Virgil van Dijk will lead Netherlands out against Germany on Thursday with the uncertainty over his international future now settled, even if the manner of that resolution only became clear this week.
The Liverpool captain’s position had been in doubt since the summer, when the Dutch were eliminated from the World Cup by Morocco on penalties in the round of 32.
That exit prompted Ronald Koeman to step down and led former Netherlands international Ronald de Boer to suggest Van Dijk himself might have played his last game for the national team.
Van Dijk, who turned 35 in July, gave little away in the immediate aftermath beyond confirming he would speak with incoming head coach Xavi Hernandez before deciding anything.
Those talks have now taken place, and they have gone in the direction Liverpool fans would have hoped.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Van Dijk set out the terms on which he was prepared to continue.
“I feel that I can still be valuable and important to the team,” he said as reported by Liverpool Echo.
“If we see eye to eye on that, we have two good years ahead of us leading up to Euro 2028. And if not, then we’ll see.”
That timeline would take him to the tournament in the summer of 2028, by which point he will have turned 37.
With his inclusion in Xavi’s first squad now confirmed and Xavi keeping him as the captain of the team, it is clear the two men are aligned on that point.
Xavi held his discussions with Van Dijk after watching him captain Liverpool to a 2-1 Champions League win over Atlético Madrid at Anfield earlier this month, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister overturning Marcos Llorente’s opener.
The Spaniard was appointed Netherlands head coach in August, replacing Koeman on a contract running to the 2030 World Cup.
Van Dijk’s continued involvement means he could win his 100th cap for the Netherlands as soon as next month, having made 96 appearances for his country since his 2015 debut.
He is one of four Liverpool players in Xavi’s squad for this international break, alongside Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and Jeremie Frimpong, the latter recalled having missed out on Koeman’s World Cup selection.
The Dutch face Germany at home on Thursday, then travel to Serbia on September 27 and Greece on October 1, before hosting Serbia again on October 4.
Thursday’s game also brings a reunion with Jurgen Klopp, who takes charge of Germany for the first time having been appointed their head coach in July following Julian Nagelsmann’s departure.
Andoni Iraola will have licence to manage Van Dijk’s workload carefully once he returns to Liverpool duty.
The defender was rested for the Reds’ 3-1 Carabao Cup third-round win over Tottenham at Anfield this month, with Ronald Araújo and Joe Gomez starting in central defence and Jeremy Jacquet coming on to replace Gomez at half-time.
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