Mats Wieffer
Dutch footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mats Henrik Berne Wieffer (born 16 November 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right-back or defensive midfielder for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Netherlands national team.
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Wieffer playing for Feyenoord in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mats Henrik Berne Wieffer[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 16 November 1999[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Borne, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Positions | |||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Number | 27 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| RKSV NEO | |||
| 2010–2018 | Twente | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | Jong Twente | 1 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Twente | 1 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Excelsior | 65 | (5) |
| 2022–2024 | Feyenoord | 54 | (6) |
| 2024– | Brighton & Hove Albion | 51 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2023– | Netherlands | 15 | (1) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:26, 24 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 3 June 2026 | |||
Club career
FC Twente
Born in Borne,[3][4] Wieffer played youth football for RKSV NEO aged 5 before joining FC Twente's academy at the age of 10.[4][5] He made one Derde Divisie appearance for Jong FC Twente in the 2017–18 season,[3] prior to making his professional debut for Twente on 30 October 2018 in a 4–2 KNVB Beker win over VV Noordwijk, coming on a substitute for Aitor Cantalapiedra.[6] He made his league debut in a 2–0 win over TOP Oss in March 2019.[7] FC Twente were promoted to the Eredivisie as champions of the Eerste Divisie in the same season, but Wieffer did not appear for FC Twente's first team in the 2019–20 season.
Excelsior
In June 2020, Wieffer joined Excelsior on a free transfer, signing a three-year contract with the club.[8] He made his debut for Excelsior on 29 August 2020, replacing Mitchell van Rooijen in a 1–6 win against Jong PSV in the Eerste Divisie. He was sent off with a red card in the league game against FC Eindhoven on 9 October 2020 (1–1).
On 5 February 2021, Wieffer scored his first goal in professional football in a 0–2 win against FC Volendam. He was named Excelsior Player of the Year after his first season at the club, winning 26% of the votes.[9] On 29 May 2022, he scored in the penalty shoot-out as Excelsior beat ADO Den Haag in the final of the play-offs to promote to the Eredivisie
Feyenoord
In June 2022, Wieffer moved to Feyenoord on a four-year contract.[10] After getting injured in a friendly against Red Bull Salzburg in pre-season,[11][12] he made his debut for Feyenoord and in European football on 8 September 2022, coming on as a substitute for Javairô Dilrosun in a 4–2 defeat against Lazio in the UEFA Europa League. Three days later, he replaced Dilrosun during a 3–0 victory against Sparta Rotterdam to make his Eredivisie debut.
On 13 January 2023, Wieffer scored his first goal for the club while also providing an assist in a 3–1 cup win over PEC Zwolle, what was his first start for the club.[13] He was named Feyenoord Player of the Month for January 2023 and February 2023.[14][15] On 13 April 2023, Wieffer scored his first goal in a European club competition, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win over AS Roma in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League.[16] He assisted goals of Oussama Idrissi and Igor Paixão on 14 May 2023 as Feyenoord beat Go Ahead Eagles 3–0 to secure its sixteenth Eredivisie title.[17]
On 4 August 2023, Wieffer played the full game as Feyenoord lost the Johan Cruyff Shield 0–1 to PSV Eindhoven. Wieffer made his UEFA Champions League debut on 19 September 2023, in a 2–0 win against Celtic. He scored his first goal in the competition on 28 November 2023, during a 1–3 defeat against Atlético Madrid. Ahead of the KNVB Cup final on 21 April 2024, Wieffer suffered a thigh injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.[18] Feyenoord went on beat NEC 1–0 in the cup final and finish in second place in the Eredivisie. During his time at Feyenoord, Wieffer played 54 league games, in which Feyenoord averaged 2.52 points, recording a joint-record for players in the Eredivisie with over 50 games played.[19]
Brighton and Hove Albion
On 5 July 2024, Wieffer joined Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion, signing a contract until June 2029.[20] With a reported fee of €30 million, it became Feyenoord's most expensive outgoing transfer of all-time.[21] He made his Premier League debut in Brighton's opening match against Everton on 17 August 2024, where he'd register an assist as the Seagulls would go on to win 3–0.[22] On 11 April 2026 he scored two goals in a game for the first time in his career as Brighton won 2-0 at Burnley.[23]
International career
On 17 March 2023, Wieffer received his first call-up to the Netherlands senior national team for the Euro 2024 qualifying matches against France and Gibraltar.[24] He made his debut on 27 March as a starter in a 3–0 win over Gibraltar.[25] On 21 November 2023, Wieffer scored his first senior international goal in the Netherlands' 6–0 win against Gibraltar.[26] A thigh injury ruled him out from participating in UEFA Euro 2024.[27]
On 27 May 2026, Wieffer was named in the Netherlands' squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[28]
Style of play
Wieffer said that he prefers to play as a number six, but is also able to play box-to-box. He has been praised for his mentality, interceptions, passing and energy and called "the missing link between Feyenoord's offence and defence."[29] In the 2023–24 Eredivisie, Wieffer ranked highly for blocks, interceptions, ball recoveries and tackles. He was compared to Moisés Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister after his transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion.[30]
Since April of Brighton's 2024–25 Premier League campaign, Wieffer has been most frequently deployed as a right-back by head coach Fabian Hürzeler, a position he quickly grew accustomed to as he ranks in the 95th percentile of right-backs for tackles won and clearances during the 2025–26 Premier League.[31][32]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 24 May 2026[33]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Twente | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Excelsior | 2020–21 | Eerste Divisie | 31 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 35 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22 | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 6[c] | 1 | 42 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 65 | 5 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 1 | 77 | 6 | ||||
| Feyenoord | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 25 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 8[d] | 1 | — | 37 | 3 | ||
| 2023–24 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | 8[e] | 1 | 1[f] | 0 | 42 | 6 | |||
| Total | 54 | 6 | 8 | 1 | — | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 9 | |||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2024–25 | Premier League | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| 2025–26 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 51 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 56 | 3 | ||||
| Career total | 171 | 14 | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 214 | 18 | ||
- Appearances in Eerste Divisie promotion/relegation play-offs
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
International
- As of match played 3 June 2026[34]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2023 | 7 | 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 1 | |
- Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Wieffer goal[34]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 November 2023 | Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal |  Gibraltar | 2–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Honours
Feyenoord
Individual
- Feyenoord Player of the Month: January 2023,[14] February 2023[15]
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: August 2023,[37] February 2024[38]
