Frenkie De Jong May Miss Netherlands' Euro 2024 Opener Against Poland

Frenkie de Jong has resumed non-contact training with the Netherlands as he works towards recovering from an ankle injury. Despite his inclusion in Ronald Koeman's final 26-man squad for Euro 2024, his participation in the opening match against Poland remains uncertain.

De Jong has been sidelined since Barcelona's 3-2 loss to Real Madrid on April 21. He made 30 appearances across all competitions during a challenging 2023-24 season for Barcelona, which saw them finish far behind Madrid in LaLiga and exit the Champions League in the quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain.

Since making his senior international debut in 2018, De Jong has been a key player for the Oranje. Koeman remains hopeful that De Jong might feature in Group D fixtures against France and Austria, even if he misses the opener against Poland next Sunday.

"He was part of training but we kept him away from any contact," Koeman said at a press conference ahead of Monday's final warm-up game against Iceland. "It is possible that Frenkie will not make it to the first match, but we can wait until the second or third game. That's a possibility. Even if he can't play the first two games, we'll stick with him. But if it looks as if he will miss the entire group stage, I might have to rethink his selection."

#NEDISL @RonaldKoeman @T_Reijnders: https://t.co/dbvlHIsRC9 @OnsOranje June 9, 2024

In De Jong's absence, PSV's Jerdy Schouten started in midfield alongside Georginio Wijnaldum and Ryan Gravenberch as the Netherlands secured a 4-0 victory over Canada in a friendly on Thursday.

Commenting on the overall condition of his squad, Koeman added: "A number of the players had some rest towards the end of the season and came in fresh. There were also players who were not yet ready for a full 90 minutes, but we were able to train well. It is up to us to loosen the reins in time, to start the first match super fit."

Euro 2024 marks the 11th edition of the tournament featuring the Netherlands. The Oranje won their only major international trophy when the competition was last held exclusively in Germany in 1988. Since then, only Germany (six times) have reached at least the semi-finals of the Euros more often than the Netherlands (four times). However, they have not made it to the final four since 2004.