Netherlands national under-21 football team

Netherlands U21
Nickname(s)	Jong Oranje (Young Orange)
Association	Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond
Head coach	Michael Reiziger
Captain	Quinten Timber
Most caps	Arnold Bruggink & Leroy Fer (31)
Top scorer	Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (18)
First colours	Second colours
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	9 (first in 1988)
Best result	Winners (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

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
UEFA U-23 Championship Record									Qualification record
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

Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
UEFA U-21 Championship Record										Qualification record
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	did not qualify									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	did not qualify									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	did not qualify									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	9th	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
1992	Did not qualify
1996
2000
2004
2008	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	2	1	4	4
2012	Did not qualify
2016
2020
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 v t e	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	Final tournament	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 Mexico on 10 October and Sweden on 14 October 2024.

Caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2024, after the match against Georgia.

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

12	2DF	Neraysho Kasanwirjo	(2002-02-18) 18 February 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Rangers
2	2DF	Devyne Rensch	(2003-01-18) 18 January 2003 (age 21)	13	2	Ajax
4	2DF	Jorrel Hato	(2006-03-07) 7 March 2006 (age 18)	5	0	Ajax
3	2DF	Wouter Goes	(2004-06-10) 10 June 2004 (age 20)	1	0	AZ
8	2DF	Ian Maatsen	(2002-03-10) 10 March 2002 (age 22)	16	1	Aston Villa
5	2DF	Bjorn Meijer	(2003-03-18) 18 March 2003 (age 21)	4	2	Club Brugge
15	2DF	Youri Baas	(2003-03-17) 17 March 2003 (age 21)	3	0	Ajax
14	2DF	Max Bruns	(2002-11-06) 6 November 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Twente

13	3MF	Ryan Flamingo	(2002-12-31) 31 December 2002 (age 21)	3	0	PSV
6	3MF	Kenneth Taylor	(2002-05-16) 16 May 2002 (age 22)	14	2	Ajax
18	3MF	Julian Baas	(2002-04-16) 16 April 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Excelsior
20	3MF	Youri Regeer	(2003-08-18) 18 August 2003 (age 21)	6	0	FC Twente

11	4FW	Ruben van Bommel	(2004-08-03) 3 August 2004 (age 20)	7	3	AZ
10	4FW	Myron van Brederode	(2003-07-06) 6 July 2003 (age 21)	5	1	AZ
17	4FW	Ernest Poku	(2004-01-28) 28 January 2004 (age 20)	3	0	AZ
19	4FW	Noah Ohio	(2003-01-16) 16 January 2003 (age 21)	7	5	Utrecht
7	4FW	Million Manhoef	(2002-01-03) 3 January 2002 (age 22)	11	3	Stoke City
22	4FW	Ibrahim Cissoko	(2003-03-26) 26 March 2003 (age 21)	1	0	Plymouth Argyle
	4FW	Emanuel Emegha	(2003-02-03) 3 February 2003 (age 21)	4	0	RC Strasbourg
9	4FW	Sontje Hansen	(2002-05-18) 18 May 2002 (age 22)	3	1	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	ADO Den Haag	v. Moldova, 8 September 2023

DF	Rav van den Berg	(2004-07-07) 7 July 2004 (age 20)	3	0	Middlesbrough	UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF	Ki-Jana Hoever	(2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22)	6	1	Stoke City	v. North Macedonia, 12 September 2023
DF	Finn van Breemen	(2003-02-25) 25 February 2003 (age 21)	4	0	FC Basel	UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF	Tyrese Asante	(2002-04-09) 9 April 2002 (age 22)	1	0	Maccabi Tel Aviv	UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
DF	Anass Salah-Eddine	(2002-01-18) 18 January 2002 (age 22)	7	0	Twente	UEFA Euro U-21 qualification

MF	Ryan Gravenberch	(2002-05-16) 16 May 2002 (age 22)	11	1	Liverpool	UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
MF	Isaac Babadi	(2005-04-06) 6 April 2005 (age 19)	2	1	PSV	v. North Macedonia, 12 September 2023
MF	Calvin Twigt	(2003-01-30) 30 January 2003 (age 21)	3	0	FC Volendam	v. UEFA Euro U-21 qualification
MF	Dirk Proper	(2002-02-24) 24 February 2002 (age 22)	7	1	NEC	v. UEFA Euro U-21 qualification

FW	Brian Brobbey	(2002-02-01) 1 February 2002 (age 22)	17	9	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
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
1	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
5	Mark van Bommel	1996–2000	27	3
7	Kiki Musampa	1996–2000	25	8
7	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
2	Arnold Bruggink	1995–1999	15	31	0.48
4	Género Zeefuik	2011–2012	10	12	0.83
4	Georginio Wijnaldum	2009–2013	10	24	0.42
6	Brian Brobbey	2021–	9	17	0.53
7	Vincent Janssen	2014–2015	8	10	0.80
7	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–	7	19	0.37
	Jurgen Ekkelenkamp	2020–2023	7	22	0.32

Last updated: 27 June 2023

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