Netherlands national under-21 football team
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| Nickname(s) | Jong Oranje (Young Orange) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond | ||
| Head coach | Remy Reynierse | ||
| Captain | vacant | ||
| Most caps | Arnold Bruggink & Leroy Fer (31) | ||
| Top scorer | Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (18) | ||
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| UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1988) | ||
| Best result | Winner (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 18 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.
UEFA U-23 Championship record
The Netherlands were randomly chosen to play cards Bulgaria for the title in a one-off match in Sofia, which the Netherlands lost.
- 17 April 1968: Bulgaria 3–1 Netherlands.
- 1972: Losing quarter-finalists.
- 1974: Losing quarter-finalists.
- 1976: Losing semi-finalists.
UEFA U-21 Championship Record
- 1978: Did not enter.
- 1980: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 3 in qualification group.
- 1982: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
- 1984: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 3 in qualification group.
- 1986: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 4 in qualification group.
- 1988: Losing semi-finalists.
- 1990: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 4 in qualification group.
- 1992: Losing quarter-finalists.
- 1994: Did not qualify. Finished 5th of 6 in qualification group.
- 1996: Did not qualify. Finished 3rd of 6 in qualification group.
- 1998: Fourth.
- 2000: Finished 3rd of 4 in finals group. Joint fifth.
- 2002: Lost in playoff.
- 2004: Did not qualify. Finished 4th of 5 in qualification group.
- 2006: Winners
- 2007: Winners
- 2009: Did not qualify. Finished 2nd of 5 in qualification group.
- 2011: Lost in Playoff against Ukraine.
- 2013: Semi Finals
- 2015: Did not qualify.
Notable players
Olympic Games
| 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 | ||||||||||
| Total | 1/6 | 0 Medals | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
Results and fixtures 2014–2017
2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Qualification
Group stage
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Final tournament |
| 2 |  Slovakia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Possible Play-offs based on ranking |
| 3 |  Turkey |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 |  Belarus |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 |  Cyprus |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
Other fixtures
Friendly matches
| 13 November 2014 | Germany  |
3 – 1 | Netherlands |
Audi Sportpark, Ingolstadt, Germany | ||
| 18:00 | Younes  11'Heintz 22'Meyer 38' |
Boëtius 79' |
Attendance: 3,068 Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel) | |||
| 30 March 2015 | France  |
4 – 1 | Netherlands |
Stade Louis Dugauguez, Sedan, France | ||
| 21:00 | Benzia 17' (pen.) Martial 56' (pen.), 64'Tolisso 73' (pen.) |
Menig 69' |
Attendance: 9,100 Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany) | |||
Current squad
The following players were called up to the squad for the international friendly against France on 30 March 2015. Names in italics denote players who have been capped for the Senior team.
Caps and goals updated as 30 March 2015.
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Recent call-ups
The following players have been called and remain eligible. Players have to be born after 01.01.1994.
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Individual all-time records
Most capped players Arnold Bruggink is the most capped player for Young Orange.
Last updated: 29 May 2014 Most goals scored Huntelaar was the Golden Player and Top Scorer at the 2006 UEFA U-21 Championship and he is the all-time top scorer for Young Orange.
Last updated: 3 June 2014 See also
Sources/External links
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