Xavi Hernández selected 25 Netherlands players in the squad announced on Friday, 6 November, for the final Nations League group matches against Greece and Germany. The Dutch federation’s statement schedules the group to assemble in Zeist on Monday, 9 November, before hosting Greece at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA on Friday the thirteenth and visiting Berlin on Monday the sixteenth.
The Netherlands lead Group Two with eight points from four matches, level with Greece, while Germany have five. Both fixtures begin at 8.45pm Central European Time. The sequence brings a direct meeting with the joint leaders and then the next team in the standings; the new squad itself does not establish qualification before either match is played.
Frenkie de Jong, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo are included, alongside returning selections Ruben van Bommel, Mexx Meerdink and Gjivai Zechiël. Mark Flekken, Robin Roefs and Bart Verbruggen are the goalkeepers. The federation’s list also records Tijjani Reijnders and Crysencio Summerville with Saudi clubs Al-Qadsiah and Al-Hilal respectively.
FCUpdate’s report dated 6 November identifies this as Xavi’s second selection and notes absentees including Ryan Gravenberch, Matthijs de Ligt and Wout Weghorst. Omission alone does not establish the same reason for every missing player, with the report linking some cases to injuries. The immediate function of the choices is to define the training group and competition for minutes; the fixtures will determine the final qualification position.
Archival cover photograph: Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam in an archival photograph; not from the current event. Photographer/creator: Alf van Beem. Image source and metadata; CC0. Image date as recorded by source: 2014-06-07 19:18:35. Source file used without raster edits.
