Netherlands vs Germany Prediction & Preview - Nations League

·2 min read·By Denver

Netherlands vs Germany prediction, team news and score call for Thursday's UEFA Nations League opener in Amsterdam.

Netherlands and Germany open the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League with a League A meeting at the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Amsterdam on Thursday 24 September, kick-off 19:45 BST. Both sides go into it under new managers appointed after their World Cup exits in June.

  • Fixture: Netherlands vs Germany
  • Competition: UEFA Nations League
  • Date: Thursday 24 September 2026
  • Kick-off: 19:45 BST
  • Venue: Johan Cruijff ArenA, Amsterdam

Xavi's first game in charge of the Netherlands

Xavi Hernández took over as Netherlands manager after Ronald Koeman departed following the World Cup exit to Morocco, and this is his first competitive fixture. He has left out record scorer Memphis Depay, while Justin Kluivert and Donyell Malen have withdrawn through injury. Frenkie de Jong, Mats Wieffer, Matthijs de Ligt and Xavi Simons are also unavailable.

The Dutch arrive off the back of a World Cup that had promise and then fell apart. They beat Sweden 5-1, drew 2-2 with Japan and beat Tunisia 3-1, before losing 3-4 to Morocco on 30 June. A 2-1 friendly defeat to Algeria in June was their last game before the tournament.

Klopp's first game in charge of Germany

Jürgen Klopp has replaced Julian Nagelsmann as Germany manager following their own World Cup exit. He has picked two separate squads to cover Germany's four fixtures across September and October, with Florian Wirtz and Karim Adeyemi assigned to the other group. Brajan Gruda has withdrawn, and Leon Goretzka and Deniz Undav are out through injury.

Germany's World Cup form was similarly mixed: a 7-1 win over Curaçao and a 2-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire either side of a 2-1 loss to Ecuador, before a 4-5 defeat to Paraguay ended their tournament on 29 June. They did beat the USA 2-1 in a June friendly.

Two defences that leaked goals in June

Both teams left the World Cup having shipped four goals in their final game - Netherlands beaten 4-3 by Morocco, Germany beaten 5-4 by Paraguay. Neither side has played a competitive fixture since, so this Nations League opener is the first look at how each new manager addresses that.

Netherlands vs Germany prediction

Germany win a tight Nations League opener against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Both sides showed they can score and both showed they can be cut open, but Germany's attack found more of the net across their four World Cup games than the Dutch did, and that edge should carry into Klopp's first game in charge.

Our prediction: Netherlands 1-2 Germany

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