Virgil van Dijk

FC Groningen

Van Dijk initially struggled to break into Groningen's first team with club staff believing he was "overtired" after extensive playing time with Willem II's academy and reserve sides. He made his professional debut for the club on 1 May 2011, coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Petter Andersson during a 4–2 victory against ADO Den Haag. On 29 May, and against the same opposition, he made his first start for Groningen and scored his first professional goals, netting twice in a 5–1 win in a UEFA Europa League play-off match. During the 2011–12 Eredivisie season, Van Dijk made 23 league appearances for the Eredivisie team, and scored his first regular-season goal during the club's 6–0 victory over Feyenoord on 30 October 2011. He suffered a personal setback during the campaign, however, as soon after his 20th birthday he was admitted to hospital with advanced appendicitis, peritonitis, and kidney poisoning. The ailments were previously not recognised by the medical staff of Groningen and the local hospital. Van Dijk underwent an urgent lifesaving operation, after which he spent 13 days in hospital, lost nearly 16 kg (35 lb; 2.5 st), and could not walk for 10 days. As he had been close to dying as a result of the medical emergency, the hospital had even gone so far as to ask him to sign a "sort of will" in the event of his death. It took Van Dijk a few months to fully recover. In the summer of 2012, he returned and joined the selection again. Despite…

Youth career

On 12 May 2010, Van Dijk made his debut for the Netherlands U19 in a friendly against South Korea U19. Then on 14 November 2011, Van Dijk made his debut for the Netherlands U21 in a qualifying match against Scotland U21 and played a further two friendlies for the team.

Senior career

Van Dijk was selected for the Netherlands senior squad three times in 2014, but did not make his debut until 10 October 2015, when the Netherlands beat Kazakhstan 2–1 in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier. Three days later, he played in a 3–2 home loss to the Czech Republic which ensured the Netherlands would not qualify for UEFA Euro 2016. He played six of the Netherlands' ten matches in their unsuccessful 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign. Van Dijk was awarded the captaincy of his country by manager Ronald Koeman on 22 March 2018, leading the team for the first time in a 1–0 home friendly defeat by England the next day. On 26 March, he scored his first international goal to conclude a 3–0 win over European champions Portugal at the Stade de Genève. On 13 October, he scored in a 3–0 win over Germany in the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. On 19 November, he scored a 91st minute equalising goal in a 2–2 draw away to the same opposition to qualify the Netherlands from their Nations League group. In June 2019, Van Dijk captained the Netherlands at the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where they finished as runner-up after being beaten 1–0 by host…

Virgil van Dijk was born on 8 July 1991 in Breda, North Brabant, to a Dutch father, Ron van Dijk, and a Surinamese mother, Hellen Chin Fo Sieeuw, who is Afro-Surinamese and of part Chinese descent. The Chinese surname Chin Fo Sieeuw derives from the given name of his maternal great-grandfather, Chin Fo Sieeuw (Chinese: 陳火秀, romanised: Chén Huǒxiù), who emigrated from Guangdong to Suriname around 1920. He has a younger brother and sister, who are two and ten years younger than him respectively. Van Dijk grew up in Kesteren, in the Haagse Beemden district of Breda. His father left the family when he was 11 years old. Van Dijk first lived with his father for a while before making the choice to go back to live with his mother, after which his father broke off contact. Growing up he played football wherever he could – on the streets, in concrete cages, and eventually Saturday morning matches. He started playing football in the youth team at WDS'19 before joining Willem II at the age of 8. He combined his time playing at the Willem II academy with a part-time job as a dishwasher as a teenager. He said: "I didn't have a contract at that time. I wasn't thinking I had no future in the game, but I also knew I had to work, to try to make money." Having previously, and unsuccessfully, featured as a right-back, Van Dijk was shifted into a central defensive position in 2008, aged 17, after he grew in height by around 18 centimetres. Despite the positional shift and Van Dijk's physical…

Van Dijk commonly uses only his first name on the back of his jersey. According to his uncle Steven, this is because of a family feud with his father, who abandoned his family during Van Dijk's childhood. Van Dijk met his wife Rike Nooitgedagt in 2011 when he was 20 and they have been married since the summer of 2017. The couple's first child was born 2014, they now have four children. In September 2025, a stand at Sportpark Prinsenhoeve, the home ground of the youth team of Van Dijk's former club Willem II, was renamed the Virgil van Dijk Tribune in his honour. The club described it as "a sign of appreciation for the career of the former Willem II youth player, who grew into one of the best defenders in the world", as well as a gesture "to permanently inspire new generations of youth players."