Koeman issues De Jong fitness update after start for Netherlands: ‘Don’t think he’s 100% but he’s in good enough shape’ | OneFootball

With the Netherlands facing off against Sweden in their second 2026 FIFA World Cup encounter, Barcelona midfielder and captain Frenkie de Jong has been named in the starting lineup.

This comes despite the Dutch national team’s manager, Ronald Koeman, had expressed doubts about his readiness to play, due to the player suffering from some discomfort around the abdomen.

However, the Barcelona ace has seemingly recovered sufficiently to be included in the starting XI by Koeman – a development that the Blaugrana will be monitoring closely.

Koeman on De Jong

De Jong starts for the Netherlands. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Speaking just before kickoff against Sweden, Koeman issued an update on De Jong’s condition, which is bound to raise some concerns at Barcelona.

The Netherlands head coach admitted that the midfielder was not at his 100%, although he felt good enough to be named in the starting lineup.

“I don’t think he’s 100% but he’s in good enough shape for us to have him start the match. We still have the warm-up period to make sure of that,” the manager said (h/t FCB World).

On whether he felt worried about De Jong’s condition in the last few days leading up to the Sweden clash, he added:

“You keep in mind the possibility that he might not be able to start, but this isn’t a concern.

“Of course, you want to field the best and strongest lineup from our point of view in the match. This is something that can happen in football.”

Risky move?

Hypocritical from Koeman? (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Having failed to win their first game of the World Cup against Japan, the Netherlands are in a situation where they need to secure all three points today.

In that sense, it is understandable as to why Koeman opted to start De Jong, who is one of his best players in the team.

At the same time, though, the Dutch manager has been critical of Barcelona in the past regarding rushing the 29-year-old star back to action after fitness problems only to now do the same himself.

With Barcelona already sweating over the injury blow to Raphinha during Brazil’s match and Ronald Araujo’s fitness issue, they will be closely monitoring De Jong’s condition and performance today.