The Netherlands host old rivals Germany at the Johan Cruijff Arena on Thursday with both nations turning to freshly appointed head coaches in search of a reset after disappointing World Cup exits.
Match Preview
The symmetry between these two sides heading into Thursday’s Group A2 opener is hard to ignore.
Both the Netherlands and Germany topped their respective groups at this summer’s World Cup, only to suffer round-of-32 exits on penalties on the very same day, June 29.
The Dutch were beaten by Morocco after a 1-1 draw, while Germany were undone by Paraguay despite a late Kai Havertz equaliser. Both head coaches subsequently departed, and both nations have since turned to newly installed, high-profile appointments who will take charge of a competitive fixture for the very first time on Thursday.
Xavi succeeds Ronald Koeman in Amsterdam, arriving with a clear intention to move away from what he has described as a rigid, overly pragmatic approach and build a possession-based Netherlands side “without egos.”
Encouragingly for the Oranje boss, his squad has not lost a competitive match in 90 minutes since a 1-0 defeat to this very opponent in the Nations League back in October 2024, having gone unbeaten in normal time throughout their four World Cup fixtures this summer (two wins, two draws).
The Netherlands were also Nations League semi-finalists as recently as the 2024-25 edition, when they finished behind Germany in this same group after playing out a 2-2 draw in Amsterdam.
Klopp, meanwhile, takes charge of Germany for the first time since leaving Liverpool in 2024, and has been explicit about wanting to bring a “new approach” to a national team that has managed just one knockout win at a major tournament since 2016.
With both camps fielding their strongest available players for the first time since the World Cup and two significant reputations in opposing technical areas, Amsterdam is set for one of the more intriguing curtain-raisers of the new international season.
Team News
The Netherlands will be without a lengthy list of first-team options. Frenkie de Jong, Mats Wieffer, Ian Maatsen, Matthijs de Ligt, Jerdy Schouten and Xavi Simons are all unavailable, while Donyell Malen and Justin Kluivert have withdrawn from the squad, with Mexx Meerdink among the players drafted in as cover.
Despite the absences, Xavi retains a strong spine built around Virgil van Dijk, Denzel Dumfries and the double pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders, while Crysencio Summerville and Cody Gakpo offer proven quality in the final third.
Xavi’s first squad! 🇳🇱
First call-up for Ruben & Gjivai! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/gd1JcOLQOe— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) September 18, 2026
Germany have no fresh injury concerns to speak of, though Klopp’s decision to call up two separate matchday squads for his opening four fixtures means several key names are simply not part of this particular group.
Florian Wirtz, Karim Adeyemi, Nick Woltemade, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Said El Mala have all been held back for later fixtures, while Leon Goretzka and Deniz Undav are missing entirely through injury.
Klopp has already confirmed that Marc-Andre ter Stegen will start in goal and that captain Joshua Kimmich will operate in a central midfield role alongside Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, with Jamal Musiala pushed further forward into a number 10 role.
Jürgen Klopp leads his 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 as Germany head coach. 🇩🇪✅ pic.twitter.com/h5uTJHDyQl
— CentreGoals. (@centregoals) September 22, 2026
Uncapped Freiburg right-back Philipp Treu is competing with Josha Vagnoman for a starting berth, while in-form Eintracht Frankfurt striker Younes Ebnoutalib, who has scored five goals in his last five appearances for his club, is pushing for a full international debut.
Netherlands vs Germany Predicted XI
Netherlands Predicted XI:
Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven; Veerman, Gravenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Brobbey, Gakpo
Germany Predicted XI:
Ter Stegen; Vagnoman, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Brown; Kimmich, Nmecha; Sane, Musiala, Ebnoutalib; Havertz
Score Prediction
Netherlands 2-2 Germany
