Dutch football considering Sarina Wiegman as next coach of men’s national team

The Dutch football association KNVB is considering Sarina Wiegman to become the Netherlands men’s national coach when the position becomes available. The heads of Dutch football have insisted for some time that Wiegman would make at least the shortlist of candidates, and that is even more certain after she took the English women’s team to the World Cup final, The Telegraph reported.

Roland Koeman is still at the helm of the Oranje men’s team but faces increasing pressure after a tumultuous year. Since Koeman took over, Oranje lost to France in the European Championship qualifications but then beat Gibraltar. They then lost the Nations League semifinal to Croatia and were beaten by Italy in that tournament’s third place match.

Wiegman, who took the Dutch women’s team to the Euros title and World Cup final and then proceeded to do the same with England, is under contract with England until after the Euro 2025. Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the English Football Association (FA), said last week that he hoped Wiegman would stay with England for a long time and insisted she was staying put for now.

Wiegman joined England in 2021. Her first loss with the English women in a competitive match was on Sunday when England lost 0-1 to Spain in the World Cup. American media has mentioned her as a possible successor to Vlatko Andonovski, who recently resigned as head coach of the American national team. According to the Telegraph, the FA’s Bullingham also recently insisted that he was open to considering a woman to succeed Gareth Southgate at the English men’s national team after saying that Wiegman could do “anything she wants in football.”

If the Netherlands, England, or the United States appointed Wiegman to coach the men’s national team, she would be the first woman ever to get a management position at a leading football federation or top club.