Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has lost his injury battle and will miss Euro 2024 for Netherlands.
De Jong has missed most of the last three months, barring 45 minutes in El Clasico against Real Madrid on April 21, due to a troublesome ankle problem suffered in Barcelona’s 0-0 draw with Athletic Club in early March.
The 27-year-old was still named in Ronald Koeman’s Euro squad in the hope he would be fit in time for the tournament, but that has not been the case.
The news of De Jong’s withdrawal from the Dutch squad came immediately after Monday night’s 4-0 win over Iceland in the final warm-up game before heading to the tournament.
Jong said: “I’m sad and disappointed that I won’t make it to the European Championship. We’ve been doing a lot of it the past few weeks, but my ankle needs more time unfortunately. It’s a dream and greatest honour to represent our country in a final tournament. Wearing the orange shirt, singing the Wilhelmus and feeling the support of the entire country. But now I will, like the entire orange legion, cheer for our team from the sidelines. Let’s go, boys.”
All De Jong really can do at this point is focus on recovering in time for the 2024-25 season with Barcelona. Summer training will begin in July, with the available squad heading to the United States on tour near the end of the month.
International career
De Jong made eight appearances for the Netherlands under-19 team, with his debut coming against Russia on 7 July 2015. He made six appearances and scored one goal for the Netherlands at under-21 level.
On 6 September 2018, De Jong made his debut for the Netherlands senior team as a half-time substitute in a friendly match against Peru. Three days later, he made his first start in a 2–1 loss to France in the league phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League.
In June 2019, De Jong was included in the Netherlands’ squad for the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where he was named as Young Player of the Tournament as the Oranje finished as runner-up to hosts Portugal.
Frenkie De jong
On 6 September 2019, De Jong scored his first senior international goal in the Netherlands’ 4–2 win away to Germany in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.
In June 2021, De Jong was included in coach Frank de Boer’s squad for UEFA Euro 2020. He played in all three group matches, as well as the Netherlands’ 2–0 loss to Czechia in the round of 16.
In November 2022, De Jong was included in the Dutch squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. On 29 November, he scored his first World Cup goal in a 2–0 win over tournament host Qatar in the team’s final group match. On 9 December, he played the full 120 minutes as the Netherlands lost in a penalty shootout to eventual winners Argentina at the quarter-final stage.
In June 2023, De Jong was part of the Netherlands’ squad for the 2023 UEFA Nations League Finals, where he played the full match against both Croatia in the semi-final and Italy in the third place play-off.
On 29 May 2024, De Jong was named in the Netherlands’ squad for UEFA Euro 2024.
