Wieke Kaptein
Dutch footballer (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wieke Hendrikje Maria Kaptein (Dutch: [ˈʋikə ˈɦɛndrɪkjə maːˈrijaː ˈkɑptɛin];[2] born 29 August 2005) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Netherlands national team.[3]
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Kaptein in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wieke Hendrikje Maria Kaptein[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 29 August 2005 | ||
| Place of birth | Hengelo, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Chelsea | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Achilles '12 | |||
| Twente | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2023 | Twente | 40 | (3) |
| 2023– | Chelsea | 35 | (4) |
| 2023–2024 | → Twente (loan) | 22 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Netherlands U15 | 4 | (0) |
| 2021 | Netherlands U16 | 3 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Netherlands U17 | 5 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Netherlands U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2023– | Netherlands | 31 | (3) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 3 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 April 2026 | |||
Club career
Kaptein started playing football at Achilles '12. Already at the age of 15, she received a professional contract with FC Twente Enschede.[4] Capping off her first season with the league title, she also featured in the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League qualifying, scoring the goal in the opening game against FC Nike Tbilisi to make it 9–0.[5] Twente, however, lost out to Benfica in the Champions Path final. A year later, Benfica was the last stop on the way to the group stage.
In March 2023, Kaptein was voted one of the nine best talents in the world.[6]
Kaptein made her debut for Chelsea on 27 September, 2024. She scored her first goal for the club in the 5–0 win against Everton on 3 November.[7]
International career
Kaptein played some games for the Dutch junior teams from the U-15. With the U-17 team, she took part in the first and second qualifying rounds of the 2022 U-17 European Championship, which was successfully completed in April 2022, where she was captain in the second round.[8] However, she was not part of the squad for the finals in May 2022, because she was wanted for the end of the league season.[9] With the U-19 team, she qualified in October 2022 for the second qualifying round for the 2023 U-19 European Championship. She was not used in the second round in April 2023, as she was nominated for the senior national team games that took place at the same time.[10]
On 11 April 2023, she had her first senior cap. She came on as a substitute in the 81st minute for Lieke Martens in a friendly they won 4–1 against Poland.[11][12]
On 30 June 2023, she was nominated for the World Cup finals.[13] She was the youngest World Cup debutant ever for the Dutch national team.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 3 May 2026[3]
| 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 | 2021–22 | Vrouwen Eredivisie | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 29 | 1 | |
| 2022–23 | Vrouwen Eredivisie | 20 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| Twente (loan) | 2023–24 | Vrouwen Eredivisie | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1[c] | 1 | 30 | 4 |
| Total | 62 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 89 | 8 | ||
| Chelsea | 2024–25 | Women's Super League | 16 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 2 | — | 33 | 4 | |
| 2025–26 | Women's Super League | 19 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| Total | 35 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 97 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 155 | 18 | ||
- Includes KNVB Women's Cup, Women's FA Cup
- Includes Eredivisie Cup, Women's League Cup
- Appearance(s) in Dutch Women's Super Cup
International
- As of match played 18 April 2026[3]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2023 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2025 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2026 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 31 | 3 | |
- Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kaptein goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 November 2024 | Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, Rotterdam, Netherlands |  China | 1–1 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 8 April 2025 | Stadion Schnabelholz, Altach, Austria |  Austria | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2025 UEFA Women's Nations League |
| 3 | 18 April 2026 | Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps, Auxerre, France |  France | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2027 FIFA World Cup qualification |
Honours
Twente
- Eredivisie: 2021–22,[14] 2023–24[15]
- KNVB Women's Cup: 2022–23[16]
- Eredivisie Cup: 2021–22,[17] 2022–23,[18] 2023–24[19]
- Dutch Women's Super Cup: 2022,[20] 2023[21]
Chelsea
- Women's Super League: 2024–25[22]
- Women's FA Cup: 2024–25[23]
- FA Women's League Cup: 2024–25,[24] 2025–26[25]
Individual
