Xavi's first Netherlands squad: Depay dropped, Van Dijk stays, Germany up first

Xavi Hernández's first Netherlands squad has 26 players. Memphis Depay, the country's record scorer, was left out, and the first game is against Germany in Amsterdam on Thursday, which is also Jürgen Klopp's first as Germany coach. 12

Depay is 32, has 55 goals in 112 caps, and now plays for Corinthians in Brazil. 3 Frenkie de Jong sits out the window with the knee injury he carried home from the World Cup, and Marten de Roon, Wout Weghorst and Mats Wieffer are out too. 1

Captain Virgil van Dijk, 35, said last month that he would weigh up his international future with the new coach, and has decided to continue. 1 Ruben van Bommel, 22, a PSV winger and the son of Mark van Bommel, Belgium's head coach, gets a first call-up after two goals and two assists since a long knee injury. Gjivai Zechiël, 22, has five goals in six Eredivisie games for Feyenoord. 3 Jeremie Frimpong, Kenneth Taylor and Jurriën Timber, who missed the World Cup, are back. 1

Ronald Koeman resigned after the World Cup, where the Netherlands lost to Morocco on penalties in the round of 32 and drew criticism for a lack of attacking ambition. 3

Xavi, 46, had been out of work since leaving Barcelona in May 2024. He signed a four-year deal through the 2030 World Cup, and he is the first foreigner to coach the Netherlands since Ernst Happel at the 1978 World Cup. 4 He wants "a very brave team to dominate the game, to take the initiative with the ball". 4 The Dutch have lost all three World Cup finals they have reached, in 1974, 1978 and 2010. 5

The Netherlands play Germany in Amsterdam on Thursday 24 September (8.45pm local / 2.45pm ET / 11.45am PT), Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday 27 September (6pm local / noon ET / 9am PT), Greece in Thessaloniki on Thursday 1 October (9.45pm local / 2.45pm ET / 11.45am PT) and Serbia in Eindhoven on Sunday 4 October (8.45pm local / 2.45pm ET / 11.45am PT). 67