Wieke Kaptein

Wieke Hendrikje Maria Kaptein (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.^[2]

Wieke Kaptein

Personal information
Full name	Wieke Hendrikje Maria Kaptein[1]
Date of birth	(2005-08-29) 29 August 2005 (age 19)
Place of birth	Hengelo, Netherlands
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	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	11	(2)
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	16	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 March 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 February 2025

Club career

Kaptein started playing football at Achilles '12. Already at the age of 15, she received a professional contract with FC Twente Enschede.^[3]  Capping off her first season with the league title, she also featured in 2021/22 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying, scoring the goal in the opening game against FC Nike Tbilisi to make it 9–0.^[4]  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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9][10]

On 30 June 2023, she was nominated for the World Cup finals.^[11] She was the youngest World Cup debutant ever for the Dutch national team.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 March 2025^[2]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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	11	2	2	0	3	0	7	1	—		23	3
Career total			73	8	10	0	10	0	17	2	2	1	112	11

1. Includes KNVB Women's Cup, Women's FA Cup
2. Includes Eredivisie Cup, Women's League Cup
3. Appearance(s) in Dutch Women's Super Cup

International

As of match played 25 February 2025^[2]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Netherlands	2023	5	0
	2024	9	1
	2025	2	0
Total		16	1

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	29 November 2024	Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, Rotterdam, Netherlands	China	1–1	4–1	Friendly

Honours

Twente

• Eredivisie: 2021–22,^[12] 2023–24^[13]
• KNVB Women's Cup: 2022–23^[14]
• Eredivisie Cup: 2021–22,^[15] 2022–23,^[16] 2023–24^[17]
• Dutch Women's Super Cup: 2022,^[18] 2023^[19]

Chelsea

• FA Women's League Cup: 2024–25^[20]