Ronald Koeman resigns as Netherlands head coach after World Cup loss to Morocco

Netherlands players subject to online racist abuse.

Ronald Koeman, then-head coach of the Netherlands, speaks to his players. Pic: Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Ronald Koeman has resigned as Netherlands head coach in the wake of their World Cup last-32 defeat to Morocco on Monday.

“Last night I took the decision to end my stint as head coach of the Dutch national team,” Koeman said in a statement on Instagram. “We all shared the dream of making history at this World Cup, but we fell short. No one is more disappointed by that than I am. As head coach, the responsibility ultimately rests with me”.

The 63-year-old former Dutch defender, who took charge of the Netherlands in January 2023 having already held the post for two years, from 2018-2020, had also hinted at retirement from coaching.

“Moreover, the past few years have made me realise once again that ‌there are more important things than football,” he added. “Football has been my life, but health is priceless. When someone you love dearly is fighting a tough battle, your perspective changes.

“Despite her own illness, my wife Bartina supported and encouraged me every day to finish my work as head coach. That shows incredible strength. I am more grateful to her for that than I could ever ‌put into words”.

Nigel de Jong, technical director of the Dutch football association (KNVB), described the World Cup campaign as disappointing. He would have had a major say ​in whether Koeman stayed or not had the coach not quit. 

“The objective was the semi-finals, and the ambition was to become world champions,” said the former midfielder. “Unfortunately, we didn’t achieve that. Yes, we are a long way off. That is the conclusion. We have to be honest about that.“ 

Meanwhile, Netherlands players who missed penalties in the shootout against Morocco suffered racist abuse online, the KNVB said in a statement ⁠on Tuesday.

Justin Kluivert, ⁠Quinten ​Timber and Crysencio Summerville all failed to score as Morocco won on penalties after the match in Monterrey ended in a 1-1 draw after extra ⁠time, and were subjected to discriminatory, racist and hateful comments ​on social media.

“We find ‌this appalling, and we will file a case with Meld Online ‌Discriminatie [Report Online Discrimination],” read a KNVB statement. “Once a report is filed, their legal staff assess whether the statement constitutes a punishable offence. This can lead to a formal complaint being lodged with the public prosecution service, which may then initiate a ‌criminal investigation.”

This is not the first time players have faced racist online abuse ​after missing penalties at a major tournament. Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho suffered abuse following England’s loss to Italy in the final of Euro 2020, leading to two people being ⁠sentenced to prison and another receiving a suspended ​sentence.

In the weeks ​following the tournament, British ​police arrested multiple individuals as part of a ​widespread crackdown ‌on online hate ​speech targeting ​the players.

“Football brings together millions of different people, whereas discrimination does the exact opposite,” added the KNVB statement. “It therefore runs counter to everything football stands for.”

Agencies