Vivianne Miedema

2011–2014: SC Heerenveen

After receiving an offer from SC Heerenveen, Miedema signed her first professional contract as a 14-year-old and found herself playing in the Eredivisie, the top Dutch league, with players much older than herself. She made her senior debut at 15 during a match against FC Utrecht on 2 September 2011, becoming the youngest ever player in the league. In her debut season, the 2011–12 Eredivisie, she scored 10 goals in 17 games for Heerenveen, who finished last of seven teams. Despite being a teenager, she shared the accolades of being the second-highest scorer in the league. In 2012–13, playing in the new cross-border BeNe League, she improved her tally to 27 goals in 26 games. Her 41 goals in 26 games for Heerenveen in the 2013–14 BeNe League season earned her the top-scorer award at the age of 17. Her goal tally was 15 more than the nearest player.

2014–2017: Bayern Munich

39 different clubs made inquiries about signing Miedema, before she signed a three-year contract with Bayern Munich in the top German league, the Frauen-Bundesliga, in June 2014. During the 2014–15 season, she was part of a Bayern team that remained unbeaten in the Bundesliga and won the title for the first time since 1976. Miedema scored her first league goals in Germany on 5 October 2014 in a match against MSV Duisburg, leading to Bayern's 6–0 win. In the match against SGS Essen on 30 November, Miedema tore the outer band of her ankle resulting in some time away…

Youth

In October 2012 Miedema broke the goalscoring record for the Netherlands under-17 football team, when she scored six goals against Montenegro then eight goals against Kazakhstan in the 2013 UEFA Under-17 Championship qualification mini tournament. The eight goals in the 15–0 win over Kazakhstan also set a competition record for goals in a single match, and four more goals in the next match against Ukraine made her the all-time UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship top scorer. She scored a total of 22 goals for the under-17s, in her 11 appearances between October 2011 and October 2012. On 6 March 2013, Miedema debuted for the Netherlands under-19 football team, starting a 3–1 defeat by Iceland. At the 2014 UEFA Under-19 Championship, she was vital for the Dutch success, her six goals in the tournament guided the Netherlands to their first-ever title in women's football. She scored a hat-trick in the 4–0 semi final win over the Republic of Ireland, and the only goal in the final win over Spain. She was the tournament top scorer by a margin of four goals and also collected the Golden Player awarded by UEFA to the best player of the tournament. Already a senior national team player, she concluded her under-19 national team career with seven goals from 10 appearances.

Senior

On 26 September 2013, Miedema made her debut for the Netherlands national team. She was an 84th-minute substitute for Lieke Martens in a 4–0 2015 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA…

Miedema grew up as a Feyenoord supporter and modelled her game on Robin van Persie. As she is Dutch and wore number 10 for Bayern Munich, she has been compared to Arjen Robben. Journalist David Winner, author of a book about Dutch football, sees her style of play as a mix of Marco van Basten and Dennis Bergkamp. Described as intense and a prolific goalscorer, Miedema does not set goalscoring targets for herself. Former Arsenal striker Kelly Smith said of Miedema, "She scores goals with her left and right foot, her head, she sets goals up. For me, she is just the complete striker, and she's the best in the world at the moment. She's always a threat no matter what minute of the game it is. I think her movement is very clever, and her finishing ability is phenomenal. When she's in front of goal it's just this calm, composed approach that she has." Former Swedish international, Nilla Fischer described Miedema as an intelligent and clever player: "She really tries to go on your blind spot and then make a move when you're not ready." In 2019, Miedema said she plays more like an attacking midfielder: "I know I have my goalscoring qualities, but I like setting people up. I like to drop and pick up the ball and see if I can send someone through on goal." In early 2022 she started playing in midfield rather than in attack. Former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright called her the best striker and the best playmaker in the world at the same time. She is known for not celebrating…

Born and raised in Hoogeveen, Miedema grew up watching her father play football and at five years old began playing herself for HZVV in her hometown. Her first memory of playing football involves her two front teeth being kicked out by a young goalkeeper at age six. She was a frequent goalscorer from a very young age and played on boys' teams. When opponents laughed when they saw a girl on the pitch, it triggered her to score many goals, which she often did. After several years of playing for HZVV, she joined VV De Weide in 2009 and stayed with them until 2011. With her father and younger brother Lars, Miedema would often travel 190 kilometres (120 mi) to Rotterdam in order to watch Feyenoord play. At age 14, Miedema was forced to make the decision to continue playing with boys' clubs where she was used to beating them, or to switch to playing for the women's league.