Vivianne Miedema

Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid "Vivianne" Miedema (Dutch: [ˈɑnaː mɑrɣaːˈreːtaː maːˈrinaː ˈʔɑstrɪt fiviˈjɑnə ˈmidəmaː]; born 15 July 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker or attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. She previously played for Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and SC Heerenveen. Regarded as one of the greates...

Anna Margaretha Marina Astrid "Vivianne" Miedema (Dutch: [ˈɑnaː mɑrɣaːˈreːtaː maːˈrinaː ˈʔɑstrɪt fiviˈjɑnə ˈmidəmaː]; born 15 July 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker or attacking midfielder for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. She previously played for Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and SC Heerenveen. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers in women's football history, Miedema is the all-time leading scorer in the Barclays WSL and has scored more goals at the international level for the Netherlands than any other player, across both the women's and men's teams, being the first Dutch player to score one hundred international goals. She won the UEFA Euro in 2017 with the Dutch national team, two consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich in 2015 and 2016, the 2018–19 FA WSL title with Arsenal and the 2025–26 Women's Super League title with Manchester City. In 2019, she led the Netherlands to a second-place finish at the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France. She has also scored the most goals in a single Women's Olympics tournament with 10 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Miedema won the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year award in November 2021. In 2020, she was named Women's Player of the Year at the London Football Awards and by England's Football Writers' Association. She was named PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year in 2019. She was shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or in 2019, 2021, and 2022. She was named to the Top 10 of The Guardian's The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. Early life Born and raised in Hoogeveen, Miedema grew up watching her father play football and at five years old began playing herself for HZVV in her hometown. Her first memory of playing football involves her two front teeth being kicked out by a young goalkeeper at age six. She was a frequent goalscorer from a very young age and played on boys' teams. When opponents laughed when they saw a girl on the pitch, it triggered her to score many goals, which she often did. After several years of playing for HZVV, she joined VV De Weide in 2009 and stayed with them until 2011. With her father and younger brother Lars, Miedema would often travel 190 kilometres (120 mi) to Rotterdam in order to watch Feyenoord play. At age 14, Miedema was forced to make the decision to continue playing with boys' clubs where she was used to beating them, or to switch to playing for the women's league. Club career 2011–2014: SC Heerenveen After receiving an offer from SC Heerenveen, Miedema signed her first professional contract as a 14-year-old and found herself playing in the Eredivisie, the top Dutch league, with players much older than herself. She made her senior debut at 15 during a match against FC Utrecht on 2 September 2011, becoming the youngest ever player in the league. In her debut season, the 2011–12 Eredivisie, she scored 10 goals in 17 games for Heerenveen, who finished last of seven teams. Despite being a teenager, she shared the accolades of being the second-highest scorer in the league. In 2012–13, playing in the new cross-border BeNe League, she improved her tally to 27 goals in 26 games. Her 41 goals in 26 games for Heerenveen in the 2013–14 BeNe League season earned her the top-scorer award at the age of 17. Her goal tally was 15 more than the nearest player. 2014–2017: Bayern Munich 39 different clubs made inquiries about signing Miedema, before she signed a three-year contract with Bayern Munich in the top German league, the Frauen-Bundesliga, in June 2014. During the 2014–15 season, she was part of a Bayern team that remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga and won the title for the first time since 1976. Miedema scored her first league goals in Germany on 5 October 2014 in a match against MSV Duisburg, leading to Bayern's 6–0 win. In the match against SGS Essen on 30 November, Miedema tore the outer band of her ankle resulting in some time away from the pitch. She re-emerged in the German league on 22 February 2015 against VfL Wolfsburg, scoring again in the following match, against Bayer Leverkusen. Miedema finished the season with 7 goals in 17 matches. She helped Bayern Munich defend the title the following season with 14 goals in 22 matches. Miedema had been unhappy during her first three months in Germany because she could not speak German or English. Although she overcame these difficulties, she later grew dissatisfied with Bayern's long ball tactics. In the 2016–17 Frauen-Bundesliga season, Miedema scored 14 goals in 22 appearances but Bayern were deposed as champions by VfL Wolfsburg. She added eight goals in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League as Bayern reached the quarter-final, in which they were beaten 4–1 on aggregate by Paris Saint-Germain. Miedema was the top scorer of the Champions League season. Miedema entered into contract negotiations with other leading clubs in Europe and the United States in 2017. Although Bayern wanted to keep her, they were not prepared to break their pay structure. Despite leading some "tough negotiations" with Miedema, manager Karin Danner was resigned to her departure: "she really wanted to change and we didn't want to break our structure for her in the end." Bayern signed Miedema's compatriots Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn as her replacements. 2017–2024: Arsenal In May 2017, Miedema moved to English club Arsenal. On 29 October, she scored her first goal in the FA Women's Super League (FA WSL) for Arsenal in the match with Everton in the 23rd minute. During a match against Liverpool, she scored the game-opening goal in the 29th minute and provided the assist to Dominique Janssen's goal in the 49th minute lifting Arsenal to a 3–0 win. Miedema finished the 2017–18 season with 4 goals in the 11 matches she played, including 9 starts. Arsenal finished in third place during the regular season with a 11–3–4 record. The club also won the 2017–18 FA WSL Cup, with Miedema scoring the game-winning goal of the final, a 1–0 victory over Manchester City. In the first match of the 2018–19 season, Miedema scored a hat-trick as Arsenal defeated Liverpool 5–0. She brought her goals tally into double-digits with a brace against Bristol City in a 4–0 Arsenal victory. Miedema finished the season as the WSL top scorer with 22 goals and was named PFA Women's Players' Player of the Year. Arsenal finished first in the regular season with a 20–2–0 record, marking the first time the club had clinched the title since 2012. On 16 October 2019, Miedema scored four goals in Arsenal's 5–2 victory against Slavia Praha in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. Five days later, she was shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or for 2019, in which she placed fifth. During the 2019–20 season, she scored 16 goals in 14 games. Miedema was influential in the largest victory in the history of the WSL on 1 December 2019 – of the 11 goals scored by Arsenal against Bristol City, she scored six and set up four others. The 11th was the only one she was not directly involved in; she was not on the pitch when it was scored. The FA suspended the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, deciding the competition based on points per game. Arsenal finished in third place with a 12–3–0 record and played in the 2019–20 FA WSL Cup, where they eventually lost 2–1 to Chelsea during the 2020 FA Women's League Cup Final. On 18 October 2020, Miedema became the first player to score 50 WSL goals, overtaking the all-time league record of 49 (set by Nikita Parris) when she scored a hat-trick in a 6–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur. On 7 February 2021, Manchester City forward Ellen White became the all-time record goal scorer, having scored 55 times to Miedema's 54. On 7 March, Miedema overtook White again, having scored 56 times. Of Miedema's first 52 WSL goals she scored 34 times with her right foot, 14 with her left, and 4 headers. None of the goals came from a penalty. On average she scored once every 83 minutes, compared to Parris' 171 minutes. On 9 September 2021, Miedema scored her 100th goal for Arsenal, completing a hattrick in a 4–0 win against Slavia Prague in the Champions League qualifier. Miedema required only 110 games in all competitions to reach this milestone. In November 2021 she became the first player in the history of the WSL to score against every team they have faced, after scoring against Manchester United. On 20 May 2022 Miedema announced she had extended her contract with Arsenal. She had had talks with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain who had been interested in signing her. She said that winning titles with Arsenal would mean more to her than joining a team that was winning titles already. The lucrative new contract made her the highest-paid female player in England. On 15 December 2022, Miedema left a UEFA Champions League match against Lyon at halftime with an injury, which on 19 December was confirmed to be an anterior cruciate ligament tear. She was expected to undergo surgery and miss "an extended period of time". She made her first appearance since the injury on 22 October 2023, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 win against Bristol City. She scored her first goal back since injury on 28 January 2024 in the 2–0 win against Liverpool. On 1 March it was announced she needed a minor knee surgery that would prevent her from playing for several weeks. She returned on 21 April in the 3–0 victory over Leicester City. On 13 May 2024, Arsenal confirmed Miedema would leave the club at the end of the 2023–24 season upon the expiry of her contract. 2024–present: Manchester City On 5 July 2024, it was announced that Miedema had signed for Manchester City on a three-year deal and was assigned the number 6 shirt. She scored her first goal for the club during her debut in a 2024–25 UEFA Champions League qualifying match against Paris FC on 18 September. Miedema had surgery on her left knee on 30 October, having not played since the club's victory over Barcelona on 9 October. The extent of the injury or how long Miedema will be out, has not been revealed by the club. In Manchester City’s official podcast, Miedema admitted that, despite her experience at the highest level by that point, she went through a difficult period when she joined the club: “The move from London to Manchester was still tough, you get into a routine and feel at home in a certain place and then you need to pack up everything and move." When injury struck again, she began to doubt her career: “I’m not sure if I can do this and still want to do this at my age.” Following a long period of absence following her knee surgery, Miedema returned to play against Ipswich in the FA cup, scoring a goal to contribute to their 3–0 victory. During the 2024-25 season, she grabbed 11 goals and 4 assists in 19 games across all competitions, including a "phenomenal finish" in the 4–2 victory over Aston Villa that was awarded Barclays Women’s Super League Goal of the Season. On 5 August 2025, she switched to the number 10 after the departure of teammate and compatriot Jill Roord. On 1 February 2026, she scored a header and delivered an assist in the match against Chelsea at Etihad Stadium, helping Manchester City secure a magnificent 5–1 victory and consolidate their 11-point lead at the top of the league, extending their winning streak to 13 matches. On 26 February 2026, it was announced that Manchester City had exercised a clause in Miedema's contract to extend her time with the club until summer 2027. She scored twice in the space of two minutes during a 3–0 derby win over Manchester United in the WSL on 28 March 2026. After this match, she became the first-ever player in WSL history to score 10+ goals in 5 different seasons. She was part of the Manchester City team which won the 2025–26 Women's Super League title. On 31 May 2026, she scored the last of Manchester City's goals in a 4–0 win over Brighton in the 2026 FA Cup final. On