Frank de Boer was one of the many stars that Oranje football produced for the beautiful game between the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The third most-capped player for the Netherlands, he is an authoritative voice when it comes to his national team and also on what to expect at the 2026 World Cup. We spoke to him from Marbella (Malaga), at a padel tournament for former footballers, for Flashscore.
You retired years ago, but you never left sport behind, now playing a lot of padel, and your family is full of footballers, even a referee (son-in-law, Joey Kooij). Do you still follow football passionately?
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“Yes, I follow it a lot, especially now with the World Cup, which is a tournament everyone wants to watch.”
I imagine you’re eager to see what the Netherlands can do. How do you see your national team?
“We have a good team, but we’re not favourites. I think we could reach the quarter-finals. I know other countries don’t want to face Holland because at times we can play fantastic football, but I think we’re a bit inconsistent.
“And in a tournament like this, you can’t afford a bad day. Maybe in the group stage you can, but usually not after that. And to play three or four really good matches in a row… I haven’t seen that much from the national team in recent years.”
What do you think is missing, maybe a star like in the past, a striker like Van Basten who would score everything?
“Well, I think so. We’re missing a striker that other countries have, but for example, Spain usually don’t have a striker either.
“A striker like Kane or someone like that, we don’t have in Holland. Depay is a good player, but he’s not an ‘out-and-out striker’. He always looks for space. Other players can use that space, but I think our forwards have quality, just not the finishing quality of players like Mbappé, Raphinhaall those players, or like Kane.
“But we are a team, and I always say it’s important to play as a team. Teams win titles; players win matches. We’ll definitely be a team, and that’s always very important.
So we can say this Holland is very different from the one we’re used to seeing, joyful, entertaining, attacking…
“We have entertaining players like Frenkie de Jong and midfielders who play well, but I don’t think we have stars up front. Van Dyke is a star in defence.
“I think the defence is very solid: Timber is doing very well, Dumfries and Van de Ven are players of a high level. The goalkeeper is good, in front of him are Frenkie de Jong, Reijnders, Gravenberch… But up front is where I have my concern.”
African progression
And what about the other rivals?
“I think FranceSpain, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Germanyand England are also, for me, the most dangerous countries. And maybe Moroccowho have a good team now.”
That’s what I was going to say: there are African teams that seem to be progressing well, like the one you mentioned, Morocco.
“Yes, and Senegal as well. They have good quality and have shown they can beat the big countries. We’ll see some teams that aren’t the usual suspects.”
The Spanish national team, with ‘Lamine-dependence’
How do you see Spain?
“I think it depends on how Lamine Yamal arrives. They don’t have a striker, just like us. They play the typical Spanish football and it’s true that for every country, playing against them is very difficult.
“But I don’t think they’re big favourites for me right now. And it also depends on Lamine Yamal, whether he can play or not, because he’s a player who can make the difference.”
Do you think there’s so much dependence that if Lamine is in form, Spain raise their level, and if he’s not, they drop?
“Yes, that’s right. We spoke earlier about stars in Holland, that we’re missing them. He is a star. But he has to be at his best to create something. That’s quality.”
Speaking of Lamine and his quality, I suppose as a former Barcelona player you’ve watched and followed Barça’s season. What did you think?
“Yes, I’ve watched them and they’ve done very well. They’ve played very entertaining football, also with Lamine and Raphinha. Well, not so much Raphinha as last year, but Pedri is in incredible form for me.
“He’s one of the best players in the world and plays very well. I love how Olmo is developing now and Gavi is back. I’ve really enjoyed watching Barça.”
How to win the Champions League
Do you agree with those who say that to win the Champions League you can’t play as offensively as with Hansi Flick?
“I don’t know; it depends. When everything is at 100%, it can work. But if someone fails in that system, it’s very dangerous.
“Everyone has to be fully focused, 100%. If not, it’s very difficult to play so high up the pitch. But people also want to see attractive football. I think that’s the most important thing.
“Because I’ve seen a lot of 0-0 matches that nobody wants to watch. I think when there’s a stadium of almost 100,000 (spectators), they come to enjoy football. And with Barcelona, you usually go to enjoy yourself.”
Since you mention enjoying football. In the Champions League final, we saw a PSG side that wanted the ball and an Arsenal that seemed content to defend. I suppose that final is an example of what you mean.
“Yes. On the wings, Kvaratskhelia and Gifted are usually the players who can make the difference with a dribble. But Of was always helping on the other side.
“Also, Trossard on the other wing. It was very difficult to create anything, and that’s why the match was like that. And the first goal (for Arsenal) didn’t help much either because they could then drop back and wait.
“The semi-finals were fantastic, but I was a bit disappointed by the final. But I think in the end the best team won.”
Well, we’ll see who wins the World Cup. Would you like a Spain-Netherlands final?
“Yes, definitely. A rematch would be very nice.”
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