| Netherlands U21 | |
| Nickname: | Jong Oranje (Young Orange) |
| Association: | Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond |
| Coach: | Michael Reiziger |
| Captain: | Quinten Timber |
| Most Caps: | Arnold Bruggink & Leroy Fer (31) |
| Top Scorer: | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (18) |
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| Uefau21champ Apps: | 9 |
| Uefau21champ First: | 1988 |
| Uefau21champ Best: | Winners (2006, 2007) |
The Netherlands national under-21 football team is the national under-21 team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association. The team competes in the European Under-21 Championship, held every two years.
Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Dutch Under-21 team was formed. The team did not have a very good record, failing to qualify for nine of the fifteen tournaments. The team did not enter for the 1978 competition, but since then has reached the semi-finals twice, and qualified for the last eight on three other occasions.
Since the under-21 competition rules insist that players must be 21 or under at the start of a two-year competition, technically it is an U-23 competition. For this reason, the Netherlands' record in the preceding U-23 competitions is also shown. The first competitive match was in the "Under-23 Challenge", a match which they lost. The team qualified for the last eight of each of the three U-23 tournaments.
In 2006 the Netherlands national under-21 football team of coach Foppe de Haan won the 2006 European Under-21 Championship. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar became top scorer and player of the tournament with four goals, and also broke the all-time goalscoring record of 15 goals previously held by Roy Makaay and Arnold Jan Bruggink, in his last match with the team as he pushed this record to eighteen goals. The following year, Netherlands national under-21 football team successfully defended their title by winning the 2007 European Under-21 Championship in the final against Serbia with 4–1. Maceo Rigters was the top scorer of the competition with four goals and Royston Drenthe was the Player of the Tournament. The win meant that the Netherlands qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The team failed to qualify for the 2009 European Under-21 Championship, after losing out to Switzerland in their final qualifying match.
The Netherlands were randomly chosen to play against Bulgaria for the title in a one-off match in Sofia, which the Netherlands lost.
| UEFA U-23 Championship Record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | ||||||||||||||
| 1972 | Quarter-finals | ? | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 7 | ||
| 1974 | Quarter-finals | ? | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | ||
| 1976 | Semi finals | ? | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | ||
| Total | 0 titles | 3/3 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 11 | ||
(*) Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
| UEFA U-21 Championship Record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Squad | |||||||||||||
| 1978 | did not enter | did not enter | ||||||||||||||
| 1980 | did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
| 1982 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 1984 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1986 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 1988 | Semi-finals | 3rd/4th | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | |
| 1990 | did not qualify | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1992 | Quarter-finals | 5th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 4 | |
| 1994 | did not qualify | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 14 | |||||||||
| 1996 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 23 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 1998 | Fourth place | 4th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Squad | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 5 | |
| 2000 | Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | Squad | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 9 | |
| 2002 | did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 10 | |||||||||
| 2004 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 2006 | Final | Champions | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | Squad | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 7 | |
| 2007 | Final | Champions | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | Squad | Qualified as hosts | ||||||
| 2009 | did not qualify | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 3 | |||||||||
| 2011 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 8 | ||||||||||
| 2013 | Semi-finals | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | Squad | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 3 | |
| 2015 | did not qualify | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 26 | 13 | |||||||||
| 2017 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 10 | ||||||||||
| 2019 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Semi-finals | 4th | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | Squad | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 46 | 5 | |
| 2023 | Group stage | 9th | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | Squad | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | |
| Total | 2 titles | 9/24 | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 52 | 34 | — | 178 | 104 | 33 | 41 | 391 | 151 | |
(*) Denotes draws including knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out.
| Summer Olympic record | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA | ||
 1992 | Did not qualify | |||||||||
 1996 | ||||||||||
 2000 | ||||||||||
 2004 | ||||||||||
 2008 | Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
 2012 | Did not qualify | |||||||||
 2016 | ||||||||||
 2020 | ||||||||||
 2024 | ||||||||||
| Total | 1/7 | 0 Medals | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
See main article: article and 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
See main article: article and 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group E.
The following players were called up for the matches against on 21 March and on 25 March 2024.
Caps and goals correct as of 21 March 2024, after the match against .
The following players have previously been called up to the Netherlands under-21 squad in the last year and remain eligible.
INJ Withdrew due to injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
SEN Accepted call up to senior team.
| Rank | Player | Career | Matches | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 1 | Arnold Bruggink | 31 | 15 | |
| Leroy Fer | 2009–2013 | 31 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Daniël de Ridder | 2004–2007 | 30 | 1 | |
| 4 | Niels Oude Kamphuis | 1996–2000 | 28 | 2 | |
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 5 | Roy Makaay | 1994–1998 | 27 | 15 |
| Mark van Bommel | 1996–2000 | 27 | 3 | ||
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 7 | Kiki Musampa | 1996–2000 | 25 | 8 |
| align=left | Arnold Kruiswijk | 2003–2007 | 25 | 0 | |
| 9 | Georginio Wijnaldum | 2009–2013 | 24 | 10 | |
| valign=center rowspan=5 | 10 | Daley Blind | 2009–2013 | 23 | 0 |
| Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 2002–2006 | 23 | 18 | ||
| Bram Nuytinck | 2010–2013 | 23 | 2 | ||
| Marco van Ginkel | 2011–2014 | 23 | 4 | ||
| Tonny Vilhena | 2013–2016 | 23 | 4 |
| Rank | Player | Career | Goals | Matches | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar | 18 | 23 | 0.78 | ||
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 2 | Roy Makaay | 1994–1998 | 15 | 27 | 0.56 |
| Arnold Bruggink | 1995–1999 | 15 | 31 | 0.48 | ||
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 4 | Género Zeefuik | 2011–2012 | 10 | 12 | 0.83 |
| Georginio Wijnaldum | 2009–2013 | 10 | 24 | 0.42 | ||
| 6 | Brian Brobbey | 2021– | 9 | 17 | 0.53 | |
| valign=center rowspan=2 | 7 | Vincent Janssen | 2014–2015 | 8 | 10 | 0.80 |
| Kiki Musampa | 1996–2000 | 8 | 25 | 0.32 | ||
| valign=center rowspan=5 | 9 | Edwin Bakker | 1984–1985 | 7 | 7 | 1.00 |
| Ronald de Boer | 1989–1992 | 7 | 9 | 0.78 | ||
| Quincy Promes | 2013–2014 | 7 | 10 | 0.70 | ||
| Joshua Zirkzee | 2020– | 7 | 19 | 0.37 | ||
| Jurgen Ekkelenkamp | 2020–2023 | 7 | 22 | 0.32 |