Daniëlle van de Donk

At the age of 19, Van de Donk made her debut for the Netherlands national team in a match against Mexico on 15 December 2010 at the 2010 City of São Paulo Tournament. She scored her first official international goal in the 2013 European Championship qualifiers against Serbia. In June 2013, Dutch national team coach Roger Reijners selected Van de Donk for the Netherlands squad for UEFA Euro 2013 in Sweden. The Netherlands squad lost all three of their group stage matches and did not advance at the tournament. Van de Donk competed at the 2015 FIFA World Cup in Canada under the direction of Reijners. After finishing third in Group A and placing second in the ranking of third place teams, the Netherlands advanced to the knockout round where they faced 2011 champions, Japan and lost 2–1. On 14 June 2017, Van de Donk was selected as part of the Dutch squad for UEFA Euro 2017 on home soil. She went on to play an integral part in the tournament. In the semi-finals, she scored against England in a 3–0 win for the Dutch. Van de Donk also played in the final against Denmark, where her creative presence helped the Netherlands come away with a victory. After the tournament, the team was honoured by the Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Minister of Sport Edith Schippers and made Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Van de Donk was selected to the final squad for the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France. Ahead of the tournament, ESPN named her to their top 25 player ranking. After winning all three…

Willem II

2008–2011

At age 17, Van de Donk first played as a professional footballer for Dutch Eredivisie club, Willem II. She featured for the Tricolores for the next four seasons, playing in 47 competitive league matches and scoring five goals. During her first season in 2008, she played eighteen of the 24 matches and scored one goal. In her second season, she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, which kept her off the field for several months. She made seven appearances for Willem II during the 2009–10 season and the club finished in third place with a 8–10–2 record. During the 2010–11 season, she scored four goals in 21 matches playing as a starting midfielder.

VVV-Venlo

2011–12 Season

Van de Donk signed with VVV-Venlo ahead of the 2011–12 season. She played 18 regular season games, scoring 8 goals as a starter for the club. During a match against Heerenveen, Van de Donk scored a brace lifting her team to a 2–1 win. During a match against PEC Zwolle, she scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute to lift VVV to a 5–4 win. During another match against Heerenveen, Van de Donk scored a second brace helping VVV win 3–1. VVV finished in fifth place with a 6–10–2 record. She also helped VVV reach the final of the KNVB Women's Cup in 2012.

PSV/FC Eindhoven

2012–2015

Van de Donk then left Venlo for PSV/FC Eindhoven ahead of Eindhoven's participation in the inaugural season of the Dutch & Belgian…

Born in Valkenswaard, Netherlands, Van de Donk grew up playing football with boys. Her uncle noted, "If she started training at FC Eindhoven, she was laughed at by the boys. When she had played 3 balls, they were all silent." She started playing for SV Valkenswaard in her home town at the age of 4 and later moved to VV UNA.

Van de Donk was in a relationship with former Arsenal teammate Beth Mead. After joining Lyon, she met Ellie Carpenter, a teammate and Australia national team defender. The two announced their engagement on 1 January 2024 during a holiday in the Maldives, and marriage on 7 June 2025 at the Château Hermitage de Combas in Servian in Southern France.