Dusan Tadic Agrees to Rejoin Serbia National Team
The captain with the most caps in national team history gives his consent after talks with Ranko Stojic in the Netherlands, and Veljko Paunovic will name the squad in eight days.
At the Football Association of Serbia’s offices last week, a travel plan came together that looked nothing like a routine scouting trip. Ranko Stojic, the federation’s sporting director, flew to the Netherlands with a clear task: talk to Dusan Tadic about putting the national team jersey back on. The conversation ran over several days, but the answer that eventually came was the one Stojic had gone looking for.
Confirmation arrived from the Netherlands and was made public on September 10, 2026. Tadic gave his final consent to wear the Serbia jersey again, after almost two years away from the national team. Coach Veljko Paunovic is expected to announce the official squad in eight days, when it will also become clear who will line up alongside him in the coming matches.
The number attached to Tadic’s name speaks for itself. He holds the record for national team appearances, with 111 caps for Serbia, and wore the captain’s armband for years. He last wore it at the European Championship in Germany in 2024, after which came a split with the coach at the time, Dragan Stojkovic. He had not returned to the national team since, until this agreement.
He has not been idle in the meantime. This summer he signed with NEC Nijmegen and carried on his career in the Netherlands, the country where he had already spent most of his recent seasons. That proximity, and the fact that he stayed in the rhythm of European football, are part of why Stojic pursued this conversation in the first place rather than looking for a solution elsewhere.
What awaits Serbia in the Nations League?
The squad Tadic is preparing to join covers four matches in the new Nations League cycle, against Greece, the Netherlands and Germany. At home in Belgrade, Serbia plays Greece on September 24 and the Netherlands on September 27. Two away matches follow, in Munich on October 1 and in Eindhoven on October 4.
It is a schedule that leaves no room to ease in. There is no friendly to find their feet, no softer opponent to open with, just four serious tests in a short stretch. For a team that has spent the last two years without its most experienced player in the dressing room, that is one more reason this return was awaited now. These are also the first four official Serbia matches of this Nations League cycle, so the squad Paunovic is putting together carries that weight too, not just the name of the player reappearing on it.
This is also one of Veljko Paunovic’s first major moves since taking charge of the national team. The coach was tasked with preparing the side for a new competitive cycle, and the return of the player with the most appearances in the team’s history gives him an option he has not had available in previous seasons.
An official statement with details of the agreement, as well as comments from those involved in the Netherlands talks, has not yet been released. What is known is that the formalities are complete and the answer from Nijmegen was positive, with everything else left to the next eight days and the squad Paunovic is compiling.
The last time Tadic left the national team, it came after a tournament and a change on the bench. He is returning now at a moment when the coach is still building his squad for a new cycle rather than in the middle of preparing for a major tournament, which gives him more room to find his rhythm before the first real challenge. The first chance to see that on the pitch comes on September 24, in Belgrade, against Greece.
