Virgil van Dijk Dutch Footballer Born 1991 in Breda

Virgil van Dijk is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. He was born on 8 July 1991 in Breda and stands 1.95 metres tall. He captains both Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. He has won the Premier League twice and the UEFA Champions League once with Liverpool, and in 2019 he became the only defender to win the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award.

Early life

Van Dijk was born in Breda, in the province of North Brabant, to a Dutch father and a Surinamese mother, and he grew up in the Haagse Beemden district of the city. He joined the youth team of WDS'19 and then, at the age of eight, the academy of Willem II. As a teenager he combined his football with part-time work as a dishwasher.

He started out as a right-back. In 2008, at 17, he was moved to central defence after growing about 18 centimetres. Willem II did not offer him a professional contract, and he left to join FC Groningen on a free transfer.

Career

Van Dijk made his professional debut for Groningen on 1 May 2011 as a substitute and scored his first goals for the club later that month, in a UEFA Europa League play-off. In June 2013 he signed for the Scottish club Celtic for a fee of about 2.6 million pounds. He won the Scottish Premiership in both of his seasons there, was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year each time, and won the Scottish League Cup in 2015.

In September 2015 he moved to Southampton, then managed by Ronald Koeman, for a reported 13 million pounds. In his first season he was voted player of the year by both his teammates and the club's supporters. He was made club captain in January 2017.

Liverpool signed him in January 2018 for a reported 75 million pounds, which Southampton described as a world-record fee for a defender at the time. He scored the winning goal on his debut, a late header against Everton in the FA Cup. Liverpool reached the Champions League final that season, losing to Real Madrid. In 2018-19 he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season, and Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Champions League final. He then helped the club win the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019, and the 2019-20 Premier League, its first top-flight title in 30 years. He played every minute of the league campaign that season.

Liverpool won the EFL Cup and the FA Cup in 2021-22, and Van Dijk scored in the League Cup final penalty shoot-out against Chelsea. In July 2023 he was appointed Liverpool captain after Jordan Henderson left. In February 2024 he scored the only goal, a header in extra time, as Liverpool beat Chelsea in the EFL Cup final, his first trophy as captain, and he took the man of the match award. In April 2025 he signed a two-year contract extension, and Liverpool won the Premier League that month, giving him a second league title and his first as captain.

For the Netherlands, Van Dijk played at under-19 and under-21 level before making his senior debut on 10 October 2015 in a Euro 2016 qualifier against Kazakhstan. Ronald Koeman gave him the captaincy in March 2018, and he scored his first international goal days later against Portugal. He captained the team to the final of the first UEFA Nations League finals in 2019, where it lost to Portugal. He led the Netherlands to the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, where it lost on penalties to Argentina, and to the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2024. In November 2025 he captained the team for the 72nd time, passing the record of Frank de Boer. He scored in the group opener at the 2026 World Cup, and he won his 100th cap in October 2026.

Recognition

In 2019 Van Dijk won the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award, and he finished second to Lionel Messi in the Ballon d'Or voting and second in The Best FIFA Men's Player. He has been named in the FIFPRO Men's World 11 five times, in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025. He has been included in the PFA Team of the Year five times and won the Alan Hardaker Trophy, for the man of the match in the League Cup final, in 2022 and 2024.

Personal life

Van Dijk usually has only his first name printed on the back of his shirt. He is married and has four children.