Depay during a training session with the Netherlands in March 2015.
Memphis Depay is a Dutch professional
footballer who has represented the
Netherlands national team as a
forward since 2013. As of July 2024, he has scored 46 goals, ten of which were via
penalty kicks, in 98 international appearances. He is the second all-time top scorer of his country, with only former teammate
Robin van Persie (
50) having recorded more goals for the Netherlands.
Depay made his senior debut for his country in October 2013, coming on as a substitute for
Jeremain Lens in a
FIFA World Cup qualifier against
Turkey. On 18 June 2014, he scored his first international goal against
Australia at the
World Cup finals in Brazil, becoming the Netherlands' youngest ever goalscorer at the tournament at the age of 20.[1] He then got his second goal in the competition five days later, in a 2–0 win against
Chile.
Depay scored his first brace for the Netherlands in a 3–1
World Cup qualifying win over
Luxembourg in November 2016. Despite only recording three goals in his first 26 caps, Depay would go on to score sixteen goals in his following 25 appearances, including eleven goals in eighteen matches under the management of
Ronald Koeman in 2018 and 2019. After the Netherlands missed out on qualification for both
UEFA Euro 2016 and the
2018 World Cup, Depay scored six goals during
Euro 2020 qualifying to help his side reach a first major tournament for six years. In the
finals tournament, Depay got on the scoresheet against both
Austria and
North Macedonia during the
group stage.
Depay recorded his first international
hat-trick in a 6–1
World Cup qualifying win over Turkey on 7 September 2021, surpassing
Wesley Sneijder and equalling
Johan Cruyff and
Abe Lenstra in the Netherlands' top ten all-time scorers list.[2] He then scored a further nine goals in the 2022 World Cup qualification tournament, finishing joint-top scorer of the
UEFA section alongside
England's
Harry Kane. Depay would finish the year of 2021 with seventeen international goals in sixteen matches, breaking
Patrick Kluivert's national record of twelve for most scored in a single calendar year;[3] only five players from any UEFA country had ever surpassed this tally.[4] Depay scored his third World Cup goal at the
2022 tournament, coming against the
United States in the
round of 16. This strike saw him surpass former teammate
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the Netherlands' second all-time top goalscorer, now trailing only Robin van Persie.[5]
Depay during a training session with the Netherlands in March 2015.
Memphis Depay is a Dutch professional
footballer who has represented the
Netherlands national team as a
forward since 2013. As of July 2024, he has scored 46 goals, ten of which were via
penalty kicks, in 98 international appearances. He is the second all-time top scorer of his country, with only former teammate
Robin van Persie (
50) having recorded more goals for the Netherlands.
Depay made his senior debut for his country in October 2013, coming on as a substitute for
Jeremain Lens in a
FIFA World Cup qualifier against
Turkey. On 18 June 2014, he scored his first international goal against
Australia at the
World Cup finals in Brazil, becoming the Netherlands' youngest ever goalscorer at the tournament at the age of 20.[1] He then got his second goal in the competition five days later, in a 2–0 win against
Chile.
Depay scored his first brace for the Netherlands in a 3–1
World Cup qualifying win over
Luxembourg in November 2016. Despite only recording three goals in his first 26 caps, Depay would go on to score sixteen goals in his following 25 appearances, including eleven goals in eighteen matches under the management of
Ronald Koeman in 2018 and 2019. After the Netherlands missed out on qualification for both
UEFA Euro 2016 and the
2018 World Cup, Depay scored six goals during
Euro 2020 qualifying to help his side reach a first major tournament for six years. In the
finals tournament, Depay got on the scoresheet against both
Austria and
North Macedonia during the
group stage.
Depay recorded his first international
hat-trick in a 6–1
World Cup qualifying win over Turkey on 7 September 2021, surpassing
Wesley Sneijder and equalling
Johan Cruyff and
Abe Lenstra in the Netherlands' top ten all-time scorers list.[2] He then scored a further nine goals in the 2022 World Cup qualification tournament, finishing joint-top scorer of the
UEFA section alongside
England's
Harry Kane. Depay would finish the year of 2021 with seventeen international goals in sixteen matches, breaking
Patrick Kluivert's national record of twelve for most scored in a single calendar year;[3] only five players from any UEFA country had ever surpassed this tally.[4] Depay scored his third World Cup goal at the
2022 tournament, coming against the
United States in the
round of 16. This strike saw him surpass former teammate
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar as the Netherlands' second all-time top goalscorer, now trailing only Robin van Persie.[5]