Vivianne Miedema: The Greatest Goalscorer in the WSL

Vivianne Miedema is more than just a striker or a playmaker, She is the top goalscorer in the WSL and the greatest goalscorer for her national team. She is renowned for her prolific goal-scoring ability and versatility.

Despite her global acclaim, Miedema remains grounded, attributing her humility to her upbringing. She’s not just a goal scorer; she’s a game changer, redefining what it means to be a modern forward. Join us as we explore the illustrious career of Vivianne Miedema.

Player Profile – Vivianne Miedema

Vivianne Miedema is a Dutch professional footballer known for her exceptional goal-scoring ability and versatile playing style. Growing up as a Feyenoord supporter, she modelled her game after Robin van Persie.

Miedema has played for clubs like Heerenveen, Bayern Munich and Arsenal, scoring around 200 goals for the clubs she played for. Miedema is considered one of the best strikers in the world, admired for her clever movement on the field and composed finishing ability.

She has set several records throughout her career, including 6-goal and 8-goal displays in a single match for her national side. Miedema has also broken goal-scoring records in England playing for Arsenal.

Player Profile Overview

The Early Life of Vivianne Miedema

Vivianne Miedema was born on 15 July 1996 in Hoogeven, Netherlands to Rene Miedema and Carolien Miedema. She grew up watching her father play football and fell in love with the sport from an early age.

Miedema grew up as a fan of Feyenoord and developed her playing style by emulating Robin van Persie. Miedema and her family often travelled around 200km to Rotterham to watch Feyenoord play.

Vivianne Miedema’s Playing Style

Youth Career

Vivianne Miedema began her youth career at a very young age, showing remarkable talent and dedication. She started playing football with HZVV, a local club in her hometown of Hoogeveen, Netherlands.

At HZVV, she played on mixed-gender teams, often competing against boys. Her exceptional skills quickly became evident, leading her to join VV de Weide, another club in Hoogeveen, where she continued to play in mixed teams.

Miedema’s prowess on the field caught the attention of SC Heerenveen, a professional club in the Eredivisie Vrouwen, the top tier of Dutch women’s football. She joined their youth academy, where she developed her skills further and began her professional career at the age of 14.

Senior Career

After Vivianne Miedema signed her first professional contract with SC Heerenveen at 14, she debuted in the Eredivisie at 15 as the youngest player ever. In her first season, she scored 10 goals in 17 games despite her team finishing last.

In the 2012-13 season, with her team now in the BeNe League, she scored 27 goals in 26 games. By the 2013-14 season, she became the league’s top scorer with 41 goals in 26 games at age 17, surpassing the next highest scorer by 15 goals.

Moving to Germany

Vivianne Miedema received interest from over 30 clubs before she signed a three-year contract with Bayern Munich in June 2014. During the 2014–15 season, she helped Bayern win the Frauen-Bundesliga title for the first time since 1976, scoring her first league goals in a 6–0 victory over MSV Duisburg.

Despite an ankle injury, she finished the season with 7 goals in 17 matches. Bayern defended their title the following season largely in part to Vivianne Miedema’s 14 goals in 22 appearances for the club.

Miedema was initially unhappy due to language barriers but later became dissatisfied with Bayern’s playing style. During the 2016–17 season, she scored 14 goals in 22 league appearances but Bayern lost the championship to VfL Wolfsburg.

Miedema also netted eight goals in the UEFA Champions League, emerging as the top scorer, though Bayern were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Paris Saint-Germain.

After the end of the 2016-17 season, Miedema became disillusioned with the club and negotiated with other top clubs in Europe and the US. Although Bayern wanted to retain her, they were unwilling to alter their pay structure.

Consequently, Miedema decided to leave, leading Bayern to sign her Dutch compatriots Jill Roord and Lineth Beerensteyn as replacements.

Vivianne Miedema Joins Arsenal in the WSL

In May 2017, Vivianne Miedema joined Arsenal and scored her first goal for the club on 29 October against Everton. During the 2017–18 season, she scored 4 goals in 11 matches, helping Arsenal finish third in the league and win the FA WSL Cup, where she scored the decisive goal against Manchester City.

In the 2018–19 season, Miedema excelled, scoring a hat-trick in the opener against Liverpool and finishing as the league’s top scorer with 22 goals. She was named PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year as Arsenal clinched the league title for the first time since 2012.

In the 2019–20 season, Miedema scored four goals in a Champions League match against Slavia Praha and was shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or Féminin, finishing fifth. She scored 16 goals in 14 league games and played a key role in Arsenal’s record 11–1 win over Bristol City, contributing to 10 goals.

The season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Arsenal finished third based on points per game. They also reached the FA WSL Cup final but lost to Chelsea.

Vivianne Miedema is the First 50 goal WSL Player

Vivianne Miedema has set numerous records and achieved significant milestones throughout her football career. On 18 October 2020, she became the first player to score 50 goals in the Women’s Super League (WSL). She surpassed Nikita Parris‘ previous record of 49 goals.

Miedema’s 50th goal came during a hat-trick in a 6–1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur. By 7 February 2021, Ellen White briefly held the record with 55 goals, but Miedema reclaimed it on 7 March with 56 goals.

By then, she had an impressive goal distribution and average, scoring predominantly with her right foot and maintaining a goal every 83 minutes.

On 9 September 2021, Miedema scored her 100th goal for Arsenal, achieving this in just 110 games. In November 2021, she became the first WSL player to score against every team faced.

Despite interest from Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, she extended her contract with Arsenal on 20 May 2022, becoming the highest-paid female player in England.

However, her career faced a setback on 15 December 2022, when she suffered an ACL tear, causing her to miss significant playing time.

She returned to the field on 22 October 2023 and scored her first post-injury goal on 28 January 2024. After a minor knee surgery on 1 March 2024, she returned again on 21 April. On 13 May 2024, Arsenal announced that Miedema would leave the club at the end of the 2023–24 season.

International career

In October 2012, Vivianne Miedema set a goalscoring record for the Netherlands under-17 football team by scoring six goals against Montenegro and eight goals against Kazakhstan in the 2013 UEFA Under-17 Championship qualification.

Vivianne Miedema’s eight goals in the 15–0 win over Kazakhstan set a competition record. She scored four more goals against Ukraine to become the all-time top scorer in the UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship with 22 goals in 11 appearances.

Miedema debuted for the Netherlands under-19 team in a 3–1 loss to Iceland. At the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship, she was instrumental in the Dutch victory. She scored six goals, including a hat-trick in the semi-final against the Republic of Ireland and the only goal in the final against Spain.

She was the tournament’s top scorer and was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player. Vivianne Miedema ended her under-19 career with seven goals in 10 appearances.

Playing for the Leeuwinnen

Vivianne Miedema made her debut for the Netherlands national team on 26 September 2013. She entered the match as a substitute in a 4-0 win over Albania during the 2015 FIFA World Cup qualification. She scored her first international goals a month later, netting a 16-minute hat-trick in a 7-0 win against Portugal.

In October 2014, Miedema was instrumental in the Netherlands’ World Cup qualification play-off against Scotland, contributing to a 2-1 victory in the first leg. She then scored all the Dutch goals in the final play-off against Italy, securing a 3-2 aggregate win and advancing the Netherlands to the 2015 World Cup.

Miedema finished as the top scorer in the qualification campaign with 16 goals, earning high praise and being recognized as one of the most talented strikers in Europe.

At just 18, her 16 goals matched the European record set by Adriana Martin. Her goalscoring performances placed her among the top scorers in UEFA women’s national team history.

Injuries and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Vivianne Miedema struggled at the 2015 World Cup in Canada due to migraines, an injured foot, and the pressure on her, resulting in no goals as the Netherlands exited in the round of 16.

She later admitted the pressure was overwhelming and almost made her quit professional football. However, she excelled at the 2017 UEFA European Championship.

Miedema scored in the semi-final against England and twice in the final against Denmark, leading the Netherlands to their first Euro title. Following their victory, she and her teammates were honoured by the Prime Minister and made Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Vivianne Miedema, The Greatest Female Dutch Goalscorer

On 15 June 2019, Vivianne Miedema became the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands women’s national football team, surpassing Manon Melis, with her 60th goal in a 3–1 win against Cameroon at the 2019 FIFA World Cup. She also led the team to its first-ever World Cup semi-final and ultimately to the final, where they lost 2–0 to the United States.

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Miedema set an Olympic record by scoring ten goals in four matches. Despite her performance, the Netherlands were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the United States after a penalty shoot-out.

During the 2022 UEFA European Championship, Vivianne Miedema took over as captain in the opening match against Sweden due to an injury to Sari van Veenendaal.

She missed two group matches because of a COVID-19 infection but returned to captain the team in the quarter-finals, where they lost 1–0 to France. Vivianne Miedema also missed the 2023 FIFA World Cup due to an anterior cruciate ligament tear sustained in December 2022.

Vivianne Miedema Goalscoring Records

Vivianne Miedema is celebrated as one of women’s football’s greatest forwards, holding numerous goal-scoring records. She is Arsenal’s all-time top scorer and set the Women’s Super League (WSL) record for the most goals in a season with 22 in 2018-2019.

She is also the fastest player to reach 50 WSL goals in the competition’s history. Internationally, Miedema is the Netherlands’ all-time top scorer, with over 90 goals.

At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she set a record for the most goals in a single women’s tournament with 10. Her individual accolades include the PFA Women’s Players’ Player of the Year and WSL Player of the Season awards.

The Personal Life of Vivianne Miedema

Miedema has mentioned in interviews that her family has been supportive of her football career since she was a child. Vivianne Miedema enjoys spending time outdoors and travelling when she’s not on the football pitch.

She has also been involved in charitable initiatives and has spoken out on social issues, using her platform as a professional athlete to advocate for positive change.

Miedema was married to Lisa Evans, a professional footballer who plays for Bristol Rovers and the Scotland national team. However, they split up after six years together.

Vivianne Miedema is currently in a relationship with Beth Mead, her teammate at Arsenal. Miedema and Mead adopted a dog named Myle Meadema in November 2023. Her younger brother, Lars, is also a footballer.

Miedema is known for her modest goal celebrations but made an exception when she became the Netherlands’ top scorer in 2019 at her brother’s insistence.

She is a co-author of a series of children’s comic books in Dutch featuring herself. Miedema is working towards obtaining a UEFA-B coaching license. Furthermore, she earned a master’s degree in Football Business from the Johan Cruyff Institute in 2021.

Miedema is an ambassador for War Child, a charity supporting children in war zones, and joined the charity movement Common Goal in November 2021, pledging 1% of her salary to community organizations.

In March 2022, she led Common Goal’s emergency response to aid victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine alongside Juventus player Paulo Dybala. Additionally, in September 2022, Miedema inaugurated a Cruyff Court named after her in Hoogeveen, where she used to play as a child.

Conclusion

Vivianne Miedema’s journey from a young Feyenoord supporter to one of the world’s most renowned footballers is a testament to her talent, dedication, and versatility.

Her story is not just one of individual brilliance but also of a player who elevates her team, embodying the essence of modern football with her combination of technical skill, strategic mind, and unselfish play. As she continues to make her mark, join Footballers’ Biographies as we record the achievements and adventures of Vivianne Miedema.