El Ghazi met Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer break, a player who he looks up to, and asked him whether he should represent the Netherlands or Morocco. Ronaldo advised him to choose the Netherlands because he would have a higher chance to participate in an international tournament, based on their history. Consequently, El Ghazi said he would choose to represent the Netherlands and was subsequently called up for the Netherlands' two final UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches, against Kazakhstan on 10 October 2015 and the Czech Republic on 13 October. He was named in the "Oranje"'s starting line-up for both matches as the Dutch defeated Kazakhstan 2–1 but lost to the Czechs 3–2. The Netherlands failed to qualify for the tournament proper after finishing fourth in their qualifying group.