Calvin Stengs

Early years

Stengs started out at the local amateur club SV DIOS, which he joined alongside Dani Gomes, the son of a youth coach there. He was scouted by HFC Haarlem and spent two years in their youth setup before joining the academy of AZ in 2009 at the age of ten. The move took him away from his familiar surroundings, and he attended school in Alkmaar from that point.

AZ

Stengs was promoted to the AZ reserves for the 2016–17 season playing in the third division. He made his professional debut for the first team on 14 December 2016, starting as a right winger in a KNVB Cup match against lower league ASWH, which his team won 2–0. That season, he made 22 league appearances for Jong AZ, scoring six goals and making eight assists. His strong performances for the reserves were noticed by first team head coach John van den Brom, and on 5 March 2017, Stengs made his league debut for AZ in a 1–1 home draw against Excelsior in the Eredivisie. Stengs was promoted to the AZ first team ahead of the 2017–18 season, and he made his first start for the club on 12 August in a 3–2 away loss against PSV. In the seventh minute of the match he twisted his knee and tore his anterior cruciate ligament, cutting his first professional season short and ruling him out for 18 months. Stengs returned to first team action in November 2018 and reconquered his position in the AZ starting eleven, 15 months after his injury. On 16 January 2019, he scored his first goal for AZ in a 3–0…

Born in the Netherlands, Stengs is of Surinamese descent. Stengs made his international debut for the Netherlands under-21 team on 24 March 2019 in a friendly against the United States. On 19 November 2019, Stengs made his debut for the Netherlands national team in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Estonia, giving two assists in a 5–0 victory. On 21 November 2023, Stengs scored a hat-trick in the Netherlands' final UEFA Euro 2024 qualifier against Gibraltar to register his first senior international goals.

Stengs was born on 18 December 1998 in Amstelveen, North Holland, and grew up in Nieuw-Vennep. He was raised mainly by his mother, Marlies, his father having been absent for part of his childhood. His grandfather also played a significant part in his upbringing. Stengs often stayed with his grandparents in IJmuiden while his mother was at work, and he later said that his football began on a small square there.

Stengs's partner is Beau de Boer, a daughter of the footballer and manager Frank de Boer. The two met at the Johan Cruyff College in Amsterdam and have been in a relationship since 2017. They have two children, born in 2023 and 2026.