British media: Van Dijk reveals time to quit Dutch national team

Liverpool center back Van Dijk recently stated that he plans to officially retire from the Dutch national team after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is worth mentioning that Van Dijk is currently the player who has served as captain the most times in the history of the Dutch team.

In this World Cup preliminaries, Van Dijk and his teammates experienced fierce competition, and finally helped the Dutch team successfully advance to the World Cup finals. They easily defeated bottom-ranked Lithuania 4-0 in the final round of the group stage, securing the top spot in Group G with 20 points and directly qualifying for the World Cup. Poland, second in the group, had to compete for a place through the play-offs.

After experiencing this tough qualifying match, captain Van Dijk officially announced that the 2026 World Cup will be his last international event on behalf of the "Oranje". Now 34, he believes it is time to leave opportunities to the younger generation.

"I would like to thank everyone on the team - the players, the coaching staff, and all the staff who work quietly behind the scenes to make everything run smoothly." Van Dijk said after the game. "I am extremely proud to serve as the captain of the Dutch national team and lead the team in every game. I can't wait. Looking forward to the arrival of the last major competition and sincerely wishing us success in the World Cup."

In the game against Lithuania, Van Dijk made his 72nd appearance as captain, surpassing the legendary Dutch star Frank de Boer and becoming the player with the most appearances in the history of the national team wearing the captain's armband.

After retiring from the national team, Van Dijk will be able to focus more on club events. Currently, Liverpool, as the defending champion, is in a sluggish state in the Premier League. In the last round of the league before the international break, they lost 0-3 to Manchester City.

There have only been 11 rounds of the Premier League this season, but Liverpool has lost 5 games and currently has only 18 points, ranking 8th in the league and falling to the middle of the standings. They are on the same points with four teams including No. 5 Tottenham Hotspur, and are as many as eight points behind Arsenal at the top of the table.

Van Dijk hopes the team can get back on track when they face Nottingham Forest this weekend. Immediately afterwards, they will also challenge Eindhoven (PSV) away from home in the Champions League group stage next week. Coach Slott urgently needs to lead the team to reverse the decline.