Donk Gianni Zuiverloon Hedwiges Maduro Otman Bakkal Maceo Rigters Ryan Babel Royston Drenthe Tim Krul Erik Pieters
Individual all-time records
Most capped players
RankPlayerCareerMatchesGoals1Arnold Bruggink 31 15Leroy Fer 2009–2013 31 6 3Daniël de Ridder 2004–2007 30 1 4Niels Oude Kamphuis 1996–2000 28 25Roy Makaay 1994–1998 27 15Mark van Bommel 1996–2000 27 37Kiki Musampa 1996–2000 25 8Arnold Kruiswijk 2003–2007 25 0 9Georginio Wijnaldum 2009–2013 24 1010Daley Blind 2009–2013 23 0Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 2002–2006 23 18Bram Nuytinck 2010–2013 23 2Marco van Ginkel 2011–2014 23 4Tonny Vilhena 2013–2016 23 4Last updated: 29 May 2014
Most goals scored
RankPlayerCareerGoalsMatchesAverage 1Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 18 23 0.782Roy Makaay 1994–1998 15 27 0.56Arnold Bruggink 1995–1999 15 31 0.484Género Zeefuik 2011–2012 10 12 0.83Georginio Wijnaldum 2009–2013 10 24 0.42 6Brian Brobbey 2021–2023 9 17 0.537Vincent Janssen 2014–2015 8 10 0.80Kiki Musampa 1996–2000 8 25 0.329Edwin Bakker 1984–1985 7 7 1.00Ronald de Boer 1989–1992 7 9 0.78Quincy Promes 2013–2014 7 10 0.70Joshua Zirkzee 2020–2023 7 19 0.37Jurgen Ekkelenkamp 2020–2023 7 22 0.32Last updated: 27 June 2023
See also Netherlands national football team Netherlands national under-19 football team Netherlands national under-17 football team UEFA European Under-21 Championship
References
External links
UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships. Official KNVB U-21 site in Dutch