Netherlands vs Germany – Predicted lineup and team news

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The Football Faithful

·24 September 2026

Netherlands vs Germany – Predicted lineup and team news

The Netherlands and Germany are set to meet at the Johan Cruijff Arena on Thursday in their opening UEFA Nations League match, with Xavi Hernández preparing for his first game as international manager.

The Netherlands arrive at this Nations League window hoping to recover from an inconsistent summer campaign. Their recent results included an impressive 5-1 victory over Sweden and a convincing 3-1 win against Tunisia in the World Cup. However, they also showed defensive weaknesses in a 2-2 draw with Japan before suffering a narrow 1-0 friendly loss to Algeria. Their summer campaign ended painfully, as the Oranje drew 1-1 with Morocco and were then eliminated after losing the penalty shootout 3-2.

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Netherlands team news

Xavi Hernández faces a difficult first match in charge, with the Netherlands heavily affected by injuries and several major omissions from the squad.

The Dutch are particularly weakened in central midfield, where Frenkie de Jong, Mats Wieffer, Jerdy Schouten and Xavi Simons are all unavailable for the fixture.

Their attacking options have also been reduced after Donyell Malen withdrew late with a muscle problem, while Justin Kluivert also left the squad. Those departures led to emergency call-ups for Guus Til and Mexx Meerdink.

Xavi has also made a major selection decision by leaving experienced forwards Memphis Depay and Wout Weghorst out of his first international squad. There was at least some positive news for the Netherlands, with Arsenal fullback Jürrien Timber recovering from a groin injury and returning to contention.

Brian Brobbey is expected to start as the central striker, with Cody Gakpo and Crysencio Summerville likely to provide support from the wide areas.

Netherlands predicted lineup

Possible Netherlands starting XI: Verbruggen; Dumfries, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Van de Ven; Koopmeiners, Gravenberch, Reijnders; Summerville, Brobbey, Gakpo